Ethics Complaint Against Governor Dropped

[Kadie]

Ethics Complaint Against Governor Dropped

POSTED: 7:33 pm PDT October 28, 2005
UPDATED: 9:43 pm PDT October 28, 2005


SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The state's political watchdog agency has closed an ethics complaint into Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's magazine consulting contract without conducting any investigation into whether the agreement violated conflict of interest laws, according to documents released Friday.


The Fair Political Practices Commission concluded that there is no provision in state law that allows the agency to sanction a statewide elected official -- such as the governor or the Attorney General -- for conflict of interest. Therefore, they reasoned, the agency had no reason to carry out a probe into the question, documents obtained by The Associated Press under the California Public Records Act show.

Attorneys representing a Petaluma family who filed the complaint, said the agency's announcement is baffling.


"It doesn't make any sense," said Jonathan Davis, who represents Denise and Raymond Garibaldi whose son committed suicide in 2002 after a period of steroid use. "The commission is taking the position that even if the governor was found to have violated conflict of interest laws when he signed a contract to receive millions of dollars, the commission nor any individual citizen can do anything about it."

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