Judge: Warrants to Search Homes of LA County Supervisor, Metro Properly Obtained
A Los Angeles judge has ruled the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department properly obtained warrants to search the home of county Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and other locations targeted in a political corruption probe.
However, he ordered the agency to turn over any items seized in the searches to the state Attorney General’s Office, which has taken over the investigation earlier this week.
Attorneys for the sheriff’s department assured Superior Court Judge William Ryan on Sept. 22 the materials would be surrendered to state investigators within two weeks.
The sheriff’s department launched the investigation after a whistleblower alleged that Kuehl contributed to awarding lucrative contracts to Peace Over Violence, a nonprofit organization run by her close friend Patricia Giggans. The series of no-bid contracts worth more than $800,000 was for the nonprofit to operate a sex-harassment hotline for public transit riders and employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority between 2014 and 2020….