In another major example of the corruption of the Democratic Party, California Dem official Melahat Rafiei was forced to resign after word broke that she had been arrested by the FBI as part of a major corruption sting, leading to bribery accusations that the official called “flat out wrong” before her resignation.
For background, on May 22, 2022, Melahat Refiei, an Orange County, California, Democratic Party leader, resigned after her 2019 arrest for alleged bribery came to light. According to press accounts, Refiei was arrested after she told a cannabis company that had hired her that she was planning on bribing Irving, California, City Councilmembers in exchange for marijuana legislation.
In a court affidavit obtained by Voice of OC, Refiei (referred to as CW1), was accused of devising a bribery scheme in which she would “solicit money from [cannabis company workers] with the intention of paying bribes to two elected members of the Irvine City Council in exchange for the Council Members performing official acts, resulting in the passage of favorable cannabis laws.”
Moreover, Voice of OC reported that Refiei denied that she had done anything wrong despite her arrest. The Democrat reportedly claimed that she resigned because of “sensationalist press reports,” adding, “These reports are speculative and often flat out wrong: I have never attempted to improperly influence any elected official.”
However, according to the court affidavit, Refiei only “agreed to cooperate” after she was arrested and taken to the Orange County FBI office. Refiei claimed that she cooperated with the investigation into her alleged bribery because of “dedication” to the Democratic Party, saying that her cooperation with the FBI would allow her “to serve as a cooperating witness in an ongoing investigation to uncover corruption among Republican operatives and elected officials in Anaheim.”
Unsurprisingly, on January 19, 2023, the FBI announced in a press release that Refeiei finally agreed to plead guilty to attempted wire fraud, admitting to her proposed bribery scheme. The press release described Rafiei as having presented “a business opportunity” to workers in the medical cannabis industry as part of her scheme, which also involved “at least $225,000 in bribes to Irvine City Councilmembers in exchange for their introducing and passing a city ordinance that would allow Rafiei’s clients to open a retail cannabis store in Irvine.”
More recently, the Democratic Party took another major hit when a Colorado state senator resigned after she was hit with felony charges for allegedly forging a letter of support from a former aide. The senator, Sonya Jaquez Lewis, reportedly forged the letter after former members of her staff accused her of horribly mistreating them. The letter claimed that Jaquez Lewis “was a terrific boss.”
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However, like Refiei, Jaquez Lewis denied the accusations against her. Writing in an official response to the investigation sent on January 31, 2025, Jaquez Lewis claimed that she was “being dragged through the mud for political ends.” She added that the Political Workers Guild (PWG), the union that represents Democratic political staffers, was using “false allegations” and “using me to showcase its concerns.”
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