California senator Leland Yee indicted on gun, corruption charges
Colleagues call on Democratic state Senator Leland Yee to resign as he faces criminal charges as a result of undercover FBI operations
A prominent California state senator and gun-control advocate has been indicted by a San Francisco grand jury on charges of corruption and conspiracy to traffic in firearms, according to court documents released on Friday.
The indictment adds to the troubles facing Democratic state Senator Leland Yee, who was arrested last week and criminally charged along with two dozen others in the same case. He has since been suspended with pay.
Yee, 65, is the third California state senator to face criminal charges this year in separate cases that have cost Democrats a cherished two-thirds legislative majority in an election year and prompted them to cancel a major fundraiser planned for this weekend.
“Senator Steinberg renews his demand that Senator Yee resign, and resign now.”
Senate Democratic leader Darrell Steinberg, who has said that the charges against Yee “sickened” him, on Friday renewed calls for the senator to resign.
“Senator Steinberg renews his demand that Senator Yee resign, and resign now,” spokesman Rhys Williams said in an e-mail.
The party, which dominates both houses of the legislature and holds all statewide offices, effectively lost its two-thirds majority in the senate last month. Senators Ron Calderon and Roderick Wright were placed on paid leave of absence after Calderon was indicted on corruption charges and Wright was convicted of lying about living in the district he sought to represent. Both were later suspended with pay along with Yee.
In cancelling a glittering fundraiser that was slated to begin on Friday at the picturesque Torrey Pines Golf Course overlooking the Pacific Ocean near San Diego, Democrats acknowledged “extraordinary breaches of the public trust” in the three cases.
“These are unprecedented times and they demand that we take a step back and take stock of how we all do the people’s business and balance it against the demands of running for office,” Steinberg and lawmaker Kevin de Leon said in a joint statement on Tuesday.