Trutanich Defends Request for Money from AEG

And the War of Words over use of taxpayer money for the Michael Jackson memorial continues....

“If going after your money is being a bully, then I’m a bully; I have no problem doing that,” City Attorney Carmen Trutanich said in speech to members of the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce at City Hall. “We wasted a lot of dough on the Michael Jackson memorial. We wasted a lot of money."

Trutanich tells the LA Times that he did not originally ask AEG President Tim Leiweke for a $6 million reimbursement for the memorial when they met at Starbucks in July, but did come to that amount about a month later.

“I’m not saying I’m not doing it now. I’m going to ask for what the city lost.”