Democratic Sen. Susan Rubio was the Senate Insurance Committee chair for the past six years. As of Wednesday, that committee is the only committee in the entire legislature without a chair.
CBS News California Investigates exclusively spoke with Rubio on Friday. The senator directly addressed questions about the investigation and the open committee chair.
Federal officials have not identified Rubio by name in the case. However, no one else matches the full description of "Person 20," who is accused in recently released federal court documents of asking for $240,000 in bribes from a cannabis company and accepting $30,000 in illegal campaign contributions. The allegations stem from when Rubio was a member of the Baldwin Park City Council.
Rubio told CBS News California that she wasn't interested in being the insurance committee chair anymore.
Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire's office did not respond to repeated interview requests from CBS News California or to emailed questions about the vacant Insurance Chair position.
Rubio's spokesperson, Matthew Z'berg, previously told CalMatters that Rubio "encouraged (McGuire) to appoint a new chair to be announced with all other assignments. She also conveyed to him that by leaving the position open, he would be feeding into false narratives and speculation."
Capitol insider and legislative rules expert Chris Michali explained that while committees won't start meeting to vote on bills for a couple of months, there is a lot to do in the meantime, even with the committee chair vacant.
The senior committee staff, known as the principal consultant, is also new to the committee.
Roughly a third of the legislature is newly elected, roughly a quarter have never served in state office before, and half of the insurance committee is new to that committee.
"The reality is that this is the largest class that came in," Rubio told CBS News California.
When it comes to experience, Sen. Rubio has been the Senate insurance chair for longer than most of the legislature has been in office.
Is Sen. Rubio "Person 20"?
The recently released federal documents are a plea agreement signed by former Baldwin Park City Attorney Robert Tafoya. Federal officials released the agreement late last year. In the agreement, Tafoya says he helped facilitate bribes to local officials from companies seeking marijuana permits.
The plea agreement says Person 20 sought $240,000 from a marijuana company seeking a city permit, but the company refused to pay that much so the deal fell through. Person 20 also sought and received $30,000 from Tafoya in a scheme to drum up support for Person 20's 2018 state campaign, the documents say. Tafoya said he agreed to pay Person 20, in exchange for assurance he'd keep his city job and get state work from Person 20 after the election, according to his plea agreement.
"I have no idea who Person 20 is, but I am completely confident that the U.S. Attorney's Office would not include these declaratory statements about Person 20's actions unless they were very confident they could prove the truth of those statements in a court of law," said McGregor Scott, a twice-appointed former U.S. Attorney based in Sacramento.
"I can't tell you what that person is, but all I know is that I'm not talking to anyone, and right now, that's just been speculation and innuendo," Rubio responded.
"I'm not saying that," she responded. "I'm just saying that you read the report, and whatever is happening there is happening there, but I think that people would have to reach out to me in order for me to be part of any of this."
Rubio denied to CBS News California that she has ever taken any bribes.
Her spokesperson later added via email, "There is no case against Senator Rubio, and there is no violation being investigated by the Senate or Assembly. All fundraising guidelines set for legislators by the FPPC were clearly followed."
Senate President Pro Tem Mike McGuire's office told our CalMatters reporting partners that leadership is waiting for more information from federal prosecutors before making a decision about reappointing Rubio to her previous position as committee chair.
Senate reviewing ethics complaint
Bill Essayli, a Republican Assembly member from Corona, requested the Assembly and Senate ethics committees to take up investigations after the LA Times report last month.Essayli spent about four years as a federal prosecutor in the U.S. Attorney's Office that unsealed Tafoya's plea agreement.
Erin V. Peth, the chief counsel for the Senate Ethics Committee, told CalMatters Essayli's complaint is under review but provided no other details.
In 2010, state charges were filed against Los Angeles County Democratic Sen. Roderick Wright for voter fraud, perjury, and other crimes stemming from him lying about actually living in his district. Then-Gov. Jerry Brown later pardoned Wright.
Also in 2016, a federal judge sentenced Sen. Ron Calderon of Montebello to 42 months in federal prison for receiving over $150,000 in bribes. His brother, Assemblymember Tom Calderon, was sentenced to a year in prison for laundering his brother's bribe money.
Following the Yee and Calderon indictments, voters in 2016 approved Proposition 50, which gives legislators the authority to suspend a disgraced colleague without pay. Doing so requires a two-thirds vote of the lawmaker's chamber.
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