Disgraced former L.A. Metro CEO Philip Washington whose contract was not renewed last May by Mayor Eric Garretti, is potentially on his way to the Capitol having recently been nominated to head the Federal Aviation Administration.
Allegations of wrong-doing (an understatement to say the least) in Los Angeles sent him packing to Colorado where he somehow swindled the CEO of Denver International Airport; a position he almost lost (and should have) after Political Corruption Expert, Adam Loew exposed Washington’s lie by omission to the Denver City Council regarding his role in the criminal warrants that were being reviewed by the California Second District Court of Appeal.
Washington intended to be confirmed as the head of Denver International Airport on consent, however, after being exposed by Loew, was forced to admit he was named in criminal warrants in Los Angeles.
THE MORE THINGS CHANGE…
Unfortunately, Denver City Council overlooked Washington’s unscrupulous behaviors and alleged criminal actions and proceeded to approve his nomination to CEO of DIA. The Current Report has acquired evidence that indicates that under the leadership of Biden’s disgraced India Ambassador nominee’s Eric Garcetti, during his time as LA Metro Board Chair (puppet), Garcetti may have green-lighted a meeting between L.A. County Council, Metro Employees and the Denver Mayor’s office to collaborate on a story explaining away criminal activity.
Had Denver officials had done their due diligence, they would have discovered Washington is no stranger to the criminal warrant process or federal indictments including in their own back yard.
Washington left his post as Denver RTD’s General Manager to join L.A. Metro as CEO in May of 2015, however, back at Denver RTD the consequences of Phillip Washington’s public corruption were leading to the imprisonment of one of Denver RTD’s Senior Leadership Team and a direct report of Washington.
Kenneth Hardin, Director of the Denver RTD Civil Rights Division, was convicted in February of 2015 on three counts related to accepting bribes in connection with his official duties as a senior manager at RTD and was sentenced to 18 Months in Federal Prison.
Federal Investigators were able to prove in Federal Court that that under Phillip Washington’s leadership at Denver RTD, Hardin had exchanged contracts for cash and Hardin had lobbied RTD to renew Access-a-Ride contracts in 2011, 2012 and 2013.
“The charges against Hardin illustrate the FBI’s commitment to investigate officials who use their positions of trust for personal gain,” said FBI Special Agent in Charge Thomas P. Ravenelle. “This type of criminal activity undermines the public’s confidence in government activities that should be fair and transparent. To ensure these matters are fully addressed, we strongly encourage anyone who has information about corrupt activities at any level of government to call the FBI at 888-232-3270.”
Similarly, when Washington left Los Angeles in 2021 before heading back to Denver, he was under multiple local and federal criminal investigations.
PPE PANDEMIC PANIC
In September of 2020, Political Corruption Expert Loew contacted The Current Report with information regarding counterfeit PPE (Personal Protection Equipment) knowingly being distributed to employees and drivers during the height of the pandemic.
The information provided by Lowe was published by The Current Report leading to a joint investigation between the Federal Drug Administration and Homeland Security within 24 hours of release. The story sparked additional local and federal investigations to determine what role Washington had in the procurement of the counterfeit N95 masks and whether the faulty PPE led to the deaths of multiple LA Metro bus and train operators.
DID WASHINGTON KNOW ABOUT WASHINGTON’S WOES?
Knowingly or unknowingly, shortly after the 2020 election was confirmed, President-Elect Biden and Vice President-Elect Harris chose embattled LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington to lead the new administration’s transition team for Transportation. A rather controversial choice as Washington was – and currently is – involved in multiple federal, state, local and internal L.A. Metro investigations involving allegations of criminal conduct.
Although Washington’s corruption has far reaching implications, his imprint locally is substantial. His dealings with LA County, Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who was also named in the criminal warrants involving LA Metro, has reportedly been notified by federal authorities she is the subject of a criminal federal investigation.
Though the rumors are not clear as to whether these investigations are directly connected to her relationship with federally indicted former L.A. County Supervisor Mark Ridley Thomas and/or the accusation of Kuehl allegedly brokering contracts with LA Metro on behalf of her close friend Peace over Violence CEO and former Civilian Oversight Commission Chairman Patti Giggans. LA Metro’s contracts with Giggans and her organization Peace Over Violence, is also the subject of a separate Pay to Play local criminal investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department.
There is a significant amount of information that suggests L.A. Metro Board member Sheila Kuehl and her deputy Madeline Moore brokered a deal with Washington give approximately $1,000,000 dollars of no-bid LA Metro contracts to Kuehl’s best friend Giggans.
More recently, investigations have begun to determine what happened to $1,200,000 dollars of taxpayer funds that went uncollected related to the L.A. Metro and Westlake MacArthur Park Vendor Market sponsored by L.A. Metro Board member Hilda Solis and City Council Member Gilbert Cedillo.
On February 19, 2021, The Los County Sheriff’s Department, after a two year investigation, served criminal warrants to LA Metro, the LA Metro Office of Inspector General and Peace Over Violence over allegations of Fraud, Waste and Abuse, Public Corruption and Pay to Play between Peace Over Violence CEO Patti Giggans, LA Metro CEO Phillip Washington, Washington’s Chief of Staff Nadine Lee, former New Orleans RTA CEO Alex Wiggins and LA Metro Executive Officer Aston Greene III.
The Current Report has also received documentation that the warrants naming Philip Washington may also be playing a significant role in the delay of Eric Garretti’s confirmation as ambassador to India.
According to the emails received by The Current Report, members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee have requested documents that show then LA Metro Board member and L.A. Mayor Garcetti was chair of the L.A. Metro board, he played a role in the cover-up of the allegations of public corruption and criminal warrants at L.A. Metro related to the nomination of Washington as Denver International Airport CEO.
The Current Report has obtained Calendar entries that show that during Garcetti’s Chairmanship of L.A. Metro a meeting was held between the City of Denver mayor’s office and about 10 members of L.A. Metro’s Legal Team, PIOs and Media Team related to Phillip Washington’s nomination to DIA CEO nomination.
It is possible that this meeting was meant to deceive the Denver City Council and the Citizens of Denver as to what was really going on at L.A. Metro. If that meeting was meant to push forward the approval of Phillip Washington’s nomination as DIA CEO, the individuals involved could be charged with committing criminal conspiracy and violating California Penal Code 182 with potentially Garcetti becoming the fourth member of LA City Council to be federally indicted.
Sad but true, the political climate in Los Angeles at this point criminal attorneys across Los Angeles should be considering a volume discount for L.A. County politicians.
The LA Metro corruption has also held over in the fight between the BOS, COC and Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
The LA County BOS have shown their corruption publicly by allowing LA County Sheila Kuehl, currently under investigation by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to vote on the impeachment of the Sheriff.
Kuehl who should have recused herself (or been asked to recuse herself by her colleagues who are well aware of these investigations – water cooler talk) due to the conflict of interest, therefore the Board would not have had the votes to create the motion to approve the BOS power to remove the Sheriff.
Adding insult to injury, the Washington lawyer for LA Metro’s criminal warrant case, Havander Anand is also the lawyer for the Civilian Oversight Committee who recently filed the contempt of court case against Sheriff Alex Villanueva.
It appears that with Anand, Washington, LA Metro and BOS continue to engage in questionable ethical behavior allowing Anandan to potentially question the Villanueva in court and in turn use that information to discredit the criminal investigation of Philip Washington.
Recently a Washington DC watch dog organization has joined the effort already in progress by the Department of Justice and the US Senate Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation.
The American Accountability Foundation, a charitable and educational organization that conducts non-partisan governmental oversight research, contacted The Current Report to assist in their independent investigation which will be submitted to members of congress. Numerous documents and evidence provided by Political Corruption Expert Leow to The Current Report was forwarded to the foundation who works closely with investigators on Capitol Hill.
This is a developing news story.
Adam Loew is one of the leading experts in Public Corruption in Los Angeles. He is a Partner in the citizen’s advocacy company the A-Team Advocacy Group to work with whistleblowers of Public Corruption. Loew has a unique style of analyzing allegations of Public Corruption that has led to criminal investigations of prominent elected officials, and government agencies.
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