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Then-Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Andrew Do during the COVID pandemic in 2020. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Then-Orange County Board of Supervisors Vice Chairman Andrew Do during the COVID pandemic in 2020. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Teri Sforza (Photo by Teri Sforza, Orange County Register/SCNG)
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The first half of 2025 will go down in the history books as a golden age of moral leadership in Orange County!

That’s sarcasm, people. An esteemed colleague noted the $3 million civil verdict against District Attorney Todd Spitzer and Superior Court Judge Shawn Nelson for the harassment of a veteran female prosecutor.  

And the second-degree murder conviction of Judge Jeffrey Ferguson for shooting and killing his wife.

And former Anaheim Mayor Harry Sidhu got (a measly) two months in prison after a years-long corruption probe exposed small-town tyranny and the city’s “den of vampiric fat cats” (which also torpedoed the city’s sale of Angel Stadium).

Orange County District Attorney candidate Todd Spitzer, left, is greeted by OC Supervisor Shawn Nelson, right, as Spitzer arrives at his election night gathering in Tustin on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)
Orange County District Attorney candidate Todd Spitzer, left, is greeted by OC Supervisor Shawn Nelson, right, as Spitzer arrives at his election night gathering in Tustin on Tuesday, November 6, 2018. (Photo by Paul Rodriguez, Contributing Photographer)

And, now, we come to the latest installment: On Monday, former Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do was hit with the maximum sentence under his plea deal — five years — for corruption and abusing the public trust. Do accepted more than $550,000 in bribes and directed more than $10 million in COVID-19 relief funds to a charity affiliated with one of his daughters.

What the heck is going on?

“One possibility is that what we’re seeing — partly reflected in (President Donald) Trump sending the National Guard in (to California) as well — is the broad undermining of the rule of law,” said Shawn Rosenberg, professor of political and psychological science at UC Irvine. “It’s sort of increasingly OK to do whatever.

“Was what (Do) did illegal? Clearly. Was he tried and convicted? Yes,” Rosenberg added.

“But the way in which you most effectively prevent corruption is when there are norms in place and most people abide by them. That’s being broadly undermined. We’ve become so polarized, so partisan, your side can do almost anything and it’s kind of OK because you’re defending your team. I don’t have much positive to say. And it’s only going to get a lot worse.”

Mayor Harry Sidhu addresses visitors to Anaheim's State of the City Luncheon at City National Grove of Anaheim, CA, on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Mayor Harry Sidhu addresses visitors to Anaheim’s State of the City Luncheon at City National Grove of Anaheim, CA, on Wednesday, July 14, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)

As Rosenberg and I spoke — he is in Spain doing research for an upcoming book on the rise of right- and left- wing populism — Trump was dispatching hundreds of U.S. Marines to Los Angeles. Federal law generally bars active duty forces from domestic law enforcement unless the president invokes the Insurrection Act. What happens next is anyone’s guess.

Death of the press

Chapman University’s Fred Smoller sees it all through a slightly different — though no less alarming — lens.

“The ethical lapses you mention are a direct result of the falloff in local news reporting,” said Smoller, associate professor of political science, by email. “Andrew Do, like Bob Rizzo of (the city of) Bell and the others … thought they’d never get caught (giving in to the temptations that power affords elected officials).

“To paraphrase James Madison, if men were angels, no Watchdog press would be necessary.”

Funny. I’ve kept the press release Do sent out on Dec. 20, 2023, demanding that LAist fire the reporter who was doggedly drilling down on this story, Nick Gerda. It seemed terrifically unhinged — accusing Gerda of using forged IRS documents and of targeting Do and his family.

“He needs to explain himself and either provide information on who provided him with the doctored tax return or fess up to doctoring it himself in an attempt to generate salacious content,” Do’s release said. “This article, coupled with other ‘reporting’ by Gerda is unbelievably sloppy. The LAist needs to hold him to account for publishing falsified material and fire him immediately.”

SANTA ANA, CALIF, Feb. 26, 2025 Jeffrey Ferguson, an Orange County Superior Court judge, who allegedly pulled a gun from his ankle holster and fatally shot his wife, listens to closing arguments at the Santa Ana Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / Pool)
SANTA ANA, CALIF, Feb. 26, 2025 — Jeffrey Ferguson, an Orange County Superior Court judge, who allegedly pulled a gun from his ankle holster and fatally shot his wife, listens to closing arguments at the Santa Ana Central Justice Center in Santa Ana, Calif., on Wednesday, Feb. 26, 2025. (Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times / Pool)

Gerda, of course, has gone on to win numerous awards for his reporting on Do, but this document may be the most precious keepsake of them all.

The scary thing here for democracy and all is that such attacks on the press are becoming commonplace. And that there are fewer and fewer reporters doing them, even as governments and others hire more and more flaks to spin events to their liking.

There were 308,000 public relations specialists employed in 2023, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

There were just 45,000 journalists.

‘Blind’

To recap the crime: Do directed $9.3 million to Viet America Society to provide meals to elderly and disabled people during the pandemic. Only a fraction of that ($1.4 million) went to its intended purpose. Viet America Society kicked money back to Do through payments to his daughter, Rhiannon, who received most of the bribes via a high-paying job at Viet America Society and $350,000 for the down payment on a $1 million Tustin home. Do’s other daughter received $100,000 from Viet America Society, according to his plea agreement.

Do’s attorneys argued that their client didn’t understand the payments to his daughters could be construed as a bribe to him, since he didn’t get the benefit himself. Do, a lawyer, claimed he was “willfully blind” to his own corruption.

Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, waves to the crowd as he rides in the Little Saigon Westminster Tet Parade on Bolsa Ave. in Westminster on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Orange County Supervisor Andrew Do, waves to the crowd as he rides in the Little Saigon Westminster Tet Parade on Bolsa Ave. in Westminster on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2020. (Photo by Kevin Sullivan, Orange County Register/SCNG)

Puh-lease!

“That is bogus. I don’t believe that for a second,” said Katrina Foley, vice chair of the Board of Supervisors, erstwhile Do colleague, and an attorney.

“That is failing to take responsibility for this sophisticated, orchestrated scheme that he planned. There are so many layers to this… It’s not willful blindness, it’s willful misconduct!”

Do was once a prosecutor who tried these types of cases and his wife is a judge, pointed out Supervisor Janet Nguyen in a statement. The “blindness” bit just doesn’t fly.

While the string of recent scandals is embarrassing, Foley said, it’s not reflective of the good people who serve our county. When I expressed some sadness over Do’s incredible backstory and fall from grace — he fled the fiery fall of Saigon with just the clothes on his back and a suitcase full of dictionaries, seized opportunity in America and rose to political power until he (tragically? greedily? stupidly?) squandered it all — Foley was having none of it.

“I’m not sad,” she said. “He treated people in such a bad way; he was retaliatory. People expressed fear of him. Fear! Fear that they would lose nonprofit contracts. Fear that they would have their businesses shut down. Fear that they would somehow be in trouble.

“It’s a choice to decide to follow the rules and do the right thing,” Foley said.

“It’s a choice to decide not to.”

Deep sigh. Far too many folks, it seems, are making the latter choice.

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