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Top Ron Calderon Articles see all Los Angeles Times
Exclusive: Hollywood sting | Al Jazeera America
Top Ron Calderon Articles see all Los Angeles Times
Exclusive: Hollywood sting | Al Jazeera America
Top Ron Calderon Articles see all
Dan Morain: Two cases represent different faces of the dark sides of political money
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 10:00 PMCalderon has been using money to live large since he arrived in Sacramento.
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Dan Morain: Two cases represent different faces of the dark sides of political money
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 10:00 PMCalderon has been using money to live large since he arrived in Sacramento.
News
Who is Michael Drobot? Leaked affidavit touches on beleaguered donor
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 1:00 AMDuring his regular conversations with a supposed film executive who was an undercover FBI agent, Calif. state Sen. Ron Calderon talked repeatedly about his friend who owned a hospital in Long Beach.
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Who is Michael Drobot? Leaked affidavit touches on embattled donor
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 12:00 AMDuring his regular conversations with a supposed film executive who was an undercover FBI agent, Sen. Ron Calderon talked repeatedly about his friend who owned a hospital in Long Beach.
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The Buzz: FBI’s Capitol undercover operations included venture capitalists
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 12:00 AMThe elaborate FBI sting involving an undercover agent posing as a film studio owner who offered bribes to state Sen. Ron Calderon was not the first time the agency investigated the Montebello Democrat.
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The Buzz: FBI’s Capitol undercover operations included venture capitalists
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 12:00 AMThe elaborate FBI sting involving an undercover agent posing as a film studio owner who offered bribes to state Sen. Ron Calderon was not the first time the agency investigated the Montebello Democrat.
News
Who is Michael Drobot? Leaked affidavit touches on embattled donor
Saturday, November 2, 2013 at 12:00 AMDuring his regular conversations with a supposed film executive who was an undercover FBI agent, Sen. Ron Calderon talked repeatedly about his friend who owned a hospital in Long Beach.
News
Capitol Alert: Calls begin for Sen. Ron Calderon to resign his seat
Friday, November 1, 2013 at 6:53 PMA freshman lawmaker who rose through the ranks as an anti-corruption crusader has called on besieged Sen. Ron Calderon to resign his seat over allegations that he took bribes in exchange for political favors.
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Steinberg: Ron Calderon was unsuited for California Film Commission
Friday, November 1, 2013 at 6:17 PMLawmakers took an extraordinary step to remove embattled Sen. Ron Calderon from the California Film Commission, a post he was entitled to hold until at least the end of his term.
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Steinberg: Ron Calderon was unsuited for California Film Commission
Friday, November 1, 2013 at 6:17 PMLawmakers took an extraordinary step to remove embattled Sen. Ron Calderon from the California Film Commission, a post he was entitled to hold until at least the end of his term.Exclusive: Hollywood sting
FBI investigation of a California political dynasty uncovers alleged bribery and corruption in the shadows of Tinseltown
- Topics:
- Politics
- Crime
- Law & Justice
Watch Part 2 of Al Jazeera's investigation here.
By Trevor Aaronson and Josh Bernstein
LOS ANGELES — Ronald Calderon is a powerful state senator in California who holds sway over the glamorous Hollywood movie industry. He is also, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, a politician on the take.
A hefty 56-year-old Democrat with salt-and-pepper hair, Calderon has been a red-carpet star in California politics for more than a decade. As an assemblyman and now a state senator representing suburban Los Angeles, he has established a well-earned reputation for spending campaign money and taxpayer funds on himself.
He’s used campaign cash to cover the finer things in life — plush golf outings, lavish trips to Cuba and Las Vegas, meals at exclusive restaurants and hotels. When California offered to purchase cars for the state’s elected officials, Calderon chose the most expensive one: a $54,830 Cadillac STS V8 luxury sedan.
But his days as a big spender may soon be over. The FBI is hot on his trail in an investigation that could become California’s biggest legislative scandal in more than two decades and could signal the downfall of a political dynasty. The FBI employed an undercover sting for more than a year that ended when agents raided the senator’s office in Sacramento in June.
Al Jazeera’s Investigative Unit subsequently learned of the secret operation. This account is based on a 124-page affidavit, still under seal, filed by the FBI in U.S. District Court in Sacramento in support of a search warrant used in the raid.
The names of several other senators, including the Senate president and the chair of the California Latino Legislative Caucus, have surfaced in the case, although none has been implicated.
The document lays out a sordid tale of alleged bribery and corruption. Undercover FBI agents posed as independent movie executives interested in taking advantage of a program in which films with budgets of $1 million or more are eligible for special tax credits. The agents, focusing on Calderon, asked the senator to help lower the budget threshold to $500,000. Calderon, who chairs the Senate Select Committee on California's Film and Television Industries, agreed to help lower it to $750,000 but wanted financial assistance provided to his grown children, the affidavit says.
READ THE AFFIDAVIT
On June 21, 2012, for instance, in a restaurant in Pico Rivera, Calif., outside Los Angeles, Calderon said he could lower the budget threshold if the movie executive would hire his daughter, Jessica.
“There might be a play, you know, to lower the tax credit.” He went on: “Any help you could do for
FEATURED STORIES
National education reform advocate sought Calderon’s influence
A meeting with lobbyists for Michelle Rhee occurred before the California state senator sponsored education reform bill
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- Politics
- Crime
- Law & Justice
Two California state senators deny involvement in Calderon schemes
Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg denies any wrongdoing on his part in the hiring of an FBI undercover agent
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- Politics
- Crime
- Law & Justice
BACKGROUND
Members of the Calderon political dynasty
Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit profiles one of California’s most powerful families
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- Politics
- Crime
- Law & Justice
The Calderon Dynasty: 30 years of political power
Al Jazeera's Investigative Unit examines the Calderon family's ups and downs since its patriarch's first big win
- Topics:
- Politics
- Crime
- Law & Justice