Correa email scandal disclosed by Orange County Register

State Assemblyman Lou Correa (D-Anaheim) has a lot of explaining to do. One or more of his staffers used state computers to set up fake email personas in an email group dedicated to Santa Ana community leaders, and then went on to engage in political work during work hours. That is illegal. WHen the smoke cleared, Correa staffer Douglas Vogel was out of a job, and claiming that he was innocent. The entire incident was covered in the Orange County Register this past Saturday, and the article is available at http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=78787. A supplemental article disclosed how the scam was pulled off, and is available at http://www2.ocregister.com/ocrweb/ocr/article.do?id=78788&section=LOCAL&subsection=LOCAL.

I broke this story on the email group in question, and today I sent letters requesting a formal investigation to the Chair and Vice Chair of the Assembly Committee on Rules, and I also sent letters to each of the Republicans on the committee. Moreover, I copied the letters to California State Attorney General Bill Lockyer and State Senator Joe Dunn (D – Santa Ana, 34th Senate District). I don’t know what will come of this, but if justice prevails we will find out who really set up the email scam, and whether Correa knew about it all along.