Talk:John Lee (California politician)

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Recent edits removed[edit]

There appears to be a coordinated effort to remove information about this corrupt Councilmember & hide it from the public. John Lee is Staffer B from the Englander indictment & the public deserves to know the truth. 2603:8000:1702:5121:4D9A:2382:856A:E608 (talk) 22:47, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Can you cite a reliable source to support the claim that he is Staffer B? Squeakachu (talk) 22:56, 29 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

There are a good number of reliable sources indicating that he is likely Staffer B. Something to that effect should certainly be in the article. The LA Times and The Los Angeles Daily News both ran articles on the scandal:

Calls for resignation:

I'm not sure about student papers as reliable sources, but:

Here is the actual indictment:

https://ca-times.brightspotcdn.com/65/5e/f78c45264b4baac3bb9b4525068c/city-hall-englander-indictment-1.pdf

I will put together an edit later with proper citations yada yada. It's been years since I've edited so I'm regaining my bearings still.

--OwenEason (talk) 00:17, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

We could say that there has been speculation that he is Staffer B, but I don't believe any of those sources would support a claim that he is "likely" Staffer B. The only ones that explicitly claim that he is Staffer B are opinion pieces and an issues page for a political party. Squeakachu (talk) 03:20, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I don't think we even need to say that. Just that there have been calls for his resignation under that assumption from a number of parties as referenced above.

--OwenEason (talk) 06:09, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Lee himself stated he went on the infamous Vegas trip with Englander: https://twitter.com/cd12la/status/1237119863736258560

The Englander indictment states two staffers joined Englander & the developer in Vegas, Staffer A & B: https://assets.documentcloud.org/documents/6801725/City-Hall-Englander-INDICTMENT.pdf

We know from the indictment that City Staffer B was a "high-ranking" official who left his position in June 2017 - Lee's the only high-ranking official to resign in June 2017. This timeline means Lee must be Staffer B.

Further, this FBI transcript reveals Englander instructing an informant how to lie about himself & "John" paying back bribes, actions only attributed to Staffer B: https://linksharing.samsungcloud.com/ttWINg9OrRoO

The evidence is indisputable - John Lee is Staffer B & the public deserves to know.

Information about Lee's sexual harassment lawsuit was also removed today. This is also a matter of public record: https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-la-harassment-lawsuit-englander-20140825-story.html — Preceding unsigned comment added by 98.148.217.69 (talk) 07:16, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

I'm working on a edit now to include that information with proper citations, including the harassment allegation. No reliable source has claimed John Lee is certainly Staffer B, but I will include the well sourced evidence you mention as concisely as I can. I'm fairly experienced and I'll keep following up on this until the article accurately reflects the reported information.

--OwenEason (talk) 07:28, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

The sourcing for the harassment lawsuit seems solid, so no objection there, but the twitter stuff is obvious original research. I also don't think the FBI transcript or indictment are usable, per WP:BLPPRIMARY. Squeakachu (talk) 08:51, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

You are absolutely correct. All the information on twitter/in that random FBI document with no obvious provenance/in the indictment that is relevant has been thoroughly reported by the LA Times and LA Daily News. It's taking me awhile to put this all together because I haven't edited in many years. --OwenEason (talk) 09:43, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks for taking this on, Owen. I reverted an earlier addition by the OP in this thread as being unsourced speculation, but obviously having a section in the article which covers what's been reported in reliable sources is better. Best, Wham2001 (talk) 10:14, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Edit is published finally. I put a sentence in the intro re. the corruption scandal. As mentioned in the edit summary, these events generated a ton of controversy and media attention and merit a spot in the introduction. --OwenEason (talk) 11:05, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Looks good to me. Thanks for putting this together. Squeakachu (talk) 19:45, 30 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Excellent work Owen!!! 👏🏼 — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:8000:1702:5121:4D9A:2382:856A:E608 (talk) 22:50, 30 December 2021 (UTC) I've corrected the error stating that Lee graduated from CSUN. He attended but did not graduate, although his website misrepresented this until the 2020 campaign when he ran against an Astrophysicist: https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2020-01-20/councilman-john-lee-csun-college-degree — Preceding unsigned comment added by 2603:8000:1702:5121:4D9A:2382:856A:E608 (talk) 00:00, 31 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]

Thanks, and good catch. You might consider making an account. It takes 30 seconds and comes with a good number of perks like auto/extended confirmation that will increase your ability to edit. --OwenEason (talk) 01:52, 31 December 2021 (UTC)[reply]