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Federal Grand Jury Hears Council Member Testify

FBI Investigates Council Members, Strip Clubs

POSTED: 6:20 pm PDT May 16, 2003
UPDATED: 2:05 pm PDT May 18, 2003

A federal grand jury heard a City Council member's testimony Friday regarding an FBI investigation involving strip clubs and three other council members.

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Jim Madaffer spent more than two hours testifying in secret proceedings, 10News reported.

Reporters and photographers gathered in front of the federal building when Madaffer arrived for his appearance before the grand jury.

"For me, it's all surreal," Madaffer told reporters.

Madaffer's office was not targeted when FBI agents raided the 10th floor of City Hall on Wednesday, confiscating files and computer records from three fellow council members: Ralph Inzunza, Charles Lewis, and Michael Zucchet, .

The three council members are being investigated after allegedly accepting campaign donations from the owner and employees of strip clubs in San Diego and Las Vegas.

Jim Madaffer

Madaffer, (pictured, right), admits to having received money from this type of source for his campaign three years ago.

"People can contribute to any campaign as individuals. If they are attached to a given industry, that's their business. That was an issue in my campaign and frankly the constituency in my district fix the rest of this tather were taken aback by the accusations that it was something bad," Madaffer said.

The FBI is digging back to 1997 to see if there may be extortion, bribes, or hidden ownership of those strip clubs. The City Council clamped down on such things as lap dances and table dances about three years ago and added restrictions that cut into the clubs' profits.

"As far as I'm concerned, just given the circus it's been caused here in San Diego in the last couple of days, it's pretty clear that we don't have a place for these types of businesses in the city," said Madaffer.

Assemblyman Juan Vargas, Inzunza's predecessor, said he believes in Inzunza's innocence and does not think he did anything wrong.

Lewis has hired defense attorney Kerry Steigerwalt, who says investigators believe they have something somewhere.

"The reality is for a federal magistrate to issue a wiretap warrant, to record information -- particularly in a city councilmen's office -- is a pretty serious matter. There's got to be a basis -- well-articulated basis -- for probable cause to do that. So, you know, what that probable cause is to justify it certainly must be there or you can presume it to there. But, how it relates to Councilman Lewis remains to be seen," Steigerwalt said.


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