Wagner/Silverstein Charges Against Feldman Were “Inaccurate” Unsubstantiated” “Incorrect” “Untruthful” – Say Lawyers Overseen By Silverstein

That’s the stunning conclusion made by two independent lawyers brought in by the City Council to investigate Wagner’s Affidavit.

“The allegations are incorrect, untruthful and/or not substantiated by the information obtained by the undersigned counsel” say the investigators.The report says that Jefferson Wagner drafted his affidavit … with the help of Bruce Silverstein … to target Reva Feldman to be removed from her job.

And that Wagner … Silverstein and John Mazza took this affidavit down to the FBI office in Los Angeles to try to get some sort of federal investigation launched after the affidavit was released … to get some sort of federal investigations launched.  That never resulted in any federal action.

The investigators say Silverstein helped Wagner to prepare his affidavit … but the two did not get their stories straight… and that backfired by hurting Wagner’s credibility.”Wagner and Silverstein gave (them) differing descriptions of the way in which the Affidavit was prepared.This further impairs the Affidavit’s credibility.”

In the investigative report, Silverstein and Wagner could not even get their stories straight.  “Wagner and Silverstein even disagree on how the information was provided to Silverstein (who drafted the document). Specifically, Wagner claims to have written out a draft of the language and given it to Silverstein, while Silverstein says that Wagner orally provided the information, which he reduced to a written document.

“Silverstein’s account would appear to have greater credibility as the style and prose of the document reflects a lawyer’s touch,” the city investigators said.

The independent lawyers are Evan A. Jenness and George B. Newhouse, Jr.They were hired by a unanimous city council vote last December, as Silverstein was using social media to call City Manager Reva Feldman a “fascist” who was “deceitful” and “duplicitous.”

Those charges were made on social media and at council chambers, as Silverstein and fellow council member Steve Uhring had taken office on a platform of firing Feldman and the city attorney at the time … Christi Hogin.

Hogin retired as previously planned, Feldman was pressured to resign.

And Hogin tells the investigators … no way … Wagner never told her of any supposed bribery.Wagner had kept no evidence… his story kept shifting … he told different people different things … the investigators concluded he had no credibillity.

In the report, Wagner’s honesty was questioned … impugned … by the independent investigators. “His overall veracity is questionable, given his failure to timely report his awareness of wrongdoing while he was serving as a City Councilmember.” they wrote.

“His failure to contemporaneously document a matter as serious as attempted bribery, and his substantial inability to back up his allegations when questioned by Counsel, further calls his credibility into question.”

The report noted that three people refused to be interviewed: “Rob Joseph, private investigator, supposedly hired by a media source, who lists himself on his website as “Officer Hollywood”; Antonio Villaraigosa, Former Mayor of Los Angeles; and J. Flo Katz, a Malibu resident.

The independent lawyers interviewed 28 people and returned its report in October.

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The affidavit report offers the first glimpse into why the Los Angeles county district attorney raided Jefferson Wagner’s house in 2018.

It was widely suspected that this was an investigation into where Wagner actually lived.

Where Wagner actually lived if he was outside city limits he would be in eligible to vote or run in Malibu.

Wagner had charged that the raid was orchestrated by Reva Feldman in retaliation for his vote against renewing her contract.

No way … says the county prosecutors who worked on the case.

The outside investigators were able to interview two district attorney investigators … and this is the first word we are getting from inside the D-A’s office.

The deputy D-A s say their investigation into Wagner was for a potential commission of perjury and an Elections Code violation … an investigation that began in 2016 … two years before the alleged revenge raid.The warrant was signed by a judge before the city council voted on Feldman’s contract.

The outside investigators say the raid on Jefferson Wagner’s house was based on a reasonable suspicion that Wagner had committed perjury when declaring he was eligible to register to vote inside city limits … and thus run for city council.

We should point out … no charges were ever filed in this matter … by the County of Los Angeles District Attorney.

And that outside experts have told KBUU news in the past that California’s elections laws are not written very well on the issue of official domicile.

It could very well be true that the DA investigators had reasonable suspicion for the search … but not enough proof that Wagner had violated any law. It also could very well be true that Wagner in fact never violated the law.

But there’s more on this matter … in the Affdavit, Wagner had also pointed to an online document as evidence … that this was a revenge raid. This document that was written as opposition research against the county district attorney as she ran for re-election.

The city investigators have looked at that document … and they say that document is entirely false.

Also in the Affidavit … Wagner pointed out supposed evidence in the form of an article written by a supposed public integrity expert from Utah … named Rob Joseph … in The Local … which is an occasional newspaper published by CeCe Woods in Malibu.

The city investigative report notes that Rob Joseph “is not licensed to do private investigations in California … (and) does not appear to have any actual law enforcement experience in public corruption cases based on his career as a police officer in Salt Lake City.”

Joseph was fired by the Salt Lake City police department after shooting at a car … he says he was protecting his life … the police chief there says otherwise.

The affidavit points out that Rob Joseph’s experience as a Salt Lake City policeman in no way involved investigating public corruption.

In the affidavit … Wagner told the city investigators that Rob Joseph was preparing a report along with CeCe Woods that would detail the names of persons who “know” about corruption in Malibu … names that Wagner also claimed to know, but declined to provide to the investigators.

No such report has ever been printed … according to the city report.

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The city’s investigative report casts some big questions on Silverstein’s publicly-stated justifications to remove Feldman.

In public … Silverstein cited the affidavit as his basis for finding that Feldman shield be removed from office.But the affidavit has now been thoroughly discredited by an outside panel … an outside panel that Silverstein himself oversaw and helped hire.

Feldman and Silverstein had publicly clashed before the election.This, over Feldman’s approval on an emergency basis, of a Southern California Edison emergency parking lot at the Civic Center, for trucks to use after the Woolsey Fire and flood for rebuilding efforts

Silverstein objected strongly to the trucks being parked within view of his Malibu Knowles residence and also the truck parking lot supposedly impinge on environmentally sensitive habitat area

Silverstein appealed Feldman’s approval of the temporary parking lot, and filed an appeal of the emergency SCE permit to the state Coastal Commission.

The parking lot is directly in the view from Silverstein’s house in Malibu Knolls residence, its temporary cement surface has not been removed even after Feldman’s ouster.

As for comment … Jefferson Wagner is out on a film shoot right now and unavailable … according to his partner.

Bruce Silverstein tells KBUU he will consider our request for an interview.

Quoting Silverstein … “With respect to the “investigation” … (and we should note he put quotes around the word investigation) … “With respect to the ‘investigation’ I have much to say, but I am going to wait to do so until after the background materials are publicly disclosed.

He continues: “I have not yet determined with whom I will be speaking about this matter, and I will keep your invitation in mind.”

The entire report can be read at https://www.malibucity.org/WagnerAffidavitReport .

Additional interviews and background material will be released later, Acting City Attorney John Cotti told KBUU tonight.