I just wrote about some massive political donations I discovered that Tom Girardi and Erika Girardi had made through their respective businesses over the last 4 election cycles and how I believed it needed to be examined.
I had a hunch in 2016 after seeing Gavin Newsom brag about Erika Jayne being his favorite housewife as a result of Tom’s very generous political donations, that Girardi was involved in a very shady scheme to move large amounts of money to politicians and SuperPACS in exchange for favors.
Something has always seemed off about Girardi. He is the famed attorney from the Erin Brockovich story, but quite honestly I never believed that story. I believed Erin was working for Tom from the start. And as a small town single mom, gum-shoe investigator she was able to get away with things that Girardi Keese would have never gotten away with.
And with Erin spearheading the crusade, Tom becomes the hero instead of the ambulance chaser. In other words, I believed that the legendary Tom Girardi was in the business of painting narratives in order to manipulate and control public perception of important events. He was a Hollywood producer, more than an attorney.
I also thought it was entirely possible that Girardi and PG&E were working together rather than as adversaries. After all, PG&E was a public utility, so it was really tax payers that paid the massive $460 million to the 650 residents of Hinkley, California. Perhaps PG&E was getting something quite nice in return.
What am I getting at?
I just saw that there was an article on March 6, in the Los Angeles Times that buttresses my claim that something was very fishy about all of the money Tom and Girardi Keese funneled to politicians and that some utility companies may have been working with Tom even though he was suing them.
The article claims that he along with his family and firm employees donated more than $7.3 million to political candidates often in exchange for favors, such as appearances on his radio show, backroom deals to aid his firm, and influence over judicial appointments.
I mentioned in my last piece that Tom was the first trial lawyer to be appointed to the California Judicial Council, the policymaking body of the state courts. So it’s not that far fetched to think Tom was taking advantage of his relationship with judges.
Former state Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, had been very tight with Girardi and no wonder as Tom had had raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for him. But Lockyer explained that the two of them suffered a falling out after he failed to comply with Tom’s requests–perhaps “demands” is a better word.
Girardi wanted the then AG to allow him resolve government antitrust claims against Sempra Energy in the midst of a private settlement.
Let that sink in for a minute. How did Tom get away with this? Imagine a private attorney pushing a state attorney general to drop antitrust claims against a multibillion dollar giant like Sempra so that he could get a larger settlement from the company?
Clearly, the implication is that Tom had said to Sempra, “I can make the antitrust claims go away if you give us X amount in this settlement.” How could a solitary personal injury attorney have this kind of power? (I suggest you click on the link to the article I wrote uncovering his massive campaign donations).
“My impression was [he thought] Sempra might be more generous on their settlement side if mine went away,” Bill recalled.
Another favor requested by Girardi involved Hewlett-Packard chair Patricia Dunn. Lockyer claimed Tom had asked him not to pursue charges against her when she was being investigated for supposedly taking part in a spying program. Tom wanted him to instead pin it on a low-level participant.
“I remember at the time saying to Tom, ‘I can’t do that. Will you think about justice?’” Bill said.
Strangely, Bill got a letter from Tom soon after saying, “I never want to talk to you again.”
Also rather bizarre and totally unprofessional, but it sounds similar to the odd phone messages that he left many of the victims he stole from.
Unfortunately for both Tom and Erika, they boasted about their very powerful connections in their respective books. And Tom bragged about his influence over judicial appointments.
“I make no bones about influencing judicial appointments. Awful, you say? Unethical? Well, who better to recommend a man to the bench than someone who works with him every day,” Tom wrote in a memoir, titled May It Please The Court.
Like they say, ‘pride comes before the fall’. And both Tom and Erika had an enormous amount of “pride” – perhaps arrogance is a better word.
It sounds to me like Tom is what is called a “fixer”, as in someone who has very powerful connections and can make things happen that would be near impossible if one took the legal route.
I hope the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth comes out on Tom and Erika and anyone that may have been assisting in this alleged unethical behavior.
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