San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee is bringing the fight back to suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi, after allegations were levied that Lee had perjured himself before the Ethics Commission.
The claim of perjury, according to Lee, is an attempt to build a defense around a conspiracy that never occurred. To help prove that the charges are baseless, the Mayor’s lawyers are asking the Ethics Commission to subpoena the four people named by Mirkarimi’s legal team as being able to substantiate the claims.
According to the Sheriff’s lawyers, two of the four people can attest to conversations that may or may not have occurred between Lee and the County Supervisors before the decision was made to suspend Mirkarimi. The other two people are said to have knowledge of a potential job offer to an intermediary of Mirkarimi in exchange for his resignation.
Lee says subpoenas and testimony will clear him of any wrongdoing.
From the Bay City News Service:
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee on Thursday again sharply criticized suspended Sheriff Ross Mirkarimi following accusations that Lee lied under oath at an Ethics Commission hearing last month on whether Mirkarimi should be removed from office.
Lee suspended Mirkarimi without pay in March after the sheriff pleaded guilty to misdemeanor false imprisonment in connection with a Dec. 31 incident in which he bruised the arm of his wife, Eliana Lopez, during an argument.
The mayor then testified at a June 29 Ethics Commission hearing in the case, and on Wednesday, Mirkarimi’s attorneys filed a request for the commission to issue subpoenas for four people they say could prove that Lee perjured himself with his testimony.
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