Senate leader disputes Calderon claims about hired staffer

SACRAMENTO – State Senate leader Darrell Steinberg (D-Sacramento) is “deeply concerned� about allegations of bribe-taking against state Sen. Ronald S. Calderon (D-Montebello) contained in an FBI affidavit reported Wednesday by the television network Al Jazeera.

But Steinberg also disputed Calderon’s claim that it was a “special ask� to get Steinberg’s approval of Calderon’s request to hire a woman on the Senate staff. The hire was, unbenownst to Steinberg, part of the bribery investigation, an FBI agent alleges in the affidavit.

An undercover FBI agent posing as a film studio operator alleged that Calderon accepted $60,000 in bribes to help change a tax credit law and hire a woman posing as the agent’s girlfriend onto the Senate staff, the affidavit says.

Calderon allegedly agreed to hire the woman, who was an undercover FBI agent, without ever seeing her resume, if the agent posing as the studio executive agreed to hire Calderon’s daughter, Jessica, for $3,000 per month, the affidavit said. Calderon is quoted as telling the undercover officer that the hiring of his girlfriend would have to be a “special ask� made to Steinberg.

The Senate leader took issue with that characterization.

“Early this year, Sen. Calderon approached the [Senate President] Pro Tem [Steinberg] informally to request an additional district office staff position due to redistricting,� said Mark Hedlund, a Steinberg aide, in a statement.

“The request for the position seemed routine and reasonable and [Steinberg] referred him to the Senate personnel office,� Hedlund added. “This is a regular and commonplace occurrence. As in all such requests, the Senate leader has no involvement in who Sen. Calderon or any other member selects to fill out their staff. [Steinberg] had no further involvement in the issue.�

The female FBI agent was hired by the Senate but never showed up for the job.

Senate Secretary Greg Schmidt said Calderon requested the hire to him in a letter and said Steinberg’s approval was not needed for the hiring of the woman, who identified herself as Tana Roberts. He said the woman took bereavement leave on the first day she was supposed to work. She was mistakenly paid $680 for four days of work, but Schmidt said he asked for the money back and a man named Rocky Patel sent a check for the reimbursement.

An undercover agent posing as a studio executive told Calderon the woman posing as the his girlfriend decided not to take the job after all because the couple had broken up.

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