L.os Angeles City Councilmember John Lee is facing a steep fine for his notorious 2017 trip to Las Vegas, with the city\u2019s Ethics Commission saying he must pay $138,424 in a case involving pricey meals and expensive nightclub \u201cbottle service.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the commission decided 4 to 0 that Lee, who represents the northwest San Fernando Valley, committed two counts of violating the city\u2019s gift law and three counts of violating a law requiring that such gifts be disclosed to the public.<\/p>\n
By a 3-1 vote, the panel found that Lee violated five additional counts of misusing his city position or helping his boss at the time \u2014 Councilmember Mitchell Englander \u2014 misuse his position. After that, the commission voted unanimously to levy the maximum financial penalty, as recommended by city ethics investigators.<\/p>\n
The commission went much further than an administrative law judge, who, after a multiday hearing, concluded that Lee violated five of 10 counts<\/a> and recommended a fine of nearly $44,000. <\/p>\n Commission President Manjusha Kulkarni argued for the maximum fine, saying it would discourage others from violating ethics laws. She said Lee directly benefited from his decision not to report the gifts \u2014 which came from three men who sought business with City Hall \u2014 on his economic disclosure forms. <\/p>\n Lee, by failing to report those gifts, gained an unfair advantage during his 2019 and 2020 election campaigns, both of which he won by small margins, Kulkarni said.<\/p>\n \u201cThere was a concealment effort made there in order to win those two elections,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n Commissioner Aryeh Cohen voted against the five additional ethics counts, saying he wasn\u2019t convinced that the gift information would have made a difference. Last year, after city investigators accused Lee of violating gift laws, he won reelection handily.<\/p>\n \u201cVoters knew, and he won by a larger margin\u201d than in 2019 or 2020, Cohen said. \u201cSo I don\u2019t think that that was a misuse of a position or gaining benefit from it.\u201d<\/p>\n Brian Hildreth, an attorney representing Lee, had argued for a maximum fine of $10,000. Appearing before the commission, he said city investigators incorrectly calculated the value of the gifts and failed to take into account how much Lee had actually consumed at the food and drink venues.<\/p>\n Lee, in a statement, vowed to keep fighting the charges, calling the case \u201cwasteful and political.\u201d An appeal would need to be filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court. <\/p>\n \u201cToday is but one step in the process of fighting these baseless charges,\u201d he said. \u201cI look forward to finally having an opportunity to have this matter adjudicated in a fair and impartial setting.\u201d<\/p>\n The Lee case revolves around gifts \u2014 mostly meals and alcohol but also hotel stays, transportation and $1,000 in gambling chips \u2014 provided by the three businessmen: Andy Wang, who peddled Italian cabinets, \u201csmart home\u201d technology and facial recognition software; architect and developer Chris Pak; and lobbyist Michael Bai. <\/p>\n Lee, while working as Englander\u2019s chief of staff, flew with his boss and several others \u2014 including Wang and Bai \u2014 to Las Vegas in 2017. Englander resigned from office the following year, after being contacted by FBI agents about the trip.<\/p>\n In 2020, federal prosecutors accused Englander of accepting $15,000 in cash from Wang, lying to FBI agents and obstructing their investigation<\/a>. He eventually pleaded guilty<\/a> to a single count of providing false information to the FBI and was sentenced to 14 months<\/a> in prison.<\/p>\n