What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
Los Angeles is at a turning point. We are living in a defining moment. What happens next is up to us. Over the past few years, problems and challenges have shaken this city -- and tremendous opportunities for change have presented themselves. How do we rise to this moment and emerge a better place to live? What will it take to create a more just and a more equitable community? Working together, how are we going to create a stronger, forward-thinking Los Angeles? Mike Bonin, writer, teacher, progressive activist and former City Councilmember, looks at the issues and problems facing Los Angeles, examines ideas, and talks with the people who will lead us to a brighter future.
Produced in partnership with LA Forward.
What's Next, Los Angeles? with Mike Bonin
On Trial: Corruption in Los Angeles
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Bribery. Prostitution. Betrayal. Courtroom drama. The FBI investigation into LA City Hall has it all. It had led to a series of guilty pleas and guilty verdicts, for elected officials, staffers, developers, and lobbyists. The investigation's biggest trial -- against former Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan -- is underway now, and it is has continued to generate revelations about former City Councilmember Jose Huizar and City Hall.
Most LA media outlets are not covering the trial -- but legal reporter Meghann Cuniff is, and Mike talks with her in depth on this week's What's Next, Los Angeles.
Meghann Cuniff:
twitter: @meghanncuniff
substack: mcuniff.substack.com
Meghann's recent Substack coverage:
March 3: Former L.A. Planning Commission president testifies about strange meeting with Ray Chan
March 2: Testimony implicates ex-L.A. Deputy Mayor Raymond Chan in developer's $600K sex harassment settlement bribe to Jose Huizar
Feb. 25: 'This is scary, boss': Jurors hear ex-Los Angeles Councilman Huizar's covert bathroom meeting
Feb. 21: Trial begins today in ex-L.A. deputy mayor Raymond Chan's federal corruption case. His attorney has already angered the judge.
Meghann's LA Magazine coverage:
Ex-Los Angeles Councilman's Covert Bathroom Meeting Heard at Trial
https://www.lamag.com/citythinkblog/jurors-hear-ex-los-angeles-councilman-huizars-covert-bathroom-meeting/
What's Next, Los Angeles? is produced and hosted by Mike Bonin, in partnership with LA Forward.
Bribery, prostitution, betrayal, courtroom drama. The FBI investigation into LA City Hall has it all. One of the case's key trials is underway right now, and almost no one is covering it, except reporter Megan Cuniff. I talked to her today on what's next, Los Angeles. Hi everybody, it's Mike Bonnen. Thanks for joining me. You've all seen the headlines, you all saw the TV coverage. Nearly five years ago, the FBI raided the home and office of Los Angeles City Councilmember Jose Weizar, uncorking a series of explosive revelations about corruption in Los Angeles City government. The criminal behavior that's been exposed has been ugly and outrageous. And at times it has also been ridiculous and pathetic. With details about prostitutes and poker chips, secret meetings and bathrooms, and dreams of political empire building, the story at times seems really absurd. It's like some weird mashup of the HBO series VEP in the movie LA Confidential. But while the details are absurd, the crimes are very real. The sprawling federal corruption investigation has led to a veritable parade of guilty pleas and guilty verdicts from elected officials, from developers, lobbyists, and from political staffers. He admitted that he extorted at least 1.5 million in bribes from real estate developers. He had been scheduled to stand trial with a co-defendant, Ray Chan. Chan is the former head of the city's Department of Building and Safety and a former deputy mayor for economic development. Ray Chan's trial began a couple weeks ago, and many more details of the criminal conspiracy have been coming out. But as I said, there's almost no one in the press who's covering the trial. The exception is Megan Cuniff, a veteran legal affairs reporter in Southern California. She has written for the Los Angeles Daily Journal, Los Angeles Magazine, Bloomberg Law, The Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, and the LA Business Journal. She has been providing thorough reporting on the Rach Ann trial on Substack and on Twitter. And I am really glad to have her with us here on What's Next Los Angeles. Hey Megan, thanks for being here.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, thank you so much for having me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, uh this will be an interesting discussion because we we come at this from uh very different perspectives. You're like knee deep in the trial, but I presume you didn't know any of these this cast of characters before.
SPEAKER_03Not at all.
SPEAKER_02Whereas I I knew a lot of them worked in the same building for almost 10 years with a lot of them. Uh and so it's been it's been something to to read and to pay attention to.
SPEAKER_03I can imagine.
SPEAKER_02Uh well let's get right into it. And to start off, why don't we just sort of before we go too deep or talk about the particular witnesses or specific testimony? Let's frame it a bit. In in this case, what is the prosecution alleging?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, they had a central theme to their opening statement, and that was that they were uh Weezar and Sean were after three things. They wanted to get money, maintain power, and avoid the feds. And it was basically just all about the bribery scheme that happened with these two projects. It's very focused on the 77-story uh LA Grand Hotel, and then the redevelopment of the Lux Hotel and the bribery that happened that Wizard was doing, just kind of the extravagant uh stuff he was doing with, especially the developer of the 77-story hotel, Wei Wong, and then his partnership with Ray Chan and the way Ray Chan helped facilitate this for Wizard, introducing him to these people, serving as a translator, that kind of thing.
SPEAKER_02And at least from the the opening statement that we heard from Ray Chan's defense, uh what's the heart of the defense argument?
SPEAKER_03Uh the defense is basically saying that he is the target of an unfair investigation, sloppy investigation, and they've really wanted to allege racism in this, that he's being targeted because he of his Chinese background, and that this is uh they're alleging a conspiracy simply because he's, you know, Chinese and so are the developers. That was eliminated from trial. There were some pretrial rulings from the judge, but uh Rachon's lawyer has still managed to slip stuff in here and there about that.
SPEAKER_02All right. So they're uh they they did the opening statements a couple weeks ago, and then they began calling witnesses, the prosecution has, and they've been some interesting and colorful ones, at least according to your reporting. Uh folks like Georgia Sparza, David Ambrose, uh Rochelle Wizard, now Rios. Let me go through them sort of one by one. I guess the the central figure, and he's testified in some cases against some of the developers too, has been George Esparza, right?
SPEAKER_03Yes, definitely, definitely. He is, I would say, the government's star witness in the entire case, for sure.
SPEAKER_02And how has the the prosecution explained who George is?
SPEAKER_03Uh they've they introduced him as a special assistant to uh Jose Weezar, his his longtime assistant. Uh uh, you know, the guy who was with him, and I think Susan Haar in her opening said, you know, sometimes every hour of the day they were together. And then he was on the stand pretty early and kind of just spoke for himself about who he was and you know, the age he was when he got on with Weezar and then how involved he was with the councilman. One thing that was interesting was he would re repeatedly refer to uh Jose Weezar as the councilman. I mean, he he obviously had this, you know, boss relationship with him.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, I I can I can tell you from my experience, I I didn't know George Asparus, although I'd heard his name, I guess, in the building, uh, but didn't know him. But I do know that in Jose's office, uh, staff didn't have a lot of access to him. Like it was a real pipeline chain of command, and they all had to refer to him as council member. Like I never had anybody on my team refer to me as anything, but it was a uh a very certain way they they they did things over there. Now Esparza was pretty young, and I guess they had like a family connection too, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, Esparza's mom actually went to elementary school with Jose Weizar. So he was a family friend, and it sounds like they had, you know, a real trust in that you know George would go work for mom's family friend Jose and kind of learn the politics business.
SPEAKER_02Wow, and he has uh uh pled guilty uh a year or two ago, right?
SPEAKER_03Yes, he he he did. He uh a racketeering conspiracy charge, and he he's asked about that on the stand, and he he really shows you know a lot of shame when he answers that yes, he's a he's a convicted felon now. But you know, he has a huge incentive to uh testify in these trials. He's testified in the previous two trials regarding what David Lee, the real estate development, and then Wei Wong's company, but his testimony is a lot more detailed in this trial. Prosecutors have said they're not gonna recommend any more than 87 months. Like with Weezar, they've said 13 years. He's got 87 months, but I think he's hoping for even less than that based on all his trial testimony.
SPEAKER_02I mean, he's still a a pretty young guy. I mean, he started with with Jose, like he was real young, like basically as an intern and sort of rose up to be you know the aide-de-camp, I guess.
SPEAKER_03Yes, and there and there was a real uh a real air of you know, n he was he was naive. You know, you could he he even said when they asked him about this $200,000 that he'd kept for the councilman, they said, you know, what did he what did you think when he wanted you to do that? And he said, Well, at first I just thought that, you know, he trusted me with his money. But he says, you know, now I realize he wanted me to keep the money, so if the feds came around, I would have it, not him. It's like, yeah, I mean he got duped and used. Wow.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it in in listening to all of this from this and the previous trials, you know, my perception is that there's some people who were, you know, it was it was about venality and and mendacity, and then for some other people, it was just naivete or or stupidity or not really understanding what was happening around them. Um but uh Esparza was around for pretty much uh everything. I mean I guess yeah, he he had described himself as part of his job was to be with Jose everywhere and to um identify who sort of the targets would be for for bribes, right?
SPEAKER_03Yes, yeah, yeah, definitely. He I mean he he he he came across as you know kind of sheepish about this on the stand, and he was he he got duped. But then you see his text messages that he's exchanging with you know Wei Wong's young associate that he obviously had a real bromance with, uh Ricky Zhang, they were going to Vegas all the time in the way they're talking, like just hard charging, trying to control their bosses and manage everything, he was totally knee deep in everything. It was for sure, more than knee deep.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, it's it sounded like it was it was much more than knee deep. He was on some of those Vegas trips and and and and and stuff. How in the in the in his testimony is he implicating Ray Chan?
SPEAKER_03Uh uh Ray Chan was basically there the whole time, knowing about the Vegas trips, actually helping arrange the Vegas trips, introducing Wei Wong and uh the councilman, and even suggesting that they go to Las Vegas. And kind of a key testimony was after their first trip to Las Vegas, he said when he got back, George did when he was at City Hall, he saw Ray Chan, and they had a relationship where they called each other big brother, little brother, and Ray Chan said, you know, how how was the trip? Did the did the chairman take care of you kind of thing? And and and George just said, yes, yes, and uh and Ray indicated that was good. And there's Ray's lawyer is not really doing any kind of objecting or much cross-examination to this. So it's a real unfiltered view for the jurors here. And it's also very Wizard focused. I I've heard that when Wizar was originally going to be tried, the trial was going to be much longer. So they've obviously cut out a lot of stuff about him, but it's still very Wizard focused. And I think if Chan's lawyer was a little more active, he would be objecting and trying to get some of that stuff out, but it's just completely silent, and the jury is just hearing all this crazy stuff about city hall corruption.
SPEAKER_02So this is a case where what happens in Vegas did not stay in Vegas. Uh exactly. It all got out. Uh what happened in Vegas?
SPEAKER_03Oh, uh a lot of elaborate, uh, an elaborate Chinese dinner, a lot of gambling. I mean, it sounds like it was just basically what you can imagine you'd want to do in Vegas if you had, you know, all the money and and time to go to, you know, great restaurants, gamble $10,000 chips at blackjack tables, go to shows, that kind of thing. Stay in a two-story villa, that kind of thing. I'm not sure how many people would say they want to have their first pick of 10 to 11 prostitutes, but that actually went on too. Uh he George described this elaborate Chinese dinner and the just food all the time, all this expensive wine. And then he said afterward they go back to the hotel and there's uh 10 or 11 women lined up. And he said they were prostitutes. And the uh prosecutor said in her question, well, how did you know they were prostitutes? And George was just like, well, because we hadn't been talking to any women at all. And then all of a sudden, here were all these women, and we were told, don't worry, they've already been paid. And then they really emphasize in questioning that who who got the first pick? You know, how how did this work? And the chairman made sure that Weezar got the first pick because he's he's the man, he's the boss of downtown. So he gets he gets first pick at what's goes what goes on. Jury was loving that.
SPEAKER_02And in addition to the the the poker chips and the meals, presumably, or according to the testimony, the the the prostitutes were paid for as well by the chairman.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yeah, and they emphasized uh that that this was uh the chairman's arrangement. Um and and I I think and they were told that they didn't have to pay, and there was some questioning, you know, did you pay him? And and George did say that he did end up uh tipping his his prostitute because, you know, she she asked and you know she she wanted a tip, but it was with uh casino chips that were provided to him by the chairman. And I know in in the chairman's company's trial, he he's a fugitive living in China now, but in the chairman's company's trial, the defense was that these were all gifts given to the chairman by the casino, and he was just extending them to his his associates so it couldn't count as bribery. And the jury rejected that and convicted the company. But we we haven't heard that defense in this trial, but you can tell that prosecutors are trying to account for that by really emphasizing that this was the chairman's choice to give this out. It's not like the casino was like, hey, here's all these prostitutes for you guys.
SPEAKER_02Right. Yeah. And this wasn't one wild Vegas weekend, this was repeated trips, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. They said in the opening, probably over a dozen times uh Vegas trips over the years, but it sounded like it was very frequent. I mean, there hasn't been a pinpoint number, but it sounds like you know, Weizar would drop everything he was doing, cancel afternoon meetings, that kind of thing if the chairman wanted to go to Vegas. It was just let's go. But there were breaks when he thought the the feds were getting on him, when he had the ID incident at a casino, he would stop going. He'd even take uh commercial airlines. He'd take a southwest plane to Vegas if he thought that the private airline was going to check his ID. But George would still take the private jet with Ricky. He and he and Ricky had some partying to do.
SPEAKER_02So yeah, there was there was an incident that you reported on from the testimony where he was ID'd as an elected official. Uh somebody at the at the casino or the hotel ID'd him as an elected official and asked him to sign an affidavit saying that the chips weren't gifts, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, it's it it's interesting to hear about the different security measures at the casino because you kind of get the impression that some of these casinos cater to a little more of a refined crowd than the other ones. And they're uh the with the uh Palazo, am I pronouncing that? I'm pr I'm probably butchering the casino name. But the one that the one that ID'd him, they he he showed his ID to the I think it was a blackjack table, and then security came up to him a few minutes later and said, Hey, we've identified you as an elected official, and we need you to sign this form saying that those chips are are your chips and not a gift from somebody else, because obviously they're very aware of the bribery and nefarious stuff that goes on around there. And and he wouldn't sign it, and he fled at the casino, and then he he talked to George about it. George talked to Ricky, and their solution was that you know to stop going to that casino. And he got a lot more paranoid about when he was being ID'd. But it was just amazing to me that that is pretty, I mean, and the fact that they knew who he was, and and and from what I can tell, the LA Times did some reporting on this last year based on the unsealed affidavit that's in the court trial, because it has some more information in there than actually came out in trial. But that was a really pivotal moment in the FBI investigation. I think that's what basically triggered it, is the casino was like, well, here's Jose Wezar at the casino with like $10,000 in ships, and the feds started poking around and were able to get surveillance video of him gambling with the with the chairman, as everyone calls him, Chairman Wong.
SPEAKER_02I mean, it's you you you mentioned he sort of got paranoid at that point. Not paranoid enough to stop.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, that's the thing. He's he's paranoid enough to take a southwest flight, but he can't just stay home with his wife and four kids and not go to Las Vegas and do all this just blatantly like outrageous corruption. I mean, there's no way he didn't know, you know, know this was not illegal.
SPEAKER_02One of these Vegas trips, Mrs. Weezer, Rochelle actually went on them, right?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there was uh she she testified and and and she's just kind of a uh was kind of a sad figure on this scene. I mean, she was really uncomfortable, and you know, there's nothing funny about the fact that Weezar was a terrible husband and father. So the the kind of you know wow factor of her testimony wasn't there. But she said in, I think it was New Year's Eve 2014, uh she was going with Jose to uh Vegas on the chairman's dime on his jet, but it was supposed to be like a couple's weekend. And the the questioning was just about how the fact that it that didn't turn out, she ended up spending a lot of time by herself because Jose was gambling with the chairman, and then she was supposed to be back Sunday afternoon there uh to do something with the kids, but they ended up going back late because Jose was still gambling with the chairman, so it was just kind of testimony about how captivated he was by this guy, and it was it was sad to to hear all that.
SPEAKER_02And and it was the chairman who I guess quote unquote loaned Weezar $600,000 to uh help him settle a a uh a lawsuit over uh a case brought to him by a former staff member that he had an affair with.
SPEAKER_03Yes, the 600,000 is is a major part of the case for sure. And there was talk uh with uh his strange wife, Rochelle, about how she had a meeting with actually the chairman and some other people, and that that was being discussed, the 600,000 payment, and that Ray Chan was there. And there's been other testimony through George that uh Ray Chan was very central in arranging that whole thing between the chairman and uh Wizar. I'm calling the chairman too, like everyone else, but but but uh Wang because because Wong doesn't speak speak English and Wizard didn't speak Chinese. So I mean there's there's a big I mean Chan was very necessary in the whole thing to to communicate between between the two, and and he's the one who introduced him. So it also just emphasized to the jury that he absolutely knew about this six hundred thousand dollar payment. He was front and center in it, and he orchestrated the whole thing.
SPEAKER_01Wow. And Esparza off uh obviously also knew about the six hundred thousand.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yeah, definitely. He uh remember when they the Susan Harr was doing the exam, the prosecutor, she said, you know, were you involved in the in the lawsuit? She she named the staff who suit him. He says, Oh, yeah, I was I was very involved in that. It's like, yeah, you were you were working 24-7 on that one for a while. But he he and actually he and Ricky, who the assistant for Wei Wong, really did the grunt dirty work of setting up the shadow LLC and everything so they could do the payment arrangements. I mean, it sounds like it was a lot of a lot of work for these guys. So yeah.
SPEAKER_02That's a lot different than writing a briefing memo or staffing a council member at a at a community town hall. Um their relationship though, the relationship between Jose and Esparza got very complicated and eventually soured, and there was a whole bunch of weird stuff that that happened in between. You you referenced earlier that that Weezar gave him some money to hold.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, there were two separate hundred thousand dollar payments from the chairman, and he's testified it before in uh about it before in previous trials, the the different drops that happened and how he picked up this cash. And but the the new stuff that came out was how he he had stored this for Jose, eventually passing it to Ricky Zing at one point. But it he had $200,000 in cash in two liquor boxes in his bedroom at his grandparents' house that he was storing for Wizar. And when the feds were calling around, it was December 2017 when he quit. And he tested this this was the new stuff came that came out. He said he he knew that the that Weezar was gonna bring up the $200,000 when he quit. And so he was gonna secretly record the conversation just to protect himself. And he had two cell phones on him. So when he was saying, you know, boss, I'm quitting in the office, Jose was like, okay, let's go into the bathroom here. And apparently uh Weezar had him actually put his cell phone down because he didn't want it to be recorded, but George had a second cell phone on him that he that he had uh recording. So he was still able to record the conversation. And they played it for the jury, and you can hear George just saying, you know, this is scary, boss, this is scary. And the prosecutor said, What was scary to you? He said, Oh, the FBI. And it's it's a little, it's not as blunt as just, hey, where's my $200,000? When are you going to give it to me? But they're clearly talking about the money. And George is kind of pleading with the councilman that things are too scary right now, and he doesn't want to have to touch the money, and we need to wait. So they waited, they agreed to wait till April 1st. And then there was, this is off the recording, but there was testimony from George about how then April 1st became October 1st of uh 2018. So he was still in touch with the councilman after he quit, but in those months, he started cooperating with the FBI, and the jurors saw all these text messages that Jose started sending them, especially in uh October, trying right before October 1st, trying to set up the meeting, and George just ignored them all. And they got increasingly more hostile. And then it's like the pro okay, so what happened after all these text messages? Was there some kind of incident that happened? And George said, Yeah, I wasn't home, but he came by my grandparents' house. And it was and they actually saw a ring, the ring surveillance photo of Weizar at at the door, and it was his great uh George's grandfather that he talked to. But uh George testified that Weezar told his grandfather that George owed him money, and that he was trying to find George, and he's been trying to find George, and he owes him money. And the prosecutors are like, Well, what'd you what do you think about this? And George was like, Well, at that point I was really pissed off because he was trying to intimidate my grandfather. And they didn't get into all the dirty details of what exactly happened, but George was clearly cooperating with the FBI at the time. So he never ended up talking to Weizar, and that money is now with the FBI. It was seized, and Weizar never got it. But that was the big like, wow, Weizar going to his house and hitting up his grandfather.
SPEAKER_02So Asparus has got what I presume is a big box of cash, right? This isn't like a cigar box.
SPEAKER_03like uh you say a liquor box i guess that's the ones the whole like big fifths of of of vodka or something like that a huge box of cash stashed at his grandparents' house does he live with his grandparents yeah yeah he lived with his grandparents which was just like this nice touch to the jury because I mean he was he was so hard charging involved in it but it was also just like this guy's just a kid I mean he started out he he talked about his salary he started out at 32000 a year and went up to 102 at the end of it but I mean he was just he spent his 20s like right at the side of this corrupt power broker.
SPEAKER_02Yeah and this is at a point where I mean like elected officials most of most of them have young staff and part of your obligation is to mentor people and to help steer them in the right direction. Yeah clearly not the the the case here what kind of texts I mean how how how let me put it this way how stupid was Jose when he was sending these texts? Was was he saying in the texts I want my money?
SPEAKER_03Yeah I mean he was I was he mentioning the exact cash I don't think he ever actually mentioned you know 200,000 but it was like let's meet up we're meeting on October 1st and then one was you know after October 1st passed it was like I guess you don't want to uh fulfill your obligations on this I mean it was just so obvious that after especially the pre-tech uh all the testimony from George about the money the recording showed that it was about the money so well I don't think he was as blatant as just saying $200,000 and his conversation with grandfather wasn't on recording. It was just very believable to the jury and kind of obvious that this is what he was after.
SPEAKER_02I mean what else would he be so insistent on on contacting George about because it all kind of followed the recording perfectly there there are so many details of of of this that it it's almost if if you were gonna present a a script to me with a lot of these details in it I would say no this is too unrealistic it would never happen.
SPEAKER_03Like the bathroom stuff like that bathroom stuff with Jose but also Englender Mitch Englender when in his thing he accepted like a bag of money in a Vegas bathroom yes yeah yeah and the Vegas bathroom scene it has come up in this trial because there were uh when uh Weizar felt like the the heat was on him in Vegas but he just could not stop gambling with uh Wong's money he would go into the bathroom the public bathroom at the casino to meet George and have George cash in the chips because uh there was testimony that they they loved gambling you know $10,000 chips with the chairman but they they also wanted to take some of that money home but they had to kind of it just depended on how the chairman was doing and how his mood was doing whether they could cash out chips or not. So that was kind of a a game they played between themselves but yeah eventually he just became George just became the fall guy for cashing in all the chips he also acknowledged that it was his job to steal all the towels and the bathrobes from the uh hotel rooms for Weizar. He had to take like an extra duffel bag on the trips because the chairman loved all that stuff and it was George's job to take it all back.
SPEAKER_02George was stealing towels for for Weezer.
SPEAKER_03Yes yeah yeah because we are apparently couldn't be bothered with that kind of stuff but he also couldn't leave the hotel with you seen those bathrobes those are nice bathrobes and how did they how how did the defense cross-examine asparza you said the the the jury seemed to receive asparza pretty well yeah I mean he was they they really seem to be enjoying just hearing about all these details and he he's very believable. I mean he's not he's not as candid and as articulate as some witnesses but he seems you know and this is what his third third trial that he's testified in you know he's very comfortable up there. The the cross was a lot of hypotheticals from uh Sean's lawyer Harlan Braun who has this really storied history in LA I mean he's kind of a a famous criminal defense attorney and he's done a lot of really huge cases but he's he's um he's right now and we should all hope he gets better but he had a health scare and he's in the hospital and it's just kind of you know there's been some stuff where you just wonder if he's if he's if he's doing okay and and how the trial's going. Because uh I I I wasn't able to see all of the cross but a another reporter for Law 360 who's covered a little bit said that it was a lot of hypotheticals like sometimes repeating it saying well what if a council member did this like kind of just you know a little bit of corruption here. He'd kind of make up scenarios and ask George about it and it was it was just kind of weird. And you can kind of see the jury kind of snickering and laughing when Harlan will get up to do cross examinations because it's just so you know ineffective and his his opening there were his opening statement there were you know 13 sustained objections where for a lawyer even one sustained objection in an ex uh an opening statement is bad. And he was you know he he comes across as a little I I I hate I hate to use this word but he he came across as a little senile to the jury because there were there were strict orders yeah yeah Braun did there were strict orders for him not to talk about race or anything like that and and kind of early on he in the in his opening statement he just looks at the he goes Chinese this Chinese that and and I mean it was funny but it was also like okay this is a serious case and I mean the jury is just kind of laughing at it at this point. So it's it's not it's not a good scene for Sean for sure.
SPEAKER_02Wow I mean I didn't know Esparza um but I mean I would have imagined the defense would have tried to undermine his credibility and say hey you were enjoying the use of these prostitutes I would have been saying weren't you trying to keep the $2000 for yourself but it doesn't sound like they did that?
SPEAKER_03Yeah there wasn't a whole a whole lot of that I think that was a a little bit of the point but then also um they do emphasize that Sean never went to Vegas. He never participated in these trips so the idea that he knew about all this debauchery that was going on I mean all we really have is asparza saying that you know Sean asked him were you taken care of and and uh asparza saying yes and Sean being happy about that but it's like does that mean that he knew that 10 or 11 prostitutes were lined up and they all got the first pick? And that was one area that wasn't really explored at all. It's just kind of emphasizing that like Sean was not there on these Vegas trips and did he know you know how how corrupt they were and how bad they were but of course prosecutor's overall point is just the fact that he knew that they were going to Las Vegas on the chairman's dime and that he'd arranged the whole thing on these private jets and that none of this stuff was being reported by Jose Weizar on his expenditure reports and his and his gift reports that that right there is enough. But there is just a whole lot of testimony kind of inflammatory testimony about the you know prostitution picks and everything that you'd think that his lawyer would be working hard to really distance Chan from. But one of his defenses though was that oh actually told him not to go to Vegas. He told him don't do that it looks bad. But we've got George's testimony saying that in the beginning it was Chan's idea he thought that hey that you know the chairman loves to gamble and you you and uh to Weizar that they should go to Vegas and kind of get to know each other up there and he arranged the whole things. But when the heat came from the casino security and Wizard was getting nervous about that apparently Chan was informed about the the security concerns there and encouraged the cool down because there was testimony that while they'd go pretty frequently over this several year period there were like a a six month period where they didn't go to Vegas at all or months where they would cool down and that Chan had encouraged that.
SPEAKER_02But they also I mean the prosecutors were able to emphasize that he he only did that because they were afraid they were going to get caught it wasn't like he he realized what was going on and said we're this is you know totally unethical and illegal so a after Esparza then uh one of the other subsequent witnesses was David Ambrose. Um David was uh for a long time he may still be but he for a long time he was a member of the Citywide Planning Commission. He was chairperson of the citywide planning commission uh a pretty vocal and an active member of that uh and his testimony was was really much more pointed at at Ray.
SPEAKER_03Definitely definitely that was a really I would you know as they kind of say in trial talk that was a bad witness for him for sure. And the the because I think the defense on that has been that this meeting that uh Sean arranged with Ambrose was just so they could patch up their relationship. But the prosecutors were like did you have any relationship with Ray Sean? He's just like no I mean he's the the deputy mayor of economic development he wanted to have a meeting with him and phone records showed that he was very persistent in contacting him and Ambrose couldn't remember you know which calls he took or or what but this went on over a period of time after they'd he'd they'd met at some social function. Ambrose couldn't remember exactly which one it was but he said that Sean approached him at a social function and wanted to meet with him about the LA Grand Hotel. And he thought that was strange that he was so specific about the hotel but he also admitted that i i it wasn't unusual that somebody would want to talk to him as the planning commission president. Right and that it's you know it's in you know it's a deputy mayor and they wanted to have a meeting with him but he said the whole thing just had a weird feeling to it and uh they weren't they didn't want to meet he John didn't want to meet at City Hall in the place that he picked, I mean it was just kind of funny because when you see Ambrose on the stand, I'm like, yeah, I don't think you're really a dive bar kind of guy are you but he sat down with Sean and Sean was basically asking him to support the LA Grant Hotel project. And that it there was never any you know bribery offer or anything like that. But he just felt that he was being pressured by him, being leaned on and he just felt I mean it it was interesting to kind of see his process with it because he vented a few times about the corruption at City Council and how at that point he just had to turn away from things and he just seemed kind of like he'd been boxed into a corner and he was I mean because he even said who who do I call he said I even he he said he went out to his car and thought like wow you know this just had such a bad feeling to it and he was he was you know upset about the fact that he just met with Rachon this you know powerful deputy mayor for economic development and the whole reason that Ambrose joined Planning Commission is to work on the homelessness crisis. And he I wasn't here if he testified about this in the very beginning of his testimony but I looked at his background and saw that you know he grew up in foster care and homelessness and he's published a book about it. Yeah yeah I mean I was like wow this guy seems like a really great guy but he was he was really dedicated to that and he just felt bad that they didn't even talk about that at all but he said I felt like I was being pressured but it's like who do I call he's like do I do I call the mayor he said and he said do I do I call a hotline and say hey I think the deputy mayor is trying to lean on me and the the jury really laughed at that that was like a light moment in the courtroom but I remember thinking to myself it's like yeah there's a hotline for that it's called the FBI hotline. I'm sure they would have been interested but but it was just like it wasn't as blatant as him just you know strong arming him or he said it was a a pleasant conversation but there was also this power dynamic. It was just kind of interesting to hear how many people were involved in this because one point that came up and it it doesn't make Ambrose look all that great is that you know when the meeting came around they ended up approving this and he kind of they went through the the process of what he approved and his usual concerns about projects. So I mean overall it kind of looked for the jury that like yeah the the deputy mayor tried to lean on him and he emphasized that he didn't think he needed to talk about it at all because he's an independent person and it's not going to affect me. But in the end the meeting came around and he approved the project even though he thought it was a you know walking billboard. So it was just kind of like an example of just the you know kind of crappy things that happened to like seeming like good people in government because they're just under the pressure of these corrupt power brokers. It was sad.
SPEAKER_02Well uh people within uh the political world and people within I guess the personal world too or I guess Rochelle was in both but Rochelle also testified and you said it was kind of sad and and and awful um one of the things that struck me was that she was aware of the the $6000 payment and that Ray went to her house and talked to her about it.
SPEAKER_03Yeah yeah that and and that's one thing they come across as so it's sad and they were being duped but then when you look at their actual actions it's like oh you were really involved in this weren't you you knew all about this you were flying on the chairman's jet it came out that she was regularly depositing $200 to $1,000 cash increments into their bank account that Jose gave her after she saw him come back from Vegas with a huge stack of cash. And there's marital privilege issues that prevent uh prosecutors from asking her what did you say? But it came out that the first time she saw him with that big stack of cash, she asked him about it and it turned into an unpleasant conversation and she decided after that sh don't ask Jose about any cash from Vegas that he gets. So it was like well she's laundering money and doing all these things. I mean you can kind of see the you can just imagine the conversations the feds had with her after they raided her house. I mean she could have been charged in this I mean the yeah the fact that she's testifying and you know divorcing him or estranged from him is yeah it's all it's all a product from this it's like wow all the lives that just got shattered here.
SPEAKER_02Well because her I mean I guess the the feds really could have leaned on her because her her candidacy to succeed Jose was was was part of you you talked about that that that trika of allegations is is is get money, keep power, uh stay away from keep the feds away. Rochelle serving after Jose was part of this concept they had of another 10 years, 12 years of extending power.
SPEAKER_03Yeah and to and to me I mean it kind of strikes me as just one of the more comical aspects like if you were writing a movie that's the scene you'd be like oh that is just kind of oh his wife right right but yeah I mean it was true and there's been all this testimony about how she she really didn't seem to have the fire in her belly for an election campaign that they needed the political consultant Maury uh uh Goldman who got wrapped up all in all this and and pleaded guilty uh testified about that uh meeting that they had but that the one who was really passionate about her running was Weezar and that they started this political action committee that he was trying to get people to donate to it was another quid pro quo uh thing that he had but uh yeah the I mean it was a very real thing she even announced her candidacy and there was kind of a it was a funny moment to me when prosecutors said you know why did you why did you decide to withdraw? You know, was there something that happened that prompted you to you know reconsider your candidacy and she said well the FBI raid at my house she said yeah that that might do it she said I just decided there wasn't a path forward after that and I I thought it was funny that she used the word path forward because it's such a you know political consultant campaign thing it's like yeah after yeah you're probably not a viable candidate after that of course an FBI raid hasn't stopped Trump from thinking about running again yeah well and it was amazing to me that Wizar didn't resign after that I mean he just hung on for I mean he didn't even resign until 2020. He's like wow yeah uh until after until after the arrest after after the indictment there was something too Maury Goldman got a text from Jose which was pretty explicitly talking about bribery it sounded to me yeah yeah and the text uh it was somet something about the a downtown development and Jose Jose responded to Maury said well are they willing to donate to the pack and he was he was meaning his his wife's political pack and uh Maury's response is as your friend uh you know it's something about let's move this text message to another thread which of course on the stand he's all you know right oh this was illegal and he should unethical and should not have been doing this it's like um so how did you end up pleading guilty to a felony yourself and now you're up in some winery in Northern California because your political consulting business was ruined because of this I mean he's certainly not as dirty as other people but he's he's he's dirty in it I mean he saw all that and he acts all indignant about it on the stand but it's like well what did you actually do after that happened you kind of went along with it it sounds like I mean there there were so many things that that should have been a a a stop sign for for Weezer. The the thing with the ID at the hotel you know Maury's response to that all all of these things should have told him to uh to to cut it out um you you talked about uh earlier how the how Harlan Brown the defense attorney um isn't feeling well has some illness and so they uh they they canceled the the the hearing last week and it's unclear how long this will will will go on uh if the trial resumes what's what's next uh right now george uh uh is testifying george uh the the the other geor uh was it uh was it Chang i it there there's an I in there I might be mispronouncing it yes but it's I and g yeah it's the consulting guy the Synergy consulting company that Sean went to work for post retirement and that's a big part of the the puzzle in the story here is that one of his big rewards for sending all these consulting comp all this consulting business to George and working so closely with Weezar and the Lux Hotel developer was he would get this well paid consulting job afterward which is what happened. So he went to work for Synergy. So George had started testifying uh Thursday afternoon he testified for about an hour and then was supposed to be on the stand all day Friday but yeah uh trial got cancelled because Thursday night Braun uh had had an ER scare he was in the emergency room I I haven't heard anything about him I I hope he's okay but I mean I I just the idea that in the idea that we would want him to, you know, Thursday night he's in the emergency room and he's kind of been looking not very good in trial. He has a a couple of young attorneys sitting next to him and I could tell that one of them was really worried about him on Thursday during a break because when he gets up and walks out of the courtroom I mean he looks it's like okay I don't think this guy is doing very well he's he's 80 years old and I think he had an interaction with one of the younger attorneys that really like scared the guy. I mean just the look on his face I could tell he was really worried about Braun when he walked off. And then you know what six hours later he ends up in the ER? It's like I don't know if he's gonna be back and ready to do the trial I somebody the person who told me this said they really don't think it's gonna be Monday but I'm like you think it's gonna be Tuesday? But we'll we'll see what happens. I mean they might I think they might have to declare a mistrial because of it and if he has to get new counsel this is going to push everything back for uh you know it could push it back for a year or so but but but you know let's I I haven't heard any kind of updates and let's hope that he's he's okay and and able to come back and and do the trial and who else was a prosecution scheduled to call for witnesses? Uh the I think George was is the last uh big prosecution witness I think so that he he and he's supposed to be on the stand for a good eight hours or so but then uh Ray Chan's gonna testify for the defense so that the cross on him is gonna be really really big but oh yeah yeah and then are there other defense witnesses or just Ray? I I think there are other defense witnesses but the the big one is uh it is Ray there is a witness list that I could I could bring up here but that's that's that's a pretty big risk for for for Ray. I I think so especially with with just the way Braun is I mean you have to you know are they going to be able to have time to prepare him for that and I and I just watching the trial as you know my background with the Daily Journal and the legal affairs reporting I was like when does this become an issue for the court of he's not getting effective representation I mean in in in front of your very eyes the judge should kind of but can the judge do anything? I mean he's he's a paid private counsel. Like John can hire whoever he wants it's kind of up to Chan to to try to fire his lawyers.
SPEAKER_02So has in in all the testimony so far is anyone alleging that that Ray himself got anything or just that he did things to help others get stuff?
SPEAKER_03It's the consulting job that is the big kind of fish that they're that they're connecting him to on the bribery stuff is this uh high high paying consulting job that he was kind of working for this whole time that he was uh doing stuff with the Lux Hotel and kind of throwing consulting uh contracts his way but especially with the the 77 uh story hotel there really hasn't been much like what was he really getting out of this I mean he doesn't really seem like a Vegas guy I guess he he could have gone on those trips if he wanted to but and I I mean did you did you know him at very well? I mean you were saying that everyone did but what I mean what was your impression of him he because he seems like a I mean, I always say this about people. Oh, he seems like a such a such a nice guy. It's like, yeah, you talk to him for two seconds outside of a courthouse. But I mean he he he did, but yeah.
SPEAKER_02It's yeah, no, I I knew Ray fairly well. He was a general manager for, you know, a good chunk of the time, maybe a third of the time I was uh on the council. And uh I probably knew him w when I was working for my predecessor. Uh always a a nice guy. And honestly, Ray was always seen as uh one of the most effective general managers in the city. I mean, he does he doesn't cut like a very impressive figure. You don't look at him and say, Oh, this guy's a a power, but uh anytime you had a problem the council members would call Ray and he'd solve it. And you know, for Jose, it was clearly some some pretty big weird asks. You know, in in in a lot of council members' cases, like in mine, you'd call them and then say, Hey, I got a small business that is pretty much ready to be open, they just need their final building and safety inspection. Can you get somebody out there? And Ray would usually make it happen you know the same day. Uh it's you know, I talked about how there's in this case there's the venality and there's the mendacity, and then there's the naivete. On some level, I just feel like Ray Ray's temperament, Ray's personality is that of a concierge.
SPEAKER_00Right?
SPEAKER_02I mean, he his he feels like his job is to serve others, and you know if you're asking him to do something that's legal, he's gonna get it done. Apparently, he also complied when people asked him to do other stuff.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Oh, you know, I just I pulled up the witness list. One person who's left to testify. You you probably know him, Sean uh K U K is his last name, Cook.
SPEAKER_02Sean Cook, he was uh Weizar's uh uh chief planner.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, planning deputy. And he's he's got about three hours of testimony expected, so he should be a big one. And then Andy Wang, who's just described as a business person. Uh he's got four hours. There's somebody from Chase Bank who's gonna testify, but I think that's just bank records that they're gonna get in. But they're they're about wrapped up here. So I think their plan was to to end next week. I I kind of wonder if Chan is his only his only witness. But he's I mean, that's gonna be an all-day testimony thing, too. So it'll be really interesting to see what the judge does Monday and how long, how many days he's willing to not have trial while we wait to see, you know, hope that that Harlan recovers.
SPEAKER_02The uh Ray's testimony is gonna be something, I imagine. Yeah. Uh I can't I can't imagine it it's gonna go well for him. I mean, he and I mean he always, as I said, he was always trying to get things done for council members, but he and Weezar had uh a particularly tight and now we see how relationship. I remember in 2018, after Ray had left the city when he was a consultant, I was at some event where Ray was, and Ray had to duck out early. And it was because Weizar, according to Ray, had hurt his back, and Ray needed to take him to the doctor. Uh we're just such so close. And I'm like, man, I I I I can't imagine I could get like general manager to do that even while we're both still working for the city.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_02And that just struck me as that. I mean, that put a big question mark over my head. Whether or not it was really a trip to the doctor, who knows, based on everything we found out.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, you know, and and that's been one thing that prosecutors tried to emphasize through the testimony. They'd they'd ask uh George Esparza, you know, what were they like in meetings together if Weizar and Sean were sitting together with with Chairman Wong? George said that they would be making a point to show how close they are, you know, really kind of showing that they are in cohesion. They are the two that you know the chairman needs to go through on this.
SPEAKER_02So any indication or any sense uh you're watching it, and it's clearly not going well for for for Chan. Uh partially it sounds like it's the facts, and partially it sounds like it's it's his it's it's his counsel. Uh any guesses of why he didn't take a a plea deal?
SPEAKER_03Well, and and uh yeah I mean, the the prison time that he would probably face, because I mean I can I can see the prosecutors kind of looking at Sean and and you know his his civil service and thinking that that is, you know, maybe we should give him a break. But what he's accused of, I mean, it's so egregious. It's just so totally outrageous. And it's like, how was this guy a city employee for 33 years and he didn't know that this was just completely illegal? I mean, how much ethics training has he gone into? So if if they were offering Wizar 13 years, you'd gotta imagine that they'd offer Sean less, but it was probably still a hefty amount of time. I mean, it could have been like 10 years. And, you know, in Harlan Braun is a great attorney. And that's the thing that's that's sad about it. Is he's not only does he have a great reputation, but he has a really great track record. I mean, a lot of people have texted me who known him, uh, you know, I've known Harlan since 1989. How's he doing? I'm like, oh, you read the trial story, and a couple people have said, okay, this is not like the Harlan that I know. He's he's I mean, he he's done a lot of great cases and wins. So he Sean might have just thought that he had a really good chance and that, you know, Harlan was was gonna live up to his previous performances in other trials and get him a big win, which I I think, you know, 20 years ago that would have been really possible.
SPEAKER_02But you know, something just happened with the defense and wouldn't the feds usually try to get Ray to plead and testify against Jose rather than getting Jose to to plead?
SPEAKER_03Yeah, I'm I'm wondering how that all went because it's all separate, you know, negotiations. So there had to have been some kind of offer to to Ray, but I I wonder how you know with with Jose's brother getting charged, that was a big one. Yeah. And then also George. George was just such a key witness because even after Jose pleading guilty, I don't know if there was much of an effort or any kind of requirement for him to have to testify against Sean because their case is just already built kind of around George. So they had a cooperating plea agreement with him. So I just um I I mean the the separate negotiations and I I kind of think the feds just looked at their evidence and were like, if these guys want to take it both to trial, let's do it. I mean, it's an important enough case that they would prioritize it and not try to cut like any any unreasonably low plea deals just to like try to secure a conviction, you know. It's like if they've got, you know, Wizard's wife willing to testify against them, uh, and just the facts of it. I mean, the jurors are oh, there's one alternate juror for sure who's just loving the whole thing. When uh when they called Rochelle Rios to the stand, I saw him actually clap his hands together and kind of rub them and look at the person next to him. Which which is sad because it's like, I mean, it's it's just you know, it's not, it's it's not it's not funny, but I mean, because it's just this uninterrupted crazy show of City Hall corruption. That's why, I mean, if there's a mistrial and they got to put this before another jury, it is just such a bad look for City Hall. But I guess, you know, all the people who are in power now can just rightfully say that they had nothing to do with it and you know, they weren't around when that happened.
SPEAKER_02But no, and the funny thing is, you know, there were always sort of rumors and whispers around City Hall about Weizar, and uh I'd never heard anything about Ray, but about Wizard. And I always thought, you know, the the kind of things that people are alleging, that's the kind of thing you see in fiction. It doesn't really happen in real life. And I honestly, I mean, I I didn't think that Jose was uh smart enough to to pull off like a big criminal conspiracy. And I I guess in the end he wasn't because he got caught. Uh but it just it the the stuff was, I guess, shocking but not surprising. Not surprising because you'd heard the rumors, but it's still hard to believe that it was like this blatant, this obvious, this the details are just so garish. Yeah, it's just absurd.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, and it looked like a pretrial, there was a big effort by his attorneys to try to suppress emails that the feds had intercepted, you know, way early on before his house was raided. They were watching him and reading his emails. And I think they do just got so much damning evidence from some of those emails. And and the emails are what enabled them to get the search warrant. So the attorneys were really banking on if they can somehow suppress the emails and say that the feds never should have been able to access those emails, it'll negate the whole thing because the search warrant will go out. But once the judge said no, the emails are fine, it's like, dude, you're kind of screwed. And yeah, I mean, thirteen years in prison, that it's it's a long time, but it's better than 30 or whatever you would face if you were convicted at trial. So you just wonder about the different conversations that go on between uh attorneys and their clients about why you should plead or why you shouldn't.
SPEAKER_02So Jose could get 13 and um Ray could get significantly more than that, right?
SPEAKER_03I I I think so. I haven't looked at the guidelines, but if you just look at his charges, it's like, okay, the that's a lot of time there. And and especially if he takes it to trial and gets convicted, he's not gonna get any credit for cooperation or anything like that. And there's just a whole formula that the feds use through this U.S. sentencing commission guidelines to, you know, points here and points there, it matters how much money and that kind of thing. And then it'll be up to Judge Walter, which I think is and he's an interesting figure in this whole thing. He's been on the bench forever, but he has every single one of these cases, and no one's been sentenced yet. And it's always emphasized in the questioning that while the feds are recommending these sentences, in the end, it's ultimately up to Judge Walter.
SPEAKER_00Yeah.
SPEAKER_03So a lot of the judges might just go with recommendations, but I don't know. I mean, if he thinks some of these are too low, he could he could absolutely give people more time, or he could give them less time.
SPEAKER_02Well, and we'll find out I think April 3rd is when Weizar is scheduled to be sentenced.
SPEAKER_03Yeah, yeah. Although if if for some reason there is a mistrial here, I think all the sentencings are gonna get delayed. But if if this this is the last trial. So if there's a a verdict on this, the sentencings are gonna happen for sure.
SPEAKER_02Well, a story that keeps on going and keeps on going. And when when the trial or if the trial resumes, I assume you'll be back there covering it.
SPEAKER_03Yes, yeah. I I I I gotta be out of town late next week, but only for a couple of days. So I'm definitely planning to be there Monday and Tuesday.
SPEAKER_02And uh, how can people follow you and your coverage?
SPEAKER_03Um, I work for Los Angeles magazine, so I write a lot of long form stories for them, but I'm also on uh Twitter, which I know not everyone is on Twitter, and I'm trying to kind of that's why I started the Substack as a way to kind of transition from posting so much news on Twitter. So it's uh mkunif.substack.com. And if you guys can all subscribe, you can you can stay up to date on everything.
SPEAKER_02It's a it's a it's a great resource. Uh Megan, thank you so much for your coverage and thank you for for joining me and sharing all this information and all your insights. I really appreciate it.
SPEAKER_03Thank you.
SPEAKER_02Uh well that does it for another edition of What's Next Los Angeles. Uh, if you've enjoyed the program, please tell your friends. Follow on Apple or Spotify or wherever you listen to podcasts. If you have any suggestions for topics or guests, email me at what's nextlosangeles at gmail.com or follow me on Twitter at Mike Bonin. Uh next week I hope to have some really cool guests joining me to talk about some of the other important stuff going on in and around Los Angeles County. My thanks to Brian Holmes for editing the podcast and making us sound good. And thanks to you for listening. I'm Mike Bonin, and again, this is What's Next Los Angeles. Until next time, peace and take good care.