Name That Party: Former SF Supervisor Guilty of Shakedowns; AP, Chron Fail to ID as Dem

A former San Francisco Supervisor pleaded guilty Friday to three felonies Friday that go to the fundamental integrity of city operations.

Both the Associated Press's Paul Elias and the San Francisco Chronicle's Wyatt Buchanan did not see fit to name the party of Ed Jew, who is, naturally, a Democrat.

Interesting, Jew attributes his downfall to the examples of others, and, according to Buchanan, "is prepared to name others who he says have engaged in similar actions." Though there's clearly an element of personal responsibility avoidance at play here, it's nonetheless worth noting that AP and Buchanan still had no interest in learning where Jew picked up what Elias described as "lessons taught by other politicians."

Here are the first five paragraphs of the AP story:

A former San Francisco supervisor pleaded guilty to three felony charges Friday and admitted to trying to shake down city business owners with planning permit problems.

Ed Jew resigned from the Board of Supervisors in January after a federal grand jury indicted him on charges that he demanded $80,000 from owners of outlets of the Quickly chain of fast-food restaurants to help them solve their permit issues.

During an FBI sting in 2007, agents videotaped the owners delivering a $40,000 payment to Jew in marked $100 bills and promised to pay the rest later. Agents found $10,000 of that cash wrapped in foil and stored in a freezer during a raid of his Burlingame home.

After changing his story several times, Jew told the FBI that he gave $20,000 to a consultant and kept the other half. Jew said he intended to donate much of it to charity while keeping the rest to buy hot dogs and hamburgers for community events.

"Even though the money was to be used for projects in my district, taking it was illegal at the time, and I knew it," Jew said in court Friday. He blamed his "inexperience and naivete and lessons taught by other politicians" for contributing to his downfall.

Buchanan further noted Jew's intention to name names:

Jew's attorney said his client believed his actions were legal because that's how he learned to behave in politics. At his sentencing on Feb. 13, Jew is prepared to name others who he says have engaged in similar actions.

An inquisitive reader would want to know if there is a party-related pattern to the corruption. Given the Democratic Party's overwhelming dominance of San Francisco politics, this would appear to be an odds-on likelihood. Yet not a peep was heard from either reporter about this.

Jew also stands accused of election fraud for allegedly lying about where he lived so that he could run in the district he was elected to represent. He has pleaded not guilty to the charges brought by the state relating to that matter.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.