FBI searching Senator Leland Yee's office at the State Capitol (courtesy kcra.com)

“FBI agents are currently raiding the Capitol office of State Sen. Leland Yee, who was arrested on bribery and corruption charges Wednesday morning,” kcra.com reports. “The FBI confirmed that it conducted raids at homes and businesses in the Bay Area and Sacramento Wednesday morning, where multiple search warrants were issued and arrests were made. California Highway Patrol officers and the sergeant at arms are currently stationed outside Yee’s office at the state Capitol.” It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy. Mind you, the Golden State antis are like drug lords. Drop one and another one takes his place. Better the devil you know? Among Yee’s accomplishments, he advocated for . . .

All of the standard Californian gun control laws (50 cal ban, bullet button ban, magazine limits, handgun ban) and was also the first politician to propose requiring the registration of 3D printers when Cody Wilson printed his first gun. And that’s just the Greatest Hits version. Leland Yee was possibly the most outspoken gun control advocate in California after Dianne Feinstein, and now it seems that his campaign against the constitutionally protected rights of his constituents might be at an end.

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116 COMMENTS

    • I just got off the phone with some folks at the Capital.
      1. This is only the beginning. The FBI is going full bore to clean this up, and nothing is going to stop them.
      2. Speculation is that when Calderon, and Wright, now convicted, are singing to the FBI to minimize jail time.
      3. Others ARE going to be arrested.
      4. The FBI is making sure their cases are solid, like the Wright case, these are not simply false claims.
      5. They haven’t even started on the Assembly side of the house, which we expect to take place soon, i.e. before the November elections.
      6. This bodes well for conservatives. Deadline for new runners has passed, and most of the Dems have no challengers except from conservatives.
      7. We are hoping that DeLeon will be soon to follow. His SB808 and SB199 need to die on the vine.

      This has the potential to really shift the face of the California legislature. Brown has to be worried as well. Even if he is clean, he won’t get progressive legislation from a conservative congress.
      Between the 9th court ruling, potential to get the safe gun registry tossed, 10 day wait tossed, etc, this is like watching a slow motion train wreck. Except it is fun to watch!
      Maybe they should start their own reality show, “The Criminocracy”!

      • I hope this actually goes somewhere.

        Back in the 80’s and 90’s, anyone in the gun rights movement knew that Sacto was corrupt as sin, but Willie Brown was able to keep a lid on the investigations and keep the clowns from stepping too far over the line.

        Without Willie Brown in there to pull all the necessary levers, it looks like Yee and others got greedy.

        • Yup. Was in a Chamber of Commerce group years ago and heard a long-time staffer, with experience on Gov. Wilson’s staff say “the only way to reform Sacramento, and the lobbyists grip (on the corrupto-crats) would be to drop a nuclear bomb on it and start over. ” That was during Schwarzneggers time, btw.

      • This makes me so happy, I just pray they all crack and start squawking on each other to *try* to avoid jail time. If only Feinstein and Pelosi were involved I would owe so much orphanage/library reading volunteer time. Just a couple good law enforcement officials applying the rules equally to everyone could make the world a better place.

        • “If only Feinstein and Pelosi were involved…”

          Not with Bam and Holder at the controls. But Holder is supposed to be leaving. Hmmm…

        • Jus, you don’t really think Obama is going to find someone better than Holder do you? Most of the Dems are running from Obama. Anyone that would want this job now would be an even bigger Obama hiney kisser than Holder

      • Wright wasn’t charged with any corruption charges. He is simply in trouble for living outside of his district. With redistricting he decided not to actually move with the lines. What is not even illegal in federal law, is a felony in CA (besides it involved him continuing to vote in that district in which he no longer resided)

        Of course, In think I committed that felony too, as a college student and then grad student, I only lived at my voting address for 1 year out of 10 that I voted in it

        Many legislators live outside their districts. Wright is the only one charged and convicted. I know a few Republicans who have done so, at least one with permission of the Senate and hence legally. And several Democrats, like Richard Pan.

        Wright was as pro-gun as a CA Democrat comes. He opposed the AWB, and even mocked it saying he almost hoped it passed so that it could be ruled unconstitutional. He wasn’t all bad…for a Dem.

        • Josh, remember Wright was convicted on 9 counts of perjury.
          Thats much more serious than voter fraud and makes one wonder “why” lie about it if his confusion on voter registration rules are all there is-

          Remember that sometimes prosecutors dont charge on ALL they have, only what they can make stick, and there may be deals made…to avoid going someplace else.

          I don’t claim to be in any insider loop, but perhaps thats what Daniel is referring to- a bunch more background and insider info on other corruption, that was part of that settlement with the LA prosecutor.

          Wright is a former Maxine Waters staffer…
          http://www.scpr.org/news/2010/09/17/19331/wright-indicted/

  4. This couldn’t of happened to a worse person. All of those No Yee Can’t stickers and posters I handed out finally paid off.

  5. I wonder if this will be enough to kill a revival of his bullet button ban bill. On a separate note, I am losing count of the number of senators who have run afoul of the law in the last couple of months. I think it is three, at least so far….

    • Maybe they’ll look into NJ, NY, CT and MD next. We DID have Spiro Agnew get taken down…

      • All they care about here in NJ is Christie and the stupid Ft Lee/GWB stupidity.

        The media wants to distract from real stories like this one. Yeah, traffic jam v. illegal gun running by a big gun control advocate. Which one ot report on. Soooo hard. Let’s go with the bridge thing!

        I wish this would make the news.

  7. I bet all the other roaches are now scrambling to cover their asses preparing for damage control based on whatever Yee decides to roll over on his fellow politicians.

    Run, roaches, run.

    ‘Course, it is California. He’ll probably end up getting a reward and several guest spots on late night talk shows.

    You have to love this quote from the Mercury News:

    “Yee’s indictment might put his candidacy for Secretary of State in ruins, and threaten Democrats’ ability to restore the state Senate supermajority that already has been broken by two other lawmakers’ paid leaves of absence to deal with criminal charges.”

    Pattern much? How can you tell a progressive democrat is a criminal? He/She has a pulse. I really hope he takes several of his fellows down in flames as he negotiates the inevitable ‘deal’.

  8. Is this the same fella that wanted to ban the bullet button because it was “too easy” to reload?

    That’s another thing I’m getting sick of, all these proposed laws because something is “too easy”. “It’s too easy to reload”, or it’s “too easy for people to get a carry permit”. But it’s not “too easy” to get a driver’s license? It’s not “too easy” to buy a hammer?

    /rant.

    • It’s not too easy to stay in the country/state as a gang-banger or multiple DUI offender, taking advantage of the states’ sanctuary laws and refusal to enforce immigration laws.

  9. I had to check today’s date. Is it April 1st already?

    “It couldn’t happen to a nicer guy.”

    That about says it all. I hope the charges are well-founded and that we never hear from Mr. Yee again.

  10. Proof positive that there is a god.

    And I might ad…

    HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    • I’m an atheist, and I think you have a darn fine point there!

      Let me add a hearty Bwa-ha-ha! as well!

  11. Great news. Hopefully the ridiculous Bullet Button Ban Bill he is sponsoring will not get as much traction now. We can only hope, or else we will be on par with Connecticut. Wishful thinking, but it’s a start in the right direction. Would be nice if DeLeon was found to be in cahoots with Yee on this, but now I’m just daydreaming.

  13. I just hope and pray that he implicates at least 6 others of his kind so that there is at least a chance to get some pro 2nd Amendmant folks in office.

  14. Should have read that sitting down. I’m pretty sure that I performed a snoopy dance.

  17. This is my surprised face. Most politicians are criminals that haven’t been caught yet or that have enough power and money to burry a threat.

  19. While this is outstanding news…on the left coast, we still have bullet buttons on our AR’s. Now is the time 9 million in CA lay to policitcal rest, two senators who done more to remove our 2A rights than any others.

  20. I’m patiently waiting for ‘Ghost Gun’ De Leon to get his. The extremist Dems never seem to disappoint when it comes to running afoul of the law and professional ethics. Maybe it’s their arrogant holier than thou attitude; or maybe they lack morals to begin with. Sociopathic tendencies; could that be why *so many* ‘mass shooters’ and shooters in general are Democrats?

    Just sayin’.

    I wonder how many bags of skeletons other grabbers like Bloomgerg, Watts and Feinstein have in *their* closets.

    • “I wonder how many bags of skeletons other grabbers like Bloomgerg, Watts and Feinstein have in *their* closets.”

      It wouldn’t surprise me at all if there were some actual skeletons.

      • Seems like no-one, particularly the media, wants to take the time to look at *their* bona-fides. Maybe it’s time someone gave them a detailed vetting. These grabbers are so busy attacking others it seems no-body is thinking to put *them* under the microscope, maybe out of fear of being targeted by their vicious, vindictive retribution methods supported by their friends and allies in and out of government.

        We already know that Bloomberg has no qualms about breaking the law – using NYC resources to further his MAIG operations.

        • That’s because the MS media lives or dies by their largess, whether through ownership, sponsorship, or undue influence. Rotten to the core, from top to bottom.

        • Feinstein got the mayor and assistant of SF murdered by interfering with an investigation, then took his job since she was up next on the council.

      • “I wonder how many bags of skeletons other grabbers like Bloomgerg, Watts and Feinstein have in *their* closets.”

        I wonder if the number would even matter. Teddy K. had a dead woman in his car(in a river) and still kept his job iirc.

    • Politicians in general seem to have a problem playing by the same rules as the rest of us, regardless of party.

      Barring other data, I’d say simple probability explains why the CA arrestees have been all Democrats.

      Re skeletons, I’d swear some of them have a remarkable resemblance (appearance, voice, attitude) to a beloved children’s cartoon character.

      Skeletor for president!

  22. All politicians are crooked, you can’t find one that isn’t guilty of corruption and bribery… So, my question isn’t who he bribed or accepted a bribe from, but who didn’t he bribe or accept a bribe from?

  23. For the children!

    Mr. Yee, now do you see why we want a 2nd Amendment to protect us from government? Because the government is filled with people like you! Yoy want to take our guns but make sure you have carve outs for you and those you control.

    I hope you get convicted and put on the NICS list for denials!

  24. Ah, yes, an agency that I’m very familiar with. That isn’t me in the photo, but if it was, I’d have an ear to ear grin. I hope Yee gets a long prison stay. “Prepared to be fvcked by the long d!ck of the law!”

  25. Looking forward to hearing if the allegations are true that he was a frequent customer of some SF area prostitution rings.

  27. Wow, what a surprise… a corrupt politician would try to remove the most important power the populace has for protecting themselves from corrupt government.

  31. “We need sensible bribery and corruption laws. Nobody is going to come to take away your bribery and corruption. If you like your bribery you can keep your bribery. Period. If you like your corruption you can keep your corruption. Period.”

    • My thought was I wonder if Bloomberg and his mad mommies are next. Sounds like they also need to come to MN and check out Latz and Paymar.

      • That would be the reason for the “charitable donations”, to halt questioning. Then he’d have to make more donations to try to suppress the truth so they can replace those that will be removed from office.

  34. Besides wondering what Shannon has in her closest (grrrrr. Perhaps a black lace teddy?), this is awesome. Now Yee can run for Mayor of SanFran and DeLeon can run for Mayor of Oakland! Bloomy just wet himself thinking about how deep his bench of (corrupt) mayors really is. Congrats Bloomy. Congrats.

    • Governor Jerry Brown is turning into the biggest gang leader of them all with all his felons running around the Capital.

      • Don’t think so, Skippy. Brown has only been around for just under four years as Governor, and was AG before that (and he did that for only one term). These characters have been sucking off the state teat for years. Yee spent eight years in the assembly, and is finishing off his second (and last) four year term in the Senate. That’s why he was running for Secretary of State–so he could keep his feed bag on.

  35. From a CA schlep that bought a bullet button AR a little over a year ago, this is good news. I make my purchase and immediately have to worry about a BB ban and registration.

  37. It is getting better all the time. According to the local ABC News affiliate: SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — State Senator Leland Yee has been arrested on public corruption charges.

    Yee was transported in handcuffs by authorities to the Federal Building in San Francisco and is scheduled to be arraigned at 1:30 p.m.

    A series of search warrants are being executed by the FBI across the Bay Area this morning. ABC7 News has learned they are making numerous arrests in a widespread sweep involving suspected gang members.

  40. Awesome…his epic scumbagness was finally (legally) confirmed. LOSER needs to be locked up.

    • He is being arraigned at 1:30 Pacific, at which time the charges will be revealed. It appears he was involved with/ accepted bribes from a very nasty and dangerous Chinese gangleader who the feds have been trying to nail for years for his various activities, which include, at a minimum, drug and weapons trafficking.

      • Seriously, if he’s charged with weapons trafficking (or aiding/abetting/turning a blind eye to) we’re all going to have a freaking field day.

        My first suggestion if weapons are any part of this: his ONLY motivation for passing strict gun control legislation and bans was to drive up the price of the weapons sold illegally by his gang friends in order to increase their demand and profit margin and therefore increase his own profits.

        • I doubt that Yee will be charged with gun trafficking–the gang boss who was bribing him will be. We don’t know yet what the bribes were for.

    • That would be rich, especially if they were EBRs. But since he is (a) from San Francisco, (b) a child psychologist, (c) a former school district employee and (d) former president of the school district, as well as having served as a San Francisco city councilman, I think the odds don’t favor such a find.

  43. Other sources are reporting this arrest is tied to a gang crackdown, hundreds of cops working hard in a major round-up.

  44. The guy was an anti-gun nut who also bolstered his idiot credentials by being anti-video game as well. Good riddance.

    Word on the street is that he’s tied to organized crime outta Chinatown… not smart, Leland.

  45. “Tong” described as Chinese fraternal organization… yeaahhh.

    Probably the biggest human cargo shippers on West Coast.

    This guy has some history- perhaps telling about character, and risk-taking.
    http://www.hawaiireporter.com/leading-candidate-for-san-francisco-mayor-has-criminal-record-in-hawaii/123

    Wouldn’t be the first time some pol is saying one thing, and doing another:
    http://sd08.senate.ca.gov/news/2014-01-05-children-trafficked-sex-need-our-help-san-francisco-chronicle

  46. California has some of the lowest voter participation in the country. I know one district that was GOP in 1994 with almost 70% of the votes, yet went over 60% Democrat in 1998. Why the big swing? The GOP candidate had a scandal, and voter participation dropped by a third. And is only a measly near 5%!

    If everyone I talked to who is conservative actually voted, my district would be solid GOP. I go down to the corner liquo store, next guy comes in wearing a shirt advertising a gun target company. I chat him up, the clerk asks if either of us went to the gun show in Costa Mesa, etc. This is suburban Los Angeles area. Go over to the smoke shop, they all support CCW and carry knives.

    Heck even in Hollywood when I was working a job (first time I was ever there, we avoided it as the plague growing up), about 10% of the people walking around had camo on, and I saw a few Cabellas shirts and gun related shirts…in Hollywood, on the award walk…

    It matters because less than 20 years ago the GOP had a majority in the CA legislature (1996 only), and while it didn’t before that had serious teeth as opposition. They almost defeated Roberti Rossi (I believe only on GOP assemblyman betrayed the 2nd amendment that day, but his vote was critical). Heck electoral maps for certain propositions showed every county, outside the SF Bay area, and yes I include Los Angeles, as supporting prop 187.

    Demographic change I am told. I don’t buy that as a full reason. Defeatism is the other side of the coin, where we push Arnold rather than McClintock, who could have won.

    Hopefully this recent spate of scandal leads to the GOP running actual conservative and pro-2a candidates hard, taking advantage of the blow to the fullest degree. When only 4-5% vote in some districts, you don’t need many to stay at home, angry at the Dems, or that many pro-2a to come out of the wordworks

  47. The gamers are are having a field day with this too. This dude was very anti-violent video games as well (maybe he’s just anti-fun?)

  48. Hah, just corrupt political machine hacks doing what corrupt political machine hacks do–influence peddle.

    Bye Mr. Yee. The taxpaying citizens won’t miss you.

  49. What should be revealing is the “talking points” and narrative put out by the reliable StateRunMedia in CA- SacBee, Mercury News, and SF Chronicle.
    And how that gets passed on by AP to the WAPO, and NYT, etc.

    Lots of comments here- this looks pretty big…who’s got the popcorn?
    http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?id=9480515

    • Everyone who has posted here take note – the reliable StateRunMedia (and not just in CA) will: 1. Refuse to mention Sen. Yee’s party affiliation in every headline, 2. Either bury his party affiliation deep in the body of the story (where most people stop reading, & they know at what point most people stop reading) or not mention it at all, 3. Print every reason possible by anyone who is willing to offer one why Sen. Yee should be given leniency or why “he’s a good boy” or that he struggled growing up or some other non-sensical mitigation for his acts.

      • When I first saw that photograph of Yee and the headline regarding being arrested, I immediately wondered if it was that Asian Anti-Gun from SF. I held my breathe as I clicked further into the story, to find the name and the charges. Of course the news story failed to mention the irony of this specific politician, being arrested on ANY firearm related charge(s). I wasn’t surprised but no harm in wishing for a fair and balanced news story.
        A word to ALL gun owners here, please join/rejoin the NRA, your local state gun-rights organization and your local TEA PARTY CHAPTER. Only by ALL of us coming together, will WE preserve ALL of our rights.

  53. Major hypocrite, or shrewd capitalist?

    “It is extremely important that individuals in the state of California do not own assault weapons. I mean that is just so crystal clear, there is no debate, no discussion.” -Senator Leland Yee

    Well how delightfully autocratic of you Senator! I just love it when public servants pontificate their mandates in absolutes.

    Yee sought to make it as difficult as possible to obtain firearms so that he and The Triad could clean house selling them on the black market. It was a fine idea at the time, now it’s a brilliant mistake.

  54. UNDERSTAND THIS, ALL POLITICIANS ARE CORRUPT! They either conform to the wealthy corporations and lobbyists or they are blacklisted and not supported in their campaign funds. Neither republican nor democrat politicians care about us really. Their net worth increases in millions in one term due to insider trading secrets, bribes, and pay offs for them to turn their heads away from issues in the areas that they represent.
    It is really no ones fault but our own for not protesting and speaking out against it. What they do is create an artificial political stances and impose divisional tactics to make civil unrest. When we worry more about our fellow citizens views and opinions instead of what these idiots on capital hill do, they win and we lose.

  55. i don’t buy it! when is the last time a democrat was involved in illegal activities. major sarc/

  56. Leland Yee is a disgraceful hypocrite and a criminal. He has repeatedly sought to deprive law abiding citizens of their Second Amendment rights.. However Leland Yee himself is NOT law abiding. The current criminal charges against Leland Yee include conspiracy to deal firearms without a license, conspiracy to illegally transport firearms, six counts of a scheme to defraud citizens on his services, and wire fraud. In his past, Leland Yee falsified the residential address of his children with the school district to circumvent their having to go to inferior schools. In 1992, Leland Yee was arrested for shoplifting in Hawaii. He skipped town to escape those criminal charges. In 1999, Leland Yee was stopped twice by police for his cruising for prostitutes in San Francisco.

  57. Bribery and corruption? All members of Congress are guilty of bribery and corruption.

    What is insider trading for you and me is perfectly legal for Congress.

  58. Kevin De Leon has GOT to be next. While I rejoice that this rabid gun snatching Yee is going to prison soon, he needs a cellmate. Who better then his partner in literal crime Kevin De Leon;] I could not say who was worse for the 2amend Kevin or Leland. I heat living in Kalifornia, and I am a Native Californian. I remember when the sunshine state produce people like Ronald Reagan. I dream of a day when I move to a state that is not controlled by liberal Democrats, who are owned by the Public Employee Unions. Restricting and eventually abolishing private gun ownership in America is the private goal of every liberal democrat. In their warped world view, Guns, not people are evil (except when guns are in the hands of the chosen few, such as police and the military). Holding individuals personally responsible for their misuse of firearms in the Nanny State is much tougher than just restricting private gun ownership with the ultimate goal of confiscation, such as what happened in Australia. I remember the rodney king riots, when some brave koreans protected their homes and businesses from savage gangsters and street criminals looters, when there were no cops or national guard around. This same situation will occur the moment their is a serious earthquake or God forbid, major act of terrorism, like a dirty bomb. LA County will quickly descend into a lawless Chaos for perhaps week until the Marines roll back up from Camp Pendleton. I for one will be prepared with sufficient ammunition, food and weapons to defend my family from these “domestic Terrorists.” I pity the poor Mexicans trying to protect themselves from Narco Terroist with the limited arms they can get their hands on. Gun control has worked wonderfully in Mexico for the criminals and murderers.

  60. What seriously irks me is that he walked out of jail on bail yesterday before the sun even had time to set. How many of us regular folk would have even gotten bail if we were charged with this shit?

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