Supervisor Sean Elsbernd aide, Olivia Scanlon.
File photo by Luke Thomas
Case Against Hall Evaporates When Aide to Sup. Sean Elsbernd
Refuses to Answer Questions About Allegedly Forged Campaign Documents
By Frank Gallagher
Editor’s Note: Mr. Gallagher is former District 7 Supervisor Tony Hall’s former campaign manager who testified during yesterday’s Ethics Commission hearing, held to investigate alleged campaign finance violations by Hall. He is also a former reporter for the San Francisco Examiner.
October 28, 2008
The prosecution’s case against former Sup. Tony Hall suffered what may well prove to be a fatal blow today when their star witness refused to testify and instead asserted the Fifth Amendment in connection with her previous testimony in the matter.
“The case against Tony Hall has been politically motivated from the beginning and the fact that the woman making these allegations in the first place had to take the Fifth today to avoid perjuring herself even further in this matter bears out the absurdity of the charges against him,” David Waggoner, an attorney for Hall, said after the hearing.
The charge against Hall center, in large part, around allegations made by his former aide, Olivia Scanlon, that Hall misused campaign funds solicited in connection with his re-election campaign in 2004.
Scanlon testified in a June 2008 hearing that Hall had used $12,000 in campaign funds to repay a personal loan to her and tried to cover up the payment by claiming that she was on the campaign payroll.
Hall, in turn, marshaled more than a dozen witnesses and reams of campaign documents, refuting Scanlon’s accusations – and today, rather than reassert her claims, Scanlon asserted her right to refuse to answer questions under the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution.
The Fifth Amendment guarantees that individuals under oath in a legal proceeding can refuse to answer questions if the answer to those questions may incriminate them in criminal activities.
Scanlon is currently an aide to Sup. Sean Elsbernd, who was appointed to the seat when Hall stepped down in a deal engineered by Mayor Gavin Newsom that sent Hall to Treasure Island as the executive director of the Treasure Island Development Authority. Hall’s resignation allowed Newsom to appoint a supervisor who would march in lock-step with his political agenda.
Scanlon, for her part, has retained Swanson, McNamara & Haller, a high-priced firm that specializes in white-collar criminal defense. Her attorney entered the Fifth Amendment plea on her behalf.
Elsbernd, who was also on the witness list for today’s hearing, failed to appear. No reason was given for his absence.
“The fact is,” Waggoner said, “when it comes to the case against Tony Hall, there’s no there there. This thing should have been tossed out a long time ago. We can only hope that the members of the Ethics Commission make the right decision next month.”
The commission is expected to render a decision in the matter at their next hearing on Dec. 8.
More Info
Video of attorney Edward Swanson pleading for Fifth Amendment protection on behalf of his client, Olivia Scanlon, following the filing of a criminal complaint against Scanlon.
FogCityJournal.com interview with defense attorney David Waggoner following the hearing. Chief Enforcement Office Richard Mo, who prosecuted the case on behalf of the ethics commission, declined to comment on the case.
The Hunger Site
October 29, 2008 at 8:40 am
One reason Sean Elsbernd might not want to testify under oath could be because there are two active ethics complaints filed against him (Complaint No. 21-080806 and Complaint No. 22-0808815) and he might have had to answer questions regarding these complaints.
The first complaint is he’s not declaring a conflict of interest when voting on his wife’s salary and her department’s budget. The second complaint is regarding his spending $608.75 of his campaign money on his hotel bill at the Imperial Hotel in Cork, Ireland, Sept. 19, 2005 and $744.88 on his hotel bill at the Georgian Hotel Sept. 23, 2005.