Judge Says John Lee Repeatedly Took Improper Gifts, Faces $43,730 Fine

An administrative law judge has concluded that John Lee, an LA City Council member, repeatedly violated city ethics laws governing gifts and public disclosure and recommended a total fine of $43,730.

According to a proposed decision submitted to the court on the 12th by Administrative Law Judge Ji-Lan Zang, Lee received benefits exceeding allowable gift limits and failed to report them, violating city ethics regulations. The LA Times reported on the 13th that the judge reached this conclusion.

In the 59-page proposed decision, Zang found that Lee accepted a luxury trip to Las Vegas and meals at LA restaurants from three businessmen in 2016 and 2017. The judge concluded that Lee committed two violations of laws limiting the value of gifts public officials may receive and three violations of laws requiring those gifts to be publicly disclosed.

Based on those findings, Zang recommended imposing fines totaling $43,730.

However, Zang did not agree with allegations raised by investigators for the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission that Lee abused his official authority, or that he assisted former councilmember Mitchell Englander in abusing his position when Englander served as Lee’s chief of staff.

The proposed decision was issued six months after a hearing held by the Los Angeles City Ethics Commission on the allegations against Lee.

During that hearing, Lee said he received a standard hotel room and personally paid $300 for his share at a nightclub, arguing that he made a good-faith effort to cover what he consumed.

The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission maintains that Lee improperly received and failed to disclose gifts worth thousands of dollars, including hotel accommodations, upscale meals, alcohol, casino chips, and transportation. Under city rules in effect at the time, public officials were required to disclose gifts valued between $50 and $460 in 2016, and between $50 and $470 in 2017, from a single source. Gifts exceeding those limits were prohibited.

Zang described Lee’s denials as “not credible,” characterizing his testimony as “evasive and self-contradictory.” She also wrote that Lee’s statements conflicted with information he provided to the FBI during its investigation into Englander, as well as with testimony from other witnesses.

The five-member Los Angeles City Ethics Commission is scheduled to meet on the 17th to determine the number of violations and any financial penalties.

Ethics investigators, who have the authority to accept or reject the administrative law judge’s recommendation, continue to argue that Lee should be held responsible for 10 violations and fined about $138,000.

Those 10 counts include two instances of accepting gifts above the legal limit, three failures to disclose gifts, four counts of misuse of position, and one count of aiding and abetting Englander’s misuse of office.

Lee’s legal team disputes how investigators calculated the value of the gifts and argues that some allegations are barred by the statute of limitations. They also contend that the proposed penalties are excessive.

Lee joined the LA City Council in 2019 and won reelection in 2024.

BY NAKI PARK [park.naki@koreadaily.com]