L.A. County District Attorney Steve Cooley whose office will soon decide the fate of Mel Gibson and Oksana Grigorieva attended 2 fundraisers on his own behalf at the home of Oksana’s lawyer, Eric George, who negotiated Oksana’s $15 million settlement. The settlement is at the core of the investigation in which Mel’s lawyers was Oksana charged with extortion.
Eric George, a prominent Beverly Hills civil lawyer, who’s father was Attorney General for California, hosted both campaign fundraisers last year, WHILE the L.A. County Sheriff’s Department was conducting its investigation!
And documents reveal George contributed more than $8,000 to Cooley in 2010, of that, George contributed $1,992 in August, while the Sheriff’s investigation of Oksana was going full bore. George has had a long-standing friendship with Cooley and has made contributions to him in the past.
George negotiated a 15 million dollar package for Oksana during her mediation in May, 2010. Law enforcement sources say that Sheriff’s investigators believe there’s “strong evidence ” that Oksana extorted Mel by threatening to release the explosive tapes unless she got the money.
Mysteriously the D.A.’s office disagrees with Sheriff’s investigators and has all but decided not to prosecute Oksana, but we’re told Mel Gibson will be charged with misdemeanor domestic violence.
And Cooley has been involved – holding a meeting in his office in December to review the case, though a D.A. spokesperson says no decisions were made during that meeting.
There is grousing among some people in law enforcement, especially in the Sheriff’s Department, that Cooley should have completely removed himself from the decision-making process given the fundraisers and contributions from George.
George had no comment but a Sheriff’s spokesperson has told us the only person under investigation in the extortion matter is Oksana.
Although sources tell us the die has already been cast, a D.A. spokesperson says prosecutors will make a filing decision “very soon” and Cooley likely will not participate because he’s about to go on a long-standing, out-of-town vacation for a week and a half.
If we know this than so do Mel and his Lawyers – let’s see if they can cut through the corrupt old-boys network that is blatantly at work here – not to protect Oksana of course but to protect her lawyer George.
Image credit to WENN.com