Little information is forthcoming about yesterday’s FBI raid of the offices of State Senator Ron Calderon. It is known that no arrests were made in the raid and that it is part of an ongoing investigation into alleged bribery of state officials. This was the first raid of this nature that took place on these offices in 25 years. The FBI did take away evidence in a corruption case investigation throughout Los Angeles County.
A spokesperson for the FBI, Laura Eimiller, did say that the case was focusing attention on the senator. However, she did not specify what they were looking for or elaborate on the search warrant for the raid. Public disclosure of any information is prevented by a court order, which is customary in ongoing investigations of this nature.
The Senate Sergeant of Arms, Tony Beard, made a statement to the reporters gathered outside the Capitol when news of the raid became known. He said that he had no information to provide but that the Senate was cooperating with the authorities in the matter. The search of the property continued into the night and janitors were not permitted into the area.
Just before 8 p.m. Beard was seen escorting two women to the Senator’s office, one of whom was holding a stack of folders. Beard told those inside that their agents had arrived. When asked about the proceedings of the investigation he said that he had no idea how long the agents would be inside.
At about 9:30 p.m. ten or so people came out of the building carrying cardboard boxes and plastic containers as well as a briefcase.
The lawyer for the Senator, Mark Geragos, said that the raid was a “sham” and that his client had nothing to hide and was not guilty of any wrong doing. He stated that he plans to take action against the FBI agents in court asking them to return the evidence that they did take from the offices. He claims that the FBI was desperate to find information that connected the Senator to the current probe.