Bianco’s Legal Fees Issue Falls Silent

Talk of Sheriff Chad Bianco’s Efforts to Have County Pay His Legal Fees has Gone Behind Closed Doors

RIVERSIDE — Supervisor Karen Spiegel vowed to bring back for discussion the issue of the county covering the cost of Sheriff Chad Bianco’s legal fees. Apparently, she did — behind closed doors.

Exactly what happened is anyone’s guess. No one is talking.

Unlike a couple of weeks ago, Spiegel is mum on the subject.

Her chief of staff, Philip Paule, would only say the matter was discussed in closed session and that there was “no reportable action.”

Bianco told Uken Report, “I haven’t heard anything from them.”

Last month, the Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 to not authorize the hiring of outside counsel or pay outside counsel to defend the lawsuits stemming from Sheriff Chad Bianco’s investigation into alleged election fraud.  Spiegel was the sole dissenter.

At that time, Spiegel said that the County is regularly in need of the services of outside law firms, often arising from the need for specialized expertise, additional manpower or due to a conflict.

Sheriff Bianco, a registered Republican and running for Governor, said that the decision was #100% political. Spiegel is the only registered Republican on the board. Bianco said then that, “The cancer of partisan politics is now going to destroy our county government,” Bianco said.  “The Democrat party has threatened the three supervisors and told them they must go against the sheriff’s office and side with (First District Supervisor Jose) Medina.”

The split vote followed the April 14 closed session in which supervisors discussed the four petitions filed against the sheriff — Attorney General Rob Bonta’s and the UCLA Voting Rights Project’s (VRP) California Supreme Court filings as well as Bonta’s petitions filed with the Court of Appeal and the Riverside County Superior Court.

It appears the county is leaving the bill on the table and walking away from the sheriff.