Mike Feuer's Pal To Plead Guilty to $2.2 Million LADWP Bribery. His Mayoral Campaign Is Essentially Over.

By Daniel Guss

@TheGussReport - The press release late Monday afternoon from the Department of Justice was clear and striking but not at all surprising to this column.  It reads "Ex-L.A. Special Counsel Agrees to Plead Guilty to Accepting Nearly $2.2 Million Kickback for Arranging Collusive Lawsuit Against LADWP."

That special counsel, Paul Paradis of Manhattan-based Paradis Law Group, was hired by none other than L.A. City Attorney Mike Feuer, whose office was raided by the FBI a year ago and who is believed to be under investigation by the State Bar of California.  It is believed that the Paradis plea deal is tied to the FBI raid and Bar investigation.

Mike Feuer

Photo Credit: KTLA

This, my friends, will mark what amounts to the end of Feuer's already flailing campaign to become the next Mayor of Los Angeles.   

The DOJ release goes on to state "the Los Angeles City Attorney's office was aware that (Paradis) was already representing Antwon Jones, a ratepayer who had a claim against LADWP arising from billing overcharges. Jones was unaware that his lawyer, Paradis, also represented his intended adversary."

In other words, Mike Feuer is responsible for hiring the guy who arranged a multi-million dollar kickback scheme and who is likely headed for a lengthy federal prison term. 

Feuer and his deputies had to know that Paradis directly benefitted from both the plaintiff and defendant sides of the LADWP lawsuit and that is the only reason why anyone would create such a collusive scam.

At minimum, this should disqualify Feuer from succeeding Mayor Eric Garcetti.  Whether or not Feuer profited from the bribery, it happened on his watch by his staff and proxies.  In a city reeling from one corruption scandal after another, Feuer has a lot to esplain, as it were.

It may also put Feuer in far greater legal jeopardy, as in potential disbarment and imprisonment.  It could, by extension, also hamper the remaining career trajectory of his wife, Judge Gail Ruderman Feuer.

As part of the plea arrangement, Paradis has agreed to cooperate with the federal government's ongoing corruption investigation.  Another attorney who Feuer also hired to handle the LADWP / PWC billing scandal, Paul R. Kiesel of Beverly Hills, has not been indicted, but has also agreed to cooperate with the feds.

To read between the lines, Paradis and Kiesel will need to spill their guts to keep their respective present statuses from going legally south from here.

What are the odds that Feuer, who went to Harvard as an undergraduate before going on to Harvard Law School, was somehow and suddenly not smart enough to know what was going on?  What are the odds that he didn't think to put safeguards in place, knowing the conflict going on right under his nose?

A better question might be, what are the odds that Feuer didn't, and why didn't he?

The odds are obscenely astronomical.

Look ahead to Feuer eventually putting out a press release stating something along the lines of In the best interest of the people of Los Angeles, and in order to spend more time with my family, I have decided to conclude my campaign for Mayor of Los Angeles and look forward to working with the next Mayor and City Attorney to keep the City moving forward.

To be clear, that is not a quote.

It's a prediction.

What are the odds indeed, Mr. Feuer?

For further reading, please see my October 12, 2020 column, "Mayor?  How Does 'No' Sound, Mike Feuer?"

(Daniel Guss, MBA, was runner-up for the 2020 Los Angeles Press Club journalism award for Best Online Political Commentary and was a runner-up in 2021 too. He has contributed to CityWatch, KFI AM-640, iHeartMedia, 790-KABC, Cumulus Media, KCRW, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Daily News, Los Angeles Magazine, Movieline Magazine, Emmy Magazine, Los Angeles Business Journal, Pasadena Star News, Los Angeles Downtown News, and The Los Angeles Times in its Sports, Opinion and Entertainment Sections and Sunday Magazine among other publishers. Tell your friends to follow him on The Twitters @TheGussReport, and DM him there to join his distribution list for early story notifications, tips and more.)