What it takes for the FBI to get involved

Update: The full list of items seized by the FBI in the raid of Palm Springs City Hall in 2015 has been released.

City officials released the 32-item list to News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 on Monday morning. According to FBI Spokeswoman Laura Eimiller, the FBI doesn’t comment during ongoing investigations and the investigation continues. It is also standard procedure to leave an evidence list of items taken during a search warrant served.

Initial Report:

The FBI raid at Palm Springs City Hall raised eyebrows across the valley and even made national headlines.

At Wednesday’s city council meeting, embattled Mayor Steve Pougnet settled any suspicions he would resign by announcing he will remain in his seat until the end of his term this November.

Many people came to Pougnet’s defense during the meeting’s public comment section, while others said there must be a serious problem for the FBI to get involved.

The FBI is only interested in violations of federal law and needs to meet a high threshold before a judge grants agents a search warrant.

In order to conduct Tuesday’s raid, the FBI needed to convince a judge or magistrate there is probable cause that a crime was committed and that evidence of that crime is in a specific location. In this case, we know investigators took over City Hall and visited Pougnet’s Palm Springs home.

A search warrant requires some level of specificity as to what the evidence is. At the council meeting the mayor revealed agents took his iPhone and iPad Tuesday, along with documents and computer servers from the city.

We also know the IRS is involved, the agency specifically involved in prosecuting tax-related criminality and fraud. The IRS could be looking for undisclosed income, including real estate, gifts and travel.

Attorney Brian Harnik, who is a former prosecutor and assistant district attorney, weighs in on the criminal investigation process:

“The government has the right to explore investigate and obtain evidence. in doing so, there are steps they have to take and thresholds they have to meet. They have met a very important threshold in getting a search warrant issued and executed. They will now research what they found and if there is proof of criminality and if it rises to the level of charging someone with a crime,” Harnik told News Channel 3.

The city’s elected officials, including Pougnet, say they’re happy to cooperate with that investigation.

The council has been under scrutiny since April when Pougnet’s consulting job was made public. The side job, earning Pougnet at least $200,000 since 2013, raised questions about how much council members knew about the mayor’s business relationship with developer Richard Meaney.

Meaney is the owner and creator of Union Abbey, the company Pougnet wrote on his Form 700. Pougnet quit the consulting job when the public learned Union Abbey’s business license was suspended in 2009 for failing to pay nearly $50,000 in taxes.

When questioned by News Channel 3 during her news conference Tuesday, Councilwoman and candidate for mayor Ginny Foat said she had no knowledge about a potential conflict.

“Is it okay that you as a fellow council member did not know the extent of the business relationship between Pougnet and a local developer?” asked News Channel 3’s Natalie Brunell.

“I don’t know the extent of any of my council members’ business relationships,” Foat said.

“But legally, under Section 1090, are you not legally supposed to reveal the extent of a business relationship when you go to recuse yourself?” asked Brunell.

“You just say business reasons or whatever, you don’t have to say I am blah blah, and I worked and do all that,” Foat said.

News Channel 3 dug into the state conflict of interest laws and found they require much more information.

Pursuant to the California Political Reform Act and the State’s Conflict of Interest regulations, a council member who has a conflict of interest must, immediately before consideration of the decision:

(1) Publicly identify in detail the financial interest that causes the conflict;
(2) Recuse himself or herself from discussing and voting on the matter; and
(3) Leave the room until after the decision has been made.

Stay with News Channel 3 and CBS Local 2 for the latest on this investigation.