Mayor caught up in Americorp mess investigated by the FBI
The Associated Press
June 18, 2009
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| File photo: Former NBA star player Kevin Johnson tells a story from his new desk as the Mayor of Sacramento on December 2, 2008 in Sacremento, California . Johnson was innaugurated earlier in the day. (Getty Images) |
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — The FBI is investigating allegations that an executive at a nonprofit founded by Mayor Kevin Johnson obstructed a federal inquiry into the group's spending.
Two months ago, Johnson and the St. HOPE Academy agreed to repay nearly $424,000 in federal grants to settle an investigation into whether the nonprofit misused AmeriCorps money.
Acting U.S. Attorney Lawrence G. Brown said he asked the FBI's Sacramento division to determine whether e-mails written by Johnson were deleted during the earlier investigation.
Allegations that e-mails may have been destroyed were disclosed in an April resignation letter from the group's former executive director, which was obtained by The Sacramento Bee.
Brown said he would not discuss the details of the current investigation.
In his resignation letter, Rick Maya said a member of the charter schools' board deleted Johnson's e-mails while the academy was under federal subpoena for misspending money it had received under the AmeriCorps program.
On Wednesday, Johnson said none of his e-mails had been lost, although he could not say if any of them had been deleted and then recovered.
"Every e-mail that I had has been preserved," Johnson told Sacramento television station KXTV. "I think the investigation will run its course, and I feel this will be behind us in the not-too-distant future."
Johnson, a former All-star point guard for the Phoenix Suns, said he would cooperate with the investigation but had not been contacted by the FBI or U.S. attorney's office.
Malcolm Segal, an attorney who represented St. HOPE Academy during the AmeriCorps investigation, told The Sacramento Bee that he was confident the inquiry would show "that nothing inappropriate occurred."
Prosecutors declined to file criminal charges in the AmeriCorps investigation, saying there was no fraud but a culture of "sloppiness" in St. HOPE's record-keeping.
Senators have questioned President Barack Obama's firing of the AmeriCorps internal watchdog over the Johnson investigation. The mayor was an Obama supporter during the presidential campaign.
Late Tuesday, Obama special counsel Norman Eisen said in a letter to senators that Walpin engaged in inappropriate conduct that led board members to question his ability to serve.
In an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday, Walpin disputed claims that he was confused and disoriented at an agency meeting and said he and his office acted with the highest integrity.
