Anaheim city leaders are facing a new investigation into corruption at city hall, this time from Orange County District Attorney Todd Spitzer, who after over a year of silence confirmed this week that his office is investigating Anaheim.
Orange County Corruption Scandal
The confirmation comes after a year and a half of turmoil in Anaheim that started when sworn FBI affidavits helped stop the sale of Angel Stadium in May 2022, announcing a corruption probe in a scathing affidavit filed in court that immediately triggered Mayor Harry Sidhu’s resignation and a later guilty plea to a series of corruption charges.
In September, Sidhu admitted to lying to investigators about trying to ram through the Angel Stadium land sale for $1 million in campaign support.
Officials from the California Attorney General’s office won’t “confirm or deny” a corruption investigation into Anaheim.
So far, all the criminal investigations have been handled by the U.S. Department of Justice, while city leaders also hired independent investigators from the JL Group to conduct their own review of corruption at city hall after the FBI probe became public.
So far, both the FBI and independent investigators essentially came to the same conclusion: City Hall is controlled by Disneyland area resort interests.
Spitzer confirmed the district attorney’s office is officially investigating the concerns raised in Anaheim late Wednesday after saying his office would review the allegations before taking any action in August.
In a response to a request for comment from Voice of OC, Spitzer confirmed through a spokesperson the issue “is being investigated,” but did not clarify anything beyond that.
Federal prosecutors have already arranged plea deals with Sidhu and former CEO of the city’s Chamber of Commerce Todd Ament, who both pleaded guilty to multiple corruption charges.