SACRAMENTO-
A few hours after A California State Senator was arrested and taken to a federal building for questioning, Senate Democratic leader Darryl Steinberg minced no words for his co-worker.
“This is sickening,” Steinberg told reporters. “Leave,” he directed at Leland Yee. Steinberg said although Yee is innocent until proven guilty, the charges are a violation of public trust. He told Yee to resign, or said lawmakers would “go to the floor and suspend him”.
READ the whole criminal document, list of charges
Meanwhile, in another part of the State Capitol, FBI agents wheeled cartloads of documents out of Senator Yee’s office Wednesday. They presumably contain evidence of wrong-doing in the corruption case against Yee.
VIDEO: FBI Agents Leave Senator Yee’s Office with Boxes of Evidence
The Senate Sergeant-at-Arms asked that FBI agents’ faces remain off-camera as they shuttled in-and-out of the fourth floor offices.
Part of Steinberg’s visible frustration could also be from embarrassment; these same Democratic leaders just a few weeks ago sponsored ethics legislation designed to remove campaign construction temptations from senators seeking re-election.
Yee is also the third Democrat this year to be indicted for alleged corruption; Ron Calderon’s case is pending trial, and Senator Rob Wright was convicted of elections fraud when he was found to be living outside his district.
Both Wright and Calderon were granted leaves of absence from the legislature.
READ: Senator Calderon Given a Week to Resign
Steinberg says he won’t let the scandals diminish the work of the senate.
With Yee’s removal, and other recent departures of Democratic lawmakers at the capitol, it is likely Republicans will now regain the power to block Democratic initiatives that require a two-thirds vote.
Yee’s arrest has other political implications; he was running for Secretary of State. His opponent Derek Cressman wouldn’t say if Yee should quit the campaign for statewide office, but did comment on his position in the senate.
“I think the bar for serving in public office should be higher than the bar for staying out of prison,” Cressman said.
Cressman worked on campaign finance reform for nearly two decades with Common Cause and other watch dog groups.
He says the arrest of Yee and two of his colleagues speaks to a broken system.
“There’s something going on that turns good people bad serving in the California legislature and that’s a pretty serious problem for us to grapple with as Californians,” Cressman told FOX40.
READ the whole criminal document, list of charges
Opponents in Secretary of State Race Comment After Senator Yee’s Arrest
DETAILS: Senator Yee Indicted on Arms Trafficking, Public Corruption Charges
WATCH: Agents Take Evidence from Senator Yee’s Office
