Three weeks after a leaked FBI affidavit rocked California’s political community with claims state Sen. Ron Calderon accepted $60,000 in bribes from an undercover FBI agent disguised as a movie producer, the embattled Democrat is punching back with startling claims of his own.
Calderon claims the FBI is targeting him because he refused to participate in a “sting operation” aimed at Senate President pro Tem Darrell Steinberg. He filed a complaint against the FBI and US Attorney's office in federal court Wednesday.
“Senator Calderon was given a wire to wear and was asked to record his communications with Senator Steinberg and Senator (Kevin) de Leon,” the complaint claims. Calderon says he turned down eight different requests to wear a wire, and only after he refused to participate did FBI agents move forward with a June raid on his Sacramento office.
“It is clear that the FBI and/or (The U.S. Attorney) engaged in a campaign to smear the reputation of Senator Calderon and convict him in the press and public,” the complaint alleges. You can read the full document below.
Calderon’s filing comes a day after the Senate Rules Committee temporarily stripped him of his committee assignments. “This is obviously in response to the action the Rules Committee and I took to temporarily remove Senator Calderon from Senate committees,” said Steinberg in a statement issued by his office. “The filing is pure fantasy.”