Rep. Jerry Lewis will not leave his seat on the powerful House Appropriations Committee, according to Ben Goad of the Press-Enterprise, despite a call for him to step down over the almost yearlong criminal investigation into his dealings with a prominent lobbying firm linked to disgraced former Rep. Randy Duke Cunningham, R-Rancho Santa Fe.
Describing the investigation as "trumped up," Lewis, R-Redlands, said during an interview this week in his Washington office that he has the backing of Republican leadership.
Last May, a federal grand jury in Los Angeles issued a flurry of subpoenas to Inland agencies, cities and counties seeking information about Lewis and the lobbying firm formerly known as Copeland, Lowery, Jacquez, Denton & White.
While Lewis has denied wrong doing, he hired criminal defense attorneys after news of the investigation broke in May 2006. He has paid them hundreds of thousands of dollars, including more than $30,000 in the second quarter of this year according to AP writer Erica Werner in the North County Times.
|