Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu announced on Monday that he has resigned from office amid an investigation that finds him accused of trying to shake down officials at Angel Stadium and other public corruption.
Sidhu said he is stepping down after being accused of bribery, fraud, obstruction of justice, and witness tampering, according to the L.A. Times.
The announcement came on the tail of a similar resignation by Melahat Rafiei, who stepped down as a member of the Democratic National Committee and state party secretary. Rafiei is also implicated in the growing scandal.
Anaheim has received a letter indicating Mayor Sidhu is resigning, effective May 24. Read letter here: https://t.co/xayYYbePDQ@KTLA @ABC7 @NBCLA @CBSLA pic.twitter.com/YkwHy9rnTG
— City of Anaheim (@City_of_Anaheim) May 23, 2022
According to FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins, Sidhu allegedly gave Major League Baseball’s Angels insider information about the city’s negotiations over the $320 million sale of the stadium and hoped the team would donate one-million-dollar to his election campaign in return.
The FBI investigation claims that Sidhu coupled a discussion of his re-election campaign with talk of the stadium’s sale.
Sidhu, though, refutes allegations of wrongdoing. His attorney, Paul Meyer, says that, in the end, Sidhu will be exonerated and that he never said he expected political donations in connection with the stadium negotiations.
BREAKING: Anaheim mayor Harry Sidhu resigns immediately due to public corruption investigation connected to Major League Baseball https://t.co/YcUPhOn5El
— Eric Garland (@ericgarland) May 23, 2022
“The negotiations followed lawful practices used in all major business negotiations,” Meyer said. “No closed session material, no secret information, was disclosed by Mayor Sidhu. The government affidavit confirms that Harry never asked for a political campaign contribution that was linked in any way to the negotiation process.”
Sidhu has not said if he is ending his re-election campaign.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Facebook at: facebook.com/Warner.Todd.Huston, or Truth Social @WarnerToddHuston
COMMENTS
Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting.