California Assemblyman Mike Duvall sits at his desk in the Assembly chambers on Wednesday.
(Hector Amezcua/ The Sacramento Bee/ AP)Photos (1 of 1)
Mike Duvall sex scandal: Did he break lobbying rules?
The GOP California lawmaker who was caught on video making sexual boasts is being investigated for a reported tryst with an energy lobbyist.
By Michael B. Farrell | Staff writer/ September 10, 2009 edition
San Francisco
California Assemblyman Mike Duvall’s caught-on-tape sexual boasts certainly suggest a lapse in judgment by the socially conservative Republican lawmaker.
But the Assembly Ethics Committee is now investigating whether there were also serious ethical failings that would have influenced his legislative decisionmaking. Some watchdog groups suggest laws could have been broken, too.
The tape shows Duvall, who was vice chair of the Utilities and Commerce Committee, describing detailed trysts with two women to fellow Assemblyman Jeff Miller, a Republican from Corona, Calif. The Orange Country Weekly identified one of the women as Heidi DeJong Barsuglia, a lobbyist for the energy firm Sempra Energy.
Sempra has denied the affair and says it is investigating the matter “to ensure not only that our policies on employee conduct are adhered to, but also that our employee is treated fairly.”
Mr. Duvall resigned Wednesday but on Thursday he said that his resignation should not be taken as an admission that he actually had an affair. In a statement, he described the incident as simple “story-telling.”
Already, watchdog groups are calling it an example of the all-too-close relationship between lobbyists and lawmakers in Sacramento.
“The blatancy and the arrogance of this instance is a wake-up call to get much tougher limits on lobbying,” says Judy Dugan of Consumer Watchdog, a Santa Monica-based advocacy group. “It’s not a new problem.”
If it turns out that Duvall was having a relationship with a female lobbyist – and that relationship had any influence on his committee votes – then ethics rules were probably violated, says Derek Cressman of Common Cause, a government watchdog group.
It would be more difficult to make a legal case, says Mr. Cressman, as that would probably involve proving complicity on the part of Sempra and an intent by the lobbyist to use sex to influence Duvall’s vote.
But at least one group, the progressive Courage Campaign, wants the California attorney general to investigate to see if Duvall can be “prosecuted for selling his votes.”
Common Cause said that Sempra was lobbying on 170 pieces of legislation in California and, at least in once case, Duvall voted no on a bill that Sempra campaigned against.
The group noted that there have been other instances of energy companies using unorthodox methods to win influence.
“[T]here is a track record of energy sector lobbyists using sex, drugs, and alcohol to unduly influence decision-makers,” it said in a statement, citing a 2008 Interior Department report that found that Chevron, Shell, and other energy lobbyists had provided gifts as well as sex and cocaine with 12 employees of the Minerals Management Service.
The probe into Duvall’s comments may be broadened to look into other alleged affairs between lawmakers and lobbyists, says California Assembly Speaker Karen Bass (D).
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Comments
2. Lynne Rippey | 09.10.09
Here we go again. When are they ever going to learn that there are no secrets to be kept. How arrogant of this man and this is not the first female lobbyist to give herself for favors. There are ***** in every business and so many in the Senate and House of Representatives. I bet the insurance companies are busy giving the Republicans alot of money to sabatoge change also.
3. Will | 09.10.09
I still think Will Rogers said it best. “We have the best system of government that money can buy”. I guess now that the economy is so bad politicians have resorted to the barter system. Kind of interesting what this scenario discloses. Both the politician and the female lobbyist have something in common. They are both members of the “worlds oldest profession”.
4. captbilly | 09.10.09
The very fact that this wouldn’t be an open and shut case for violating ethics laws just shows how incredibly weak those laws are. So you can have sex with lobbyest, you can vote the way the lobbyest wanted you to vote, but you haven’t broken any law if it can’t be proven that you voted that way directly due to the sex. How could anyone ever be successfully prosecuted under those criteria. We can never know what is going on in the mind of the Assemblyman. Did he vote for against the bill because of the sex (or other influence from the lobbyest) or because he really believed it was the right thing to do, how could we ever prove that one way or the other.
When I was a pilot in the USAF I was prohibited from taking something as insignificant as a shoulder patch from Boeing. The thought was that since Boeing was a military supplier and I was a pilot I might be influenced by the gift. The thing was though that I had no say over whether the USAF spent any money with Boeing (only Congress can do that) but Congressman could take all sorts of stuff from Boeing (campaign contributions, meals, trips, etc.). I think the military rules shoudl be the bare minimum for any public official with the ability to influence or legislate government spending. A politician should not be able to vote on any legislation that would potentially give money to any company with which he has recieved anything. Meetings with any lobbyest should be monitored (perhaps recorded so that we could go over anything that was said) and no unmonitored meeting should be allowed.
As others have suggested, it would certianly be cheaper for America if we financially supported our politicians campaigns, and didn’t allow any contributions from anyone. The stupid waste of money that occurs because politicians are pressured into voting for contracts that are not in the best interest of America, is bankrupting our country.
5. Ernie | 09.10.09
Influencing democratically elected politicians by extra-democratic means is hardly a new thing in the history of democracy. Moreover, nailing the politician to the wall, while satisfying, probably accomplishes little. There is a line of them waiting to step up to the trough. How about REALLY hurting the lobbying company? Perhaps making them foot the bill for the special election for a start?
6. AaroninJax | 09.10.09
Does it need to be in the rulebook to not have sex with lobbyists? Come on!
7. chp | 09.10.09
Another right winded religious based OC knucklehead. This is what happens when folks don’t get it out of their systems at an early age. this is new stuff for an old guy… and he is so excited about it he has to tell the world.
ha! what a joker
he needs to quit ASAP
8. Jim | 09.10.09
It occurs to me that black mail might be a more appropriate word then bribe. I mean really, talk about undue influence. The one person who would ruin him personally and financially just happens to be a lobbyist.
9. Vincent | 09.11.09
I wish this weren’t happening so often and so obviously on both sides of the aisle, from within both parties, and at the instigation of even the interest groups apparently most idealistic in mission and message.
There’s a reason I did not support or vote Hillary, among her coalition of supporters were many people I know personally to involve themselves in this brand of politics, her campaign was tainted. As was, obviously in retrospect, Edwards’.
When you’ve had employees of anti-poverty groups introducing you to strippers and environmental lobbyists trying to drag you into threesomes, you quickly learn that anything that can be used to buy influence, is, and female elected officials are not even remotely immune.
10. William | 09.11.09
We preach democracy around the world - even blow up countries to force democracy on them. And we have super strict ethics laws for Americans and American companies doing business globally. If an American company was to ‘lobby’ a foreign government in such a manner they would be fined and the ‘lobbyist’ put in jail for corruption.
But at home we are as corrupt as China. We are the biggest group of hypocrites on the planet!
11. mike | 09.11.09
as soon as the supreme court gives large corporations the same rights as individuals we will see the end of democracy and decisions made for us by wealthy foreign corporatios
12. Frije | 09.11.09
US politicians always drop off from the state duties due to sex scandals. Duvall’S case is not exceptional.
13. Tom | 09.11.09
Ok… Mike Duval says he was just “telling inapproriate stories”… so I guess he’s saying “I’m not a sleezy dirtbag, I’m a sleezy pathetic dirtbag”. Perfect. Well done.
Now how about the guy who was participating in the conversation… Assemblyman Jeff Miller… I am wondering if his daughters are proud of him.
14. Sharon | 09.11.09
I just sent this note to Jerry Brown, California AG, at this contact page, http://ag.ca.gov/contact/complaint_form.php?cmplt=PL :
Dear Attorney General Brown:
Investigate and Prosecute trading votes for sex in the California Legislature. NOW!!
Former Assemblyman Mike Duvall felt comfortable bragging about his sexual exploits with utility lobbyists in a Capitol hearing room. His colleague, Assemblyman Jeff Miller, listened and chuckled and took no effective action when confronted with clear evidence of trading votes for sexual favors.
It has apparently been an open secret in Sacramento that Duvall was trading his vote for sex funded by Sempra (and another, as yet unnamed corporation).
And now, the attorney general has announced that he will also do NOTHING — at least for a few years, until the Assembly ethics committee, which cannot prosecute wrongdoing, finishes it’s deliberations.
It is totally unacceptable that the AG is not immediately investigating this clearcut, obvious evidence of criminal corruption in California’s government.
How much more trading sex for votes is going on, with the full knowledge of Assembly leaders? How many more corrupt “open secrets” are being kept from California voters?
Californians need the AG to fully investigate and prosecute all corruption in the legislature. NOW.
15. Joan | 09.12.09
I am glad his filthy comments and his hyporcrisy will has been recorded for all the world to see. Go Mr. Family Values!
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1. Hilary | 09.10.09
If you think corporations don’t hire female lobbyists knowing they’ll be able to convince male law-makers to “see things their way”, you’re fooling yourself. It’s just one more way for the rich guy to undermine democracy. Our elections should be publicly funded. That would be less expensive than the system we have now.