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Getbig Main Boards => Politics and Political Issues Board => Topic started by: BayGBM on September 09, 2009, 03:41:23 PM
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OC Assemblyman In Bed With Lobbyist . . . No, Literally In Bed
By R. Scott Moxley
SACRAMENTO--Freshmen legislators arriving in Sacramento receive advice from veteran
politicians about the intricacies of working in California's capital. One of those tips is to remember that microphones broadcasting legislative debates can also capture embarrassing, career-ending personal admissions if a politician isn't careful. Michael D. Duvall, Orange County's 72nd Assembly
District representative, must have forgotten the warning.
In July--two days after Assembly Speaker Karen Bass and Republican leader Sam Blakeslee put Duvall on the Rules Committee that oversees member ethics--the second-term, conservative, Republican assemblyman sat in a public hearing and vividly described lewd details about his trysts with a female lobbyist whose clients had business before another committee on which
Duvall sits.
Duvall, speaking to a relatively mum Republican colleague seated to his left, apparently had no idea his dais microphone became live beginning about a minute before the start of a cable-televised committee hearing. He was captured in the middle of recounting portions of an affair.
"She wears little eye-patch underwear," said Duvall, who is married with two children. "So, the other day she came here with her underwear, Thursday. And
so, we had made love Wednesday--a lot! And so she'll, she's all, 'I am going
up and down the stairs, and you're dripping out of me!' So messy!"
That line may quickly become part of colorful Sacramento political lore. In the meantime, it leads me to a question: Can someone please buy the assemblyman a box of condoms?
Duvall--who was twice a president of the Yorba Linda Chamber of Commerce, served two terms as mayor of Yorba Linda before entering the assembly in
2006, and is the owner of an insurance agency--continues his tale: "So, I am getting into spanking her. Yeah, I like it. I like spanking her. She goes, 'I know you like spanking me.' I said, 'Yeah! Because you're such a bad girl!'"
He then laughed.
The assemblyman representing Anaheim, Fullerton, Placentia, Orange, Brea, La
Habra and Yorba Linda then offered clues to the identity of his sex partner.
"And so her birthday was Monday," he said at the Wednesday, July 8 committee hearing. "I was 54 on June 14, so for a month, she was 19 years younger than
me. I said, 'Now, you're getting old. I am going to have to trade you in.' And she goes, '[I'm] 36.' She is 18 years younger than me. And so I keep
teasing her, and she goes, 'I know you French men. You divide your age by
two and add seven, and if you're older than that, you dump us.'"
According to voter-registration records reviewed by the Weekly, veteran Sacramento-based lobbyist Heidi DeJong Barsuglia turned 36 years old on Monday, July 6.
Legislative sources say they have witnessed Duvall, who is vice chairman of
the Assembly's powerful Committee on Utilities & Commerce, socializing after-hours with Barsuglia. Sources--who asked for anonymity because of
Duvall's power in the capital--say Susan Duvall usually stays in Orange
County during the week, when her husband flies to Sacramento. They also say
they have seen Duvall with Barsuglia in restaurants, "arm-in-arm" at political fund-raising events and even shopping together for groceries just blocks from the capitol building.
"Their relationship is the worst-kept secret in Sacramento," a capitol staffer recently told me. "He's old and fat. She's hot, blonde and about 20
years younger. He could have never gotten a woman like that before he got
this job.'"
In April--two months after Duvall became vice chairman of the Utilities &
Commerce committee--privately owned California utility giant Sempra Energy hired Barsuglia as one of its top lobbyists, according to Secretary of State
records.
Barsuglia, who has a law degree and once worked as a speechwriter for
Governor Pete Wilson, had previously worked at the California Retailers
Association (CRA). During 25 months of work at CRA, she reported that she incurred no reportable lobbying expenses. She joined Sempra after the
departure of another lobbyist: David Hayes, who was named deputy director of the Interior Department by President Barack Obama.
The San Diego-based utility conglomerate isn't shy about lobbying
lawmakers for favorable treatment. This session, they gave Duvall $1,500 in campaign contributions. In May, the assemblyman officially adopted the company's negative view on Assembly Bill 64, which proposes increasing the percentage of electricity the utilities must procure from environmentally
sensitive sources.
Repeatedly asked to explain his recorded sexual boasting, a red-faced Duvall fled me and another reporter, Dave Lopez of KCBS in Los Angeles, three times this afternoon in capitol hallways. He also ignored three handwritten interview requests that were delivered to him on the floor of the assembly. Said one assembly employee who witnessed the scene, "It definitely looks like he is afraid of you guys."
Barsuglia did not responded to a request for an interview made at Sempra's offices located across the street from the capitol building.
Sempra's 2008-2009 "Code of Business Conduct" states, "We've built [the company's] rich tradition because of the emphasis we place on ethical business conduct and compliance with the laws and regulations that govern
our business. We don't compromise on either for the sake of success"
But Duvall wasn't content to just share one adulterous tale at the July 8 committee hearing. He referenced a second, simultaneous affair with another woman. He seemed amused that he was cheating on both his wife and a mistress.
"Oh, yeah, Sher, Shar, Shar," Duvall said. "Oh, she is hot! I talked to her yesterday. She goes, 'So are we finished?' I go, 'No, we're not finished.' I go, 'You know about the other one [Barsuglia], but she doesn't know about you!'"
The assemblyman punctuated his observation with laughter.
During his political career, Duvall has unabashedly espoused conservative
principles and is known as a partisan Republican with a knack for theatrics:
He has noisily driven his Harley-Davidson motorcycle to functions. In 2008,
Duvall blasted efforts to condone gay marriage. Legislatively, he has
proposed bills to aid the insurance industry and government contractors
feeding off the state's massive transportation kitty.
He has offered a law to alter the First Amendment rights of Americans by
banning anti-war activists from putting the names of fallen soldiers on
T-shirts with messages such as "Bush lied" on the front and "They died" on the back; he observed that the dead soldiers fought to protect freedom, and "opportunists" should not be allowed to "exploit" the sacrifices with political messages opposing war.
Such thinking impressed certain constituencies. Earlier this year, the man who never graduated from high school received "100 percent" approval scores
by the California Republican Assembly, the state's leading conservative outfit, and the Capitol Resource Institute (CRI), a fierce guardian of traditional family values.
"Assemblyman Duvall has been a consistent trooper for the conservative causes," CRI president Karen England announced in March. "For the last two years, he has voted time and time again to protect and preserve family values in California. We are grateful for his support of California
families.'"
Acknowledging the CRI award, Duvall observed in a press release that as long as he is in office, he would work to protect "California families" from "constant assault in Sacramento."
http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/breaking-news/oc-assemblyman-in-bed-with-lob/#
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Michael Duvall: Family values R.I.P.
By now, everyone in possession of a frontal lobe should understand that the people who go around trumpeting the cause of “family values” are most likely to be the ones leading lives in contradiction to that puritanical moral code. The latest case-in-point is California Assemblyman Michael Duvall, who was recently caught bragging about his sexual exploits with lobbyists from utility companies. Duvall, who is married and has received glowing praise for his supposedly pro-family values record, is Vice Chairman of the Utilities and Commerce Committee in the Sacramento Legislature. Here’s KCAL’s coverage of the revelations:
So it goes. The harder they come, the harder they fall. Duvall now joins Ted Haggard, Duke Cunningham, Jimmy Swaggart, Mark Sanford, David Vitter, Larry Craig, and all the rest of those who parroted the term “family values” as a way to further a career in politics or pulpit. The term itself is not without meaning. In general, it encompasses a staunchly religious (Christian) code of behavior intent on prohibiting sexual deviancy. As a result, its banner attracts those who are themselves struggling with how to express their own desires. The thinking seems to be that if these men (always the men) simply say the words “family values” enough times, some sort of ethical osmosis will occur.
Of course, having a strong, cohesive, communicative family need not have anything to do with the teachings found in the Bible. Nor does Assemblyman Duvall’s spanking fetish mean he couldn’t be a perfectly wonderful father, so long as he didn’t mete out activity on his own kids. But that’s the thing with puritanism, it fails to extinguish desire, and relegates its followers to a Jekyll-and-Hyde-like existence. The resulting scandals, when the secret lives are eventually exposed to the light of day, have the effect of wrecking the very family whose values were supposed to be so sacred in the first place.
And, oh yes, we relish the cases of those pious leaders who regularly took pains to let us know that their “family values” were so much better than our own, who turn out to be the ideal poster children for deviancy. To watch them choke upon the cake they’ve had and eaten, too, is good sport. It’s also a reminder that those who speak the loudest about “family values” are more than likely the ones you’ll be reading about in tomorrow’s news.
http://trueslant.com/davidknowles/2009/09/09/michael-duval-family-values-r-i-p/
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Heidi hoe!
Heidi Barsuglia. The woman he had the affair with who said, "I am going up and down the stairs, and you're dripping out of me!' So messy!"
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Hey atleast it was with a woman this time ;D
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Hey atleast it was with a woman this time ;D
This time. Oh, by the way, he resigned yesterday.
Assemblyman Mike Duvall resigns after his sex comments are broadcast
KCAL-TV in Los Angeles played a tape of the married Yorba Linda Republican speaking about sex with two women. He apparently did not realize a microphone was on during a legislative hearing.
By Shane Goldmacher and Patrick McGreevy
Reporting from Sacramento
An Orange County lawmaker who inadvertently broadcast explicit remarks about his sexual conquests over an open microphone abruptly resigned from office Wednesday after legislative leaders stripped him of his committee posts and launched an ethics probe of his actions.
Assemblyman Michael Duvall (R-Yorba Linda), whose remarks were videotaped in July during a lull in a Sacramento hearing, stepped down less than 24 hours after the tape spread online Tuesday night.
In the video, the married family-values crusader from Yorba Linda talks in graphic detail about women he said he slept with -- at least one of whom appeared to be a lobbyist with business before the utilities committee on which Duvall sat as vice chairman.
"I am deeply saddened that my inappropriate comments have become a major distraction for my colleagues in the Assembly," Duvall said in a written statement Wednesday afternoon. "It would not be fair to my family, my constituents or to my friends on both sides of the aisle to remain in office. Therefore, I have decided to resign."
The sudden scandal was one more bruise for Sacramento as it lurches toward Friday, the end of a particularly unproductive legislative year, with unfinished work on such major issues as the prison crisis and the state's wobbly water infrastructure.
And the speed with which Duvall was pushed out the door was small comfort to Capitol-watchers who say the case shows the persistence of anything-goes behavior in the Legislature.
"The use of sexual favors is just one more example of the tactics that energy companies and lobbyists have used to win favorable laws from lawmakers," said Kathay Feng, president of California Common Cause.
As TV camera crews chased lawmakers through Capitol corridors for comment on the scandal Wednesday, the place was abuzz with gossip: other lawmakers with lobbyist mistresses, inappropriate invitations to romantic dinners, married legislators and industry officials canoodling at fundraisers and after-hours mixers.
Duvall, some said, just happened to get caught.
His remarks were videotaped during a July hearing of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and aired on a KCAL television news program Tuesday night. In the video, the socially conservative Duvall tells fellow Assemblyman Jeff Miller (R-Corona) in uninhibited detail about trysts with two women, neither his wife.
The KCAL report says one of the women is a lobbyist for a major utility with business before Duvall's committee. In the video, Duvall says her birthday is July 6. That matches the birth date of a Sacramento lobbyist for the San Diego-based energy firm Sempra.
Sempra issued a written statement saying that it is investigating the matter, but that its "employee has denied the speculative media reports."
On the tape, Duvall describes the "little eye-patch underwear" worn by one of the women. He refers to the age gap between her and him, after a recent birthday made them 18 years apart. "Now, you're getting old, man, I am going to have to trade you in," he said he told her.
And he mentions a second woman, in less detail.
"Cher, Shar, Shar -- oh, she is hot. I talked to her yesterday. She goes, 'So are we finished?' " Duvall says, adding that he replied no. He continues: "And I go, 'You know about the other one, but the other one doesn't know about you.' "
The Capitol Resource Institute, a conservative, self-described "pro-family" advocacy organization that had given Duvall a 100% score for his voting record on issues of concern to the group, denounced the lawmaker in a statement.
"It is always disappointing when a champion of traditional values does not practice the same in his private life," said Karen England, executive director of the institute.
Some GOP leaders were relieved by the resignation.
"Sticking around for a while would have just prolonged the agony, and he would have had the same result," said Scott Baugh, Orange County Republican Party chairman.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now has 14 days to call a special election to fill Duvall's seat, which could be held as soon as the first week in November. Orange County officials say that election will cost taxpayers between $330,000 and $440,000.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) said the Legislature plans to aggressively investigate Duvall and any conflicts of interest that may have resulted from affairs he boasted about. One member of the legislative ethics panel that will oversee the inquiry said privately that there may be efforts to broaden it to include other lawmakers alleged to have intimate relations with lobbyists.
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown declined to comment on calls from consumer advocates that he launch a criminal investigation. Duvall's "votes on utility issues should be investigated to determine whether they were compromised," said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica.
Duvall joined other Republicans in voting several times this year against renewable energy measures opposed by Sempra Energy. The measures would require utilities to derive significantly more electricity from solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy sources by 2020.
In Orange County on Wednesday, Duvall's constituents expressed shock.
Placentia Councilwoman Constance Underhill said Duvall's behavior was outrageous, especially if his dalliances were with lobbyists who had business with his committee. "If that's true," she said, "he sold out for sex."
Bob Bowdish, 62, who said he was once Duvall's letter carrier and has for years crossed party lines to vote for the assemblyman, said, "The public deserves more. . . . The fact of the matter is, what he did was wrong. This will ruin more than his political career."
At least one resident saw opportunity in the mess, however. "He did the right thing under the circumstances," said Orange County Supervisor Chris Norby. "He did it quickly. And I'm going to do the right thing. I will be seeking the seat."
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Good, America needs a better class of representative
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Good, America needs a better class of representative
The whole bunch needs to go. Term limits, etc.
Kazan - go check out the vids on Acorn I posted. you wont believe it.
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The whole bunch needs to go. Term limits, etc.
Kazan - go check out the vids on Acorn I posted. you wont believe it.
I'm from Illinois, there is nothing politcal you can show me that I won't believe. The only thing worse than a politician is an Illinois politician
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Another Republican 'family values' politician revealed to be a hypocrite!? Colour me surprised. Only a matter of time before the Vegas sportsbooks start taking bets on who'll be next.
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Another Republican 'family values' politician revealed to be a hypocrite!? Colour me surprised. Only a matter of time before the Vegas sportsbooks start taking bets on who'll be next.
Todays politicians are little more than actors, they are in general a bunch of power hungry low lifes, who pretend they give a shit about those they represent and the constitution they swore to defend
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Michael Duvall is now claiming that his braggadocio caught on tape is not an admission of an affair. He was only boasting and in fact never had an affair at all. ::)
Mike Duvall denies an affair, admits 'inappropriate story-telling' on sex comments
September 10, 2009 | 7:19 am
Former Orange County Assemblyman Michael Duvall, who resigned after inadvertently broadcasting explicit remarks about his sexual conquests over an open microphone, denied this morning that he had an affair.
"I want to make it clear that my decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs," Duvall said in a statement in his website. "My offense was engaging in inappropriate story-telling and I regret my language and choice of words. The resulting media coverage was proving to be an unneeded distraction to my colleagues and I resigned in the hope that my decision would allow them to return to the business of the state."
Duvall stepped down after legislative leaders stripped him of his committee posts and launched an ethics probe of his actions.
Duvall (R-Yorba Linda), whose remarks were videotaped in July during a lull in a Sacramento hearing, stepped down less than 24 hours after the tape spread online Tuesday night.
In the video, the married family-values crusader talks in graphic detail about women he said he slept with -- at least one of whom appeared to be a lobbyist with business before the utilities committee on which Duvall sat as vice chairman.
The sudden scandal was one more bruise for Sacramento as it lurches toward Friday, the end of a particularly unproductive legislative year, with unfinished work on such major issues as the prison crisis and the state's wobbly water infrastructure.
And the speed with which Duvall was pushed out the door was small comfort to Capitol watchers who say the case shows the persistence of anything-goes behavior in the Legislature.
"The use of sexual favors is just one more example of the tactics that energy companies and lobbyists have used to win favorable laws from lawmakers," said Kathay Feng, president of California Common Cause.
As TV camera crews chased lawmakers through Capitol corridors for comment on the scandal Wednesday, the place was abuzz with gossip: other lawmakers with lobbyist mistresses, inappropriate invitations to romantic dinners, married legislators and industry officials canoodling at fundraisers and after-hours mixers.
Duvall, some said, just happened to get caught.
His remarks were videotaped during a hearing of the Assembly Appropriations Committee and aired on a KCAL television news program Tuesday night. In the video, the socially conservative Duvall tells fellow Assemblyman Jeff Miller (R-Corona) in uninhibited detail about trysts with two women, neither his wife.
The KCAL report says one of the women is a lobbyist for a major utility with business before Duvall's committee. In the video, Duvall says her birthday is July 6. That matches the birth date of a Sacramento lobbyist for the San Diego-based energy firm Sempra.
Sempra issued a written statement saying that it is investigating the matter, but that its "employee has denied the speculative media reports."
On the tape, Duvall describes the "little eye-patch underwear" worn by one of the women. He refers to the age gap between her and him, after a recent birthday made them 18 years apart. "Now, you're getting old, man, I am going to have to trade you in," he said he told her.
And he mentions a second woman, in less detail.
"Cher, Shar, Shar -- oh, she is hot. I talked to her yesterday. She goes, 'So are we finished?' " Duvall says, adding that he replied no. He continues: "And I go, 'You know about the other one, but the other one doesn't know about you.' "
The Capitol Resource Institute, a conservative, self-described "pro-family" advocacy organization that had given Duvall a 100% score for his voting record on issues of concern to the group, denounced the lawmaker in a statement.
"It is always disappointing when a champion of traditional values does not practice the same in his private life," said Karen England, executive director of the institute.
Some GOP leaders were relieved by the resignation.
"Sticking around for a while would have just prolonged the agony, and he would have had the same result," said Scott Baugh, Orange County Republican Party chairman.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger now has 14 days to call a special election to fill Duvall's seat, which could be held as soon as the first week in November. Orange County officials say that election will cost taxpayers between $330,000 and $440,000.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles) said the Legislature plans to aggressively investigate Duvall and any conflicts of interest that may have resulted from affairs he boasted about. One member of the legislative ethics panel that will oversee the inquiry said privately that there may be efforts to broaden it to include other lawmakers alleged to have intimate relations with lobbyists.
California Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown declined to comment on calls from consumer advocates that he launch a criminal investigation. Duvall's "votes on utility issues should be investigated to determine whether they were compromised," said Doug Heller, executive director of Consumer Watchdog in Santa Monica.
Duvall joined other Republicans in voting several times this year against renewable energy measures opposed by Sempra Energy. The measures would require utilities to derive significantly more electricity from solar, wind, geothermal and other renewable energy sources by 2020.
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A Repube? Shocking.
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A Repube? Shocking.
Go check out my ACORN thread you jackass.
This is nothing compared to that organized crime spree.
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she's hot. nice work.
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A Repube? Shocking.
A straight Repube? Shocking.
Fixed.
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A straight Repube? Shocking.
Fixed.
I wonder how many republicans have sucked me off over the years? They give such good head, and I usually don't want to know party affiliation... until after the fact. :-X
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The guy Duvall was speaking to has now been identified. It was fellow assemblyman Jeff Miller. Pretty. ::)
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I don’t mean to be a snob, but it is 2009 . . . shouldn’t people in the legislature have a high school diploma? Duvall didn’t. In this day and age, would you vote into office someone who didn’t finish high school? ???
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Get this, Jeff Miller, the guy Duvall was talking to is on the ethics panel--the panel that will investigate Duvall's corruption! Today, he was removed from that post. ::)
It turns out that being a lobbyist in CA has no special requirements. All you have to do is fill out a registration form and that is all. As it happens, there are quite a few attractive young women sans experience or a law degree who are working as lobbyist in Sacramento. Now, connect the dots... :-[
Calif. lawmaker ousted from inquiry into sex talk
By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A California lawmaker who listened and asked questions as a fellow assemblyman boasted about extramarital affairs has been removed from the panel investigating the conversation.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass removed Republican Assemblyman Jeff Miller of Corona from the ethics committee on Thursday.
The move comes a day after Republican Mike Duvall of Yorba Linda resigned from the Assembly once a videotape of the conversation became public. The racy banter took place in July during a break in a committee hearing.
Duvall, who is married, issued a statement saying he is not admitting to having sex with the two female lobbyists. He said he engaged only in "inappropriate storytelling."
Shannon Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Assembly speaker, says Miller should not sit on the panel that is investigating a conversation in which he participated.
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I wonder how many republicans have sucked me off over the years? They give such good head, and I usually don't want to know party affiliation... until after the fact. :-X
Is this true BayGBM? Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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Get this, Jeff Miller, the guy Duvall was talking to is on the ethics panel--the panel that will investigate Duvall's corruption! Today, he was removed from that post. ::)
It turns out that being a lobbyist in CA has no special requirements. All you have to do is fill out a registration form and that is all. As it happens, there are quite a few attractive young women sans experience or a law degree who are working as lobbyist in Sacramento. Now, connect the dots... :-[
Calif. lawmaker ousted from inquiry into sex talk
By JULIET WILLIAMS, Associated Press Writer
Thursday, September 10, 2009
A California lawmaker who listened and asked questions as a fellow assemblyman boasted about extramarital affairs has been removed from the panel investigating the conversation.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass removed Republican Assemblyman Jeff Miller of Corona from the ethics committee on Thursday.
The move comes a day after Republican Mike Duvall of Yorba Linda resigned from the Assembly once a videotape of the conversation became public. The racy banter took place in July during a break in a committee hearing.
Duvall, who is married, issued a statement saying he is not admitting to having sex with the two female lobbyists. He said he engaged only in "inappropriate storytelling."
Shannon Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Assembly speaker, says Miller should not sit on the panel that is investigating a conversation in which he participated.
::)
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Is this true BayGBM? Hahahaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Well let's put it this way... they are more hungry... so they try harder! :D
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Well let's put it this way... they are more hungry... so they try harder! :D
Repressed maybe? ;D
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Repressed maybe? ;D
No "maybe" about it.
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Mike Duvall Told Jeff Miller Stories Of Sexcapades
SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A California lawmaker who listened and asked questions as a fellow assemblyman boasted about extramarital affairs has been removed from the panel investigating the conversation.
Assembly Speaker Karen Bass removed Republican Assemblyman Jeff Miller of Corona from the ethics committee on Thursday.
She appointed Assemblyman Nathan Fletcher, R-San Diego, to replace Miller on the committee for the rest of the 2009-10 regular session.
The move comes a day after Republican Mike Duvall of Yorba Linda resigned from the Assembly once a videotape of the conversation became public. The racy banter took place in July during a break in a committee hearing.
Duvall, who is married, issued a statement saying he is not admitting to having sex with the two female lobbyists. He said he engaged only in "inappropriate storytelling."
Duvall, 54, said that his "decision to resign is in no way an admission that I had an affair or affairs."
He made the sexual comments to Miller during a break in a committee meeting inside the Capitol on July 8, apparently unaware that the microphone at the desk was on.
"I'm getting into spanking her," Duvall is heard saying on the videotape, which was made as a matter of routine by a legislative office.
Miller asks if she likes it. Duvall responds: "She goes, 'I know you like spanking me.' I said, 'Yeah, that's 'cause you're such a bad girl."'
Duvall also describes the woman's "eye-patch underwear" and the age difference between himself and his mistress, identified in some media reports as a lobbyist for an energy company. He tells Miller, a fellow Republican from Corona, that the woman's birthday was two days earlier.
Shannon Murphy, a spokeswoman for the Assembly speaker, said Miller should not sit on the panel that is investigating a conversation in which he participated.
Miller said he doesn't remember the conversation with Duvall, adding that he "busy doing other stuff."
"Frankly, I wasn't paying attention to him," Miller said. "I really wasn't hearing what he was saying, and so, I didn't make anything of it."
Common Cause, a political watchdog group, thinks a criminal investigation is in order.
"I think the attorney general should be looking at this to see if any laws against bribery or giving large gifts were violated by this particular relationship," Derek Cressman from Common Cause said.
Miller was elected to the Assembly in 2008 to represent the 71st Assembly District, which takes in much of western Riverside County and the eastern edge of Orange County.
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hahahaha that's great.
and his partner pretended he didn't hear any of it.
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Duvall incident spotlights politicians' perks in capital
Beyond lavish meals with fine wines, special interests offer overseas junkets, pro basketball games, weekends at spas and golf resorts and in some cases sex.
By Eric Bailey and Michael Rothfeld
For many who join the select club of 120 known as the California Legislature, everything changes. Once inside, they find an army of lobbyists and corporate executives at their disposal, more than eager to shower them with food, drink, travel and -- in some cases -- sex.
The case of Michael Duvall, the 54-year-old Yorba Linda assemblyman who resigned Wednesday after the disclosure that he bragged over an open microphone of apparent sexual trysts, is a window into a world in which those who vie to sit through dreary legislative meetings can be rewarded in more bacchanalian ways.
Beyond lavish meals with fine wines, special interests offer overseas junkets, pro basketball games and weekends at spas and golf resorts that pair their lobbyists with lawmakers.
"When you're in Sacramento, the entire city is dedicated to making you feel important and special," said Don Perata, a former state Senate leader.
An investigation of Duvall's actions is under way. He was vice chairman of a utilities committee, and the probe centers on his alleged relationship with a lobbyist for Sempra Energy -- possibly one of the women referred to in the videotape that captured him graphically describing his sexual encounters.
Sempra said its employee has denied an affair but the company is investigating. Duvall issued a statement Thursday saying that his resignation did not amount to an admission of an illicit relationship.
Also on Thursday, Assemblyman Jeff Miller of Corona, the fellow Republican who listened to Duvall's tales at a lull in a legislative hearing in July, was stripped of his post on the Assembly ethics panel, which is conducting the investigation.
Meanwhile, advocates for government accountability demanded greater disclosure of contacts between lawmakers and lobbyists, and called on a lobbyists' association to expel anyone who has had sex with an official he or she is attempting to influence.
Jackson Gualco, head of the Institute of Governmental Advocates, a Sacramento trade group representing lobbyists, said the organization already has a strict code of conduct to prevent inappropriate relationships, and noted that the state has strict rules requiring disclosure of lobbyist activities as well as regular ethics training.
"There are some good checks and balances," Gualco said.
But fraternization between lawmakers and lobbyists has been part of Sacramento life for decades, as it is in other state capitals and in Washington, D.C.
In 1974, Californians created the Political Reform Act by approving Proposition 9, which restricts lobbyists to spending no more than $10 a month entertaining an individual lawmaker. And in the 1980s, legislators were earning thousands of dollars giving speeches to companies with interests at the Capitol.
After an FBI sting implicated some of them in trading votes for income, Californians passed a ballot measure banning the practice of accepting honoraria.
Still, examples abound of the steps that lobbyists, with their corporate employers footing the bills, take to gain chummy access to lawmakers and exert influence.
At the annual "Speaker's Cup" at Pebble Beach this year, dozens of lobbyists had a chance to rub elbows with Speaker Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles).
One lobbyist, Darius Anderson, has been known for arranging trips to Cuba.
The state prison guards' union has sponsored lawmakers' voyages to Maui, paying for some of their expenses there.
At least one company, BP America, has set up an automated hotline that lawmakers and staff can call for freebies to concerts, shows and sports events. Legislators may even "ask a member of their own staff to call on their behalf," BP's phone message says. The firm has spent more than $39,000 on giveaways since 2008.
One of the biggest spenders in Sacramento is AT&T, which has e-mail addresses that lawmakers and their staffs use to request tickets. The company reported $53,000 worth of giveaways in the first half of 2009, including a Britney Spears concert and seats at a Lakers playoff game.
Doug Heller, executive director of the advocacy group Consumer Watchdog, said the Duvall incident shows that lobbyists are increasingly pushing the envelope: the rise of "extreme lobbying," he calls it.
"I'm afraid this is not a once-in-a decade anomaly," Heller said.
Common Cause noted that Sempra Energy spent $800,000 lobbying California government in the first half of this year and was interested in 170 pieces of legislation. The firm, which frequently takes lawmakers and other officials to concerts and other events, has contributed $4.2 million to political campaigns in California since 2006.
That sum includes a relatively small $2,800 to Duvall, who voted Sempra's way on at least four bills this year dealing with renewable energy and electricity rates.
Duvall, who owns an insurance company, reported $2,000 in gifts from special interests in 2008, including meals, drinks, concert tickets and a Bluetooth headset, but nothing from Sempra.
The Sempra lobbyist he was allegedly referring to in the video was hired by the company six months ago.
One longtime Sacramento lobbyist, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of offending lawmakers, acknowledged that sexual relationships sometimes develop, although not many.
More commonly, big lobbying firms hire attractive women.
The legislators are thrilled by the women's attention at fundraisers and other events, the lobbyist said.
"If there's a beautiful woman sitting there that's with you from your firm, you're going to have at least half of the guys that are legislators come over and initiate conversations with her," the lobbyist said. "She doesn't have to sleep with them, but it's just the fact she's there and she's nice to them."
Male lawmakers are not the only targets. Former Sen. Sheila Kuehl, a Santa Monica Democrat and California's first openly lesbian lawmaker, recounted that the National Rifle Assn. once sent a "really good-looking" woman, whom she took to be a lesbian, to lobby her against restrictive gun laws.
"Why would she be the one coming to talk to me to talk about the NRA?" said Kuehl, who left office in 2008. "I'm sure they said, 'Let's send her to talk to Sheila.' I found it sort of amusing, actually."
She said the "fraternity atmosphere" in Sacramento isn't as much about lobbyists as about " 'I'm away from home so I'm going to play.' "
Former Senate chief Perata said the atmosphere today actually is less freewheeling than in the 1970s, when he began working as a legislative staff member. Then, he said, "women were treated as sex objects."
That attitude has diminished since the advent of sexual harassment laws. The lesson of Mike Duvall, Perata said, is more about the perils of open microphones in a new media age. "What nailed this guy is technology," he said.
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I cannot believe this guy is gonna walk away without any punishment! He was having sex with with a lobbyist and voted in her favor while he was in the State Assembly! Isn't pay-for-play or quid pro quo a crime when you are an elected official? Time to bring back the Star Chamber! >:(
Attorney general will not investigate ex-Assemblyman Michael Duvall
October 5, 2009
State prosecutors have no plans to investigate whether any laws were broken by former Assemblyman Michael Duvall (R-Yorba Linda), who was recorded bragging that he had sex with a woman believed to be a lobbyist, according to a government spokesman.
"Even if the publicly reported behavior is proven to be true, it would not constitute a violation of California law," said Scott Gerber, a spokesman for state Atty. Gen. Jerry Brown. "Accordingly, unless additional information comes to light, our office intends no further inquiry."
Duvall was vice chairman of the Assembly's utilities committee. The lobbyist works for Sempra energy company.
Gerber’s statement comes days after the Assembly’s ethics committee was told by legal counsel that it had no authority to investigate Duvall because he had resigned from office.
However, the FBI has talked to at least two of Duvall’s former aides in an effort to determine whether his activities warrant an investigation.
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FBI clears former Assemblyman Duvall
Mike Duvall, a Yorba Linda Republican, will not face federal charges after he made comments about having a sexual relationship with a woman believed to be a Sempra Energy lobbyist, officials said.
By Patrick McGreevy
Former Assemblyman Michael Duvall of Yorba Linda will not face any federal charges after an FBI investigation into his comments, made over an open microphone, that he had a sexual relationship with a woman who was believed to be a Sempra Energy lobbyist, officials announced Monday.
In response, Sempra Energy said it has reinstated the lobbyist to active status as an employee.
Lobbyist Heidi Barsuglia issued a statement saying, "This experience has been a professional and personal nightmare. I did nothing whatsoever illegal or unethical with former Assemblyman Duvall or anyone else."
Duvall, a Republican, was vice chairman of the Assembly's Committee on Utilities and Commerce when he made the remarks.
He resigned Sept. 9 after his comments, videotaped during a lull in legislative proceedings, were broadcast over the Internet.
The FBI interviewed some of his former employees after he resigned.
In a statement released today, U.S. Atty. Lawrence G. Brown and FBI Special Agent in Charge Drew Parenti announced: "The FBI has concluded its preliminary investigation concerning comments made by former California Assemblyman Mike Duvall, and no prosecutive action by the United States attorney's office is warranted."
Duvall said after he quit that his comments were not an admission of an affair but rather amounted to "inappropriate storytelling."
Sempra said in a statement Monday that the lobbyist also denied Duvall's allegations: "Consistent with the outcome of the government investigations and Sempra Energy's own investigation, we have closed our review of this personnel matter and reinstated our employee to active status."
Malcolm Segal, Barsuglia's personal attorney, said Barsuglia "has been defamed in monumental proportions."
"Her reputation, her job and her exemplary career have all been placed in jeopardy by Duvall's disgusting remarks," he said.
Segal said he would not rule out legal action against Duvall.