The previous chief lobbyist for the San Francisco 49ers has testified {that a} Silicon Valley metropolis councilman illegally leaked a confidential report criticizing the workforce’s political affect, it was reported Friday.
Rahul Chandhok advised a legal grand jury March 21 that Santa Clara Metropolis Councilmember Anthony Becker digitally despatched him the report — which was made by a civil grand jury — final October, the San Francisco Chronicle reported after reviewing a transcript of his testimony.
Prosecutors accuse Becker of offering the key report back to Chandhok and a neighborhood information outlet forward of its official launch after which mendacity to the grand jury about it.
He has pleaded not responsible to 1 felony rely of perjury below oath and a misdemeanor rely of willful failure to carry out responsibility. He might withstand 4 years in state jail if convicted.
The 49ers play in Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, about 35 miles (55 kilometers) south of San Francisco. Santa Clara owns the stadium and leases it to the workforce, and the 2 sides have feuded for years by way of ethics complaints and authorized disputes.
Santa Clara County prosecutors mentioned the soccer workforce has bankrolled Becker’s political profession by spending at the very least $3.2 million by way of unbiased expenditure committees for his 2020 profitable Metropolis Council race and a failed mayoral bid final yr.
Tthe civil grand jury report, titled “Unsportsmanlike Conduct: Santa Clara Metropolis Council,” alleged that councilmembers frequently voted “in a way that’s favorable to the 49ers.”
In his testimony, Chandhok mentioned Becker despatched him a replica of the report 4 days earlier than it was to be made public and a month earlier than the mayoral election, the Chronicle mentioned.
Chandhok mentioned he then started working to blunt the influence of the report.
Following information protection of the report, Chandhok attacked it as “a stunning political hatchet job” in a press release that additionally alleged the civil grand jurors that issued it have been corrupt and publicized the place they lived and worshipped, the Chronicle mentioned.
“The 49ers are dedicated to being a optimistic and contributing member of our neighborhood,” the workforce mentioned Friday in a press release. “Because the transcripts are associated to an ongoing authorized matter, we’re unable to make any additional remark presently.”
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