Topline:
The California Attorney General's office has dropped an investigation into an LA Metro contract that involved former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and the domestic violence organization Peace Over Violence.
Why now: In a statement, the California Department of Justice said “there was a lack of evidence of wrongdoing” by Kuehl or Patti Giggans, executive director of Peace Over Violence who is also a member of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission. At issue was a L.A. Metro contract awarded to Giggans’ organization.
The backstory: The investigation was marked by a high-profile raid by armed sheriff’s deputies on the homes of Kuehl and Giggans two years ago. Both were sharp critics of then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva. They accused him of conducting the raids in retaliation. He denied it.
The California Attorney General's office has dropped an investigation into an LA Metro contract that involved former Los Angeles County Supervisor Sheila Kuehl and the domestic violence organization Peace Over Violence.
In a statement, the California Department of Justice said “there was a lack of evidence of wrongdoing” by Kuehl and Patti Giggans, executive director of Peace Over Violence who is also a member of the Sheriff Civilian Oversight Commission.
The backstory
The investigation was marked by a high-profile and controversial raid by armed sheriff’s deputies on the homes of Kuehl and Giggans two years ago. Both were sharp critics of then-Sheriff Alex Villanueva. They accused him of conducting the raids in retaliation. He denied it.
State Attorney General Rob Bonta’s office took over the investigation in September 2022, shortly after the raid.
At issue were L.A. Metro contracts awarded to Giggans’ organization totaling about $890,000. Giggans is close friends with Kuehl, who sat on the Metro board at the time. Giggans had donated to her political campaign for office.
About the findings
Bonta’s office concluded that “there is insufficient evidence to support the filing of charges” based on Metro’s awarding of the sole-source contract to Peace Over Violence, “or on the campaign contributions received by Supervisor Kuehl from persons affiliated with POV.”
State drops investigation of former LA County Supervisor Kuehl and nonprofit director
Kuehl said she was vindicated.
“We knew there was no evidence and we were just waiting for him to catch up,” Kuehl said of Bonta. “There was never anything there.”
Villanueva had also asked Bonta to look into whether L.A. County Inspector General Max Huntsman had tipped off Kuehl and Giggans about the search warrants.
Bonta’s office said “insufficient evidence was found to charge anyone with a crime.”
Villanueva was not immediately available for comment.
