The two San Bernardino County elected officials whose homes and offices were raided by the FBI last week are scheduled to appear at regularly scheduled government meetings Tuesday, Aug. 4.
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At 10 a.m. Tuesday, the San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors is scheduled to hold its first meeting since the July 28 raids. Fourth District Supervisor Curt Hagman, whose Chino Hills home and district office were searched by the FBI, typically attends most meetings.
Later Tuesday, the Ontario City Council is scheduled to hold its first meeting since the raids. The home of Mayor Pro Tem Alan Wapner was also searched by the FBI July 28.
Tuesday’s meetings are the first scheduled for Hagman and Wapner since their homes and Hagman’s office were searched by the FBI last week. Warrants were also served at the Rancho Cucamonga home and Ontario office of attorney Frank Lizarraga and the West Covina home and office of James Su, the founder and president of EDI Media Inc., a Chinese-language multimedia company operating television, radio, print and digital news outlets. Subpoenas were also served at Ontario City Hall and Ontario International Airport.
The FBI has not said what they were searching for, only saying the warrants are sealed. No one has been arrested or indicted in connection with the July 28 raids. The raids follow federal probes alleging ties between local government officials and agents of the Chinese government. In May, former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang resigned from the city council after she was charged with acting as an agent of the Chinese government.
Neither Hagman nor Wapner responded to requests for comment for this story on Monday.
Both men have long been strong proponents of Ontario International Airport and were part of the successful effort to return it to local control after decades of it being managed by Los Angeles.
Today, they both serve on the Ontario International Airport Authority board. Wapner is president and Hagman is vice president.
A statement released by the airport last week says the airport would comply with any lawful inquiry. “Because this is an active federal investigation, it would be inappropriate to comment further on the matter,” the statement reads in part.
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Ontario Mayor Paul Leon wrote a letter to City Manager Scott Ochoa on Thursday, saying Wapner should be temporarily removed from Ontario City Council committees and posts representing the city.
San Bernardino County has also issued a statement.
“We are aware of a federal law enforcement activity that took place in our region last week,” San Bernardino County spokesperson Martha Guzman-Hurtado wrote in an email Monday. “As this is an active matter, we are not able to provide additional comment at this time. We will cooperate as appropriate and do not have any further information to share.”
Hagman has been a fixture of Inland Empire politics for more than 25 years. He was appointed to the Chino Hills Parks and Recreation Commission in 2000, then spent a term on the Chino Hills City Council, starting in 2004, including a year as mayor in 2008. After that was six years in the Assembly, including serving as Assembly Republican Leader. He left that office in 2014 due to term limits and has represented the Fourth District, which includes the cities of Chino, Chino Hills, Montclair, Ontario and the southern part of Upland.
Wapner is a retired Ontario Police Department sergeant. He was first elected to the Ontario City Council in 1994 and is running for mayor in the November election.
The San Bernardino County Board of Supervisors meets at the San Bernardino County Government Center, 385 N. Arrowhead Ave. in San Bernardino. The meeting begins at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, Aug. 4. The agenda includes discussions related to Arrowhead Regional Medical Center, a potential new fire protection district tax in Hesperia, a request to build a gas station in the Phelan/Piñon Hills area and the construction of a campground in Joshua Tree.
The Ontario City Council meets at City Hall, 303 East B St. in Ontario. The meeting is scheduled to start at 6:30 p.m. The , with only “staff matters” and “council matters,” scheduled for discussion, including “board and commission appointments” listed as a discussion item for Leon.
Staff writers Mercedes Cannon-Tran and Allyson Vergara contributed to this story.
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More on the FBI raids
- FBI raids share threads with investigations into Chinese influence in Southern California
- From ONT boosters to Chinese-language media, the four men tied to this week’s FBI searches
- Who is Frank Lizarraga, former Ontario planning commissioner linked to FBI probe?
- What we know about FBI raids in the Inland Empire, other Southern California sites
- Lancaster mayor says Southern California FBI raids likely looking for Chinese influence schemes
- Who is James Su, the West Covina media executive linked to FBI probe?
- After FBI raids, Ontario mayor wants Alan Wapner off council committees, airport board
- Who is Curt Hagman, fixture in San Bernardino County politics linked to FBI probe?
- Who is Alan Wapner, the Ontario council member linked to FBI investigation?
- Ties strong between San Bernardino County elected officials, West Covina businessman implicated in FBI probe
- FBI serves warrants at locations tied to elected officials in San Bernardino County