The Sacramento Bee, which has been very supportive of Mayor Kevin Johnson and also of corporate reform, posted a story about the postponement of the ESPN film about how he saved the hometown basketball team.
The article on the newspaper’s blog says the molestation accusations were reported long ago, they are old news, and the only thing new is the surfacing of the video of the accuser being questioned by the police. Putting a face on the alleged victim revived the story.
If you watch the video, it may strike you as odd that this teenager is questioned by a middle-aged policeman, who asks her intimate questions about what happened to her. Maybe this is standard police practice, but it seemed to me that she should have been questioned by a female police officer.
After reading the story, I was left with the impression that the newspaper thinks this story is no big deal, that it will blow over, and that life will go on for the Mayor.
Diane Ravitch's blog 
One more bit from the SACRAMENTO BEE:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/marcos-breton/article38838423.html#storylink=cpy
———————–
“It’s quite a picture. A young-looking teen, just 95 pounds, sits fidgeting in a hard chair, scrunching her shoulders. She says Johnson fondled her, but hesitates at first when the officer presses her to be more specific.”
——————–
What do these SACRAMENTO BEE writers think the are?
Defense attorneys for Kevin Johnson?
Clearly the second clause of that last sentence is meant to thrown doubt on what Mandi is telling the police:
“… but hesitates when the officer presses her to be more specific.”
The implication is that she may be hesitating because she’s making it up as she goes,
and is lying, because she does not answer quickly enough… you know… “hesitating”… “fidgeting”… “scrunching her shoulders”…
Don’t you see? These are all the “tells” of a teenage girl making a false accusation of sexual molestation.
Also, that brief opening sentence sounds like it comes right out of defense attorney’s opening or closing statement to the jury.
“It’s quite a picture,” the attorney mockingly intones before he proceeds to tear the video testimony to shreds.
Is it any wonder so many female victims are reluctant to got to the police?
Watch it and judge for yourself:
———————————————————————-
( 00:37 – 01:35 )
( 00:37 – 01:35 )
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “What … what specific areas (of your body did Kevin Johnson fondle)?”
MANDI KOBA: “My stomach. My breasts. My butt… ”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: (almost whispering) “Anywhere else?”
MANDI KOBA: “As it progressed.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “Where ELSE did it progress?”
MANDI KOBA: “Between my legs.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “Okay, and what do we call that area?”
MANDI KOBA: “My vagina.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “And – and I know some of the questions sound stupid. Okay? And I apologize for it, but there are certain things I’m looking for. Unless I know these things, then…
MANDI KOBA: “I understand.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: ” … then I don’t know what’s going on.”
— (PAUSE)
“He (Kevin Johnson) had HIS clothes off?”
MANDI KOBA: “Yes.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “What happened after the fondling?”
MANDI KOBA: “That’s … we didn’t have intercourse… It was… just a lot of THAT. I don’t know how long it lasted, and then… ummm ”
CLIP ENDS
———————————–
Former supporters are distancing themselves from Johnson … including ESPN and the Kings basketball organization.
The latest is that The Chairman (actually Chair-WOMAN) of the Democratic Party has saud that enough is enough, and that Johnson has to resign.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2578923-kevin-johnson-faces-pressure-to-resign-as-mayor-amid-allegations-of-molestation
——–
“Kerri Asbury, chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Sacramento County, told Ryan Lillis of the Sacramento Bee she believes Johnson should resign from his position as mayor.
” ‘At a minimum, I think he needs to not seek re-election,’ Asbury said, per Lillis (article BELOW). ‘I feel the integrity of the mayor’s office has been broken.’ ”
——–
and here the Ryan Lillis piece from the Sacramento Bee, from which they took that quote:
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/news-columns-blogs/city-beat/article38974704.html
——–
“Asbury said the party’s executive board has not taken a formal position on Johnson’s future and likely won’t until at least its Nov. 12 meeting. However, after speaking to other members of the party’s leadership, she said,
“ ‘If I were putting down money on which way the committee would go, I would bet on a call for resignation.’ ”
——–
Lillis and the Sacramento Bee are a little late to this party. The latest police interview video had been out for almost a week and they scrupulously ignored its existence. It took the dramatic event of ESPN cancelling the airing of the Kevin Johnson propaganda movie — now a national story that could not be ignored by the Bee in Sacramento — for them to finally address it. If this hadn’t happened, they would have pretended it never happened… as part of their on-going support for Johnson.
The main news organization that has been exposing Kevin Johnson has been the on-line sports magazine DEADSPIN.
The general contention of DEADSPIN’s editor Tim Marchman and its writer covering Johnson, Dave McKenna, has been that the mainstream media has been totally inept and biased in its coverage of Kevin Johnson. It’s all ridiculously one-sided and favorable to Johnson, while diverting attention from Johnson by attacking Johnson’s critics motivations and tactics.
So, when the mainstream local CBS TV outfit responds to this latest outrage, they … wait for it … barely mention the main story — the police interview video — and instead pursue a full-on attack on DEADSPIN… thus proving DEADSPIN’s point.
Thus, the day that a story hits big that a police video of a 16 year-old-girl recounting Johnson molesting her when she was fifteen gets transmogrified into “Johnson’s critics have a vendetta.” As the saying goes, this CBS report has to be seen to be disbelieved:
http://sacramento.cbslocal.com/2015/10/14/kevin-johnson-supporters-claim-deadspin-has-vendetta-against-sacramento-mayor/#.Vh8av3xwRJ4.twitter
From the anchor introducing clip cute reference to Mayor Johnson as “K.J.” (“Kay-Jay”) onward, it’s a pretty dismal performance. The reporter focuses on how DEADSPIN editor Tim Marchman uses profanity during a phone conversation — which is heavily chopped up into short bites.
Therefore, what?
Johnson’s critics at DEADSPIN’s use profanity = Johnson is innocent.
The logic escapes me.
DEADSPIN writes multiple stories criticizing Johnson = Johnson is innocent.
Uhhhmmm… yeah… okay. Whatever you say.
And of course, there’s a portion where Johnson’s spokesman is lobbed softball questions by the reporter. The reporter even throws out as absolute fact, during his narration, that the sexual misconduct accusations against Johnson “are old, and already unproven.”
No, they’re not… in part because Johnson paid off multiple victims in an unfortunately successful attempt to keep them out of criminal or civil court, where they could have been proven or “unproven.”
If this were a piece put out by Johnson’s PR machinery, that would be one thing. But this is the supposedly objective mainstream media… from the same network that produced Edward R. Murrow.
Lopez asks if Marchman paid for the police interview video that DEADSPIN posted, and Marchman denies doing so…. BUT WHAT IF DEADSPIN DID PAY FOR IT? WHAT DIFFERENCE WOULD THAT MAKE???!! In a story about the ethics of news organizations purchasing evidence or testimony… yeah… then it would be relevant, but that’s not what’s relevant here to the citizen of Sacramento; the newly-released video is.
Why is whether or not DEADSPIN purchased the video the focus of Lopez’ story? What about the content within the video itself? It never gets discussed, and Lopez gives a lame-ass reason for this when the news returns to the studio.
The reporter Tony Lopez even tweeted about this piece as if it actually scored any points against Johnson’s critics:
——————-
TONY LOPEZ:
How angry was Deadspin’s Editor when I asked him if his publication has a personal vendetta against #KevinJohnson ? Wow! Watch at 5 #CBS13
—————-
Boy, you local CBS boys really put Johnson’s critics in their place, Tony…. NOT!
When the segment is over, and it goes back to the newsroom with Tony chatting with the anchors, the male anchor, perhaps going off-script, asks the obvious question — (What about the newly-released video???? HELL-LO!!!!”):
——–
MALE ANCHOR: “Did you two (Lopez and Marchman) talk about this new video that’s out there, and that’s really touched off a reaction in this community? Did you get to the specifics on THAT, and the reactions we (CBS) have received (from the public) on that?”
TONY LOPEZ: “Not so much, because of that confidentiality agreement that she (the victim Mandi Koba) signed (19 years ago)?”
——–
What an absolute load of b.s.! The old confidentiality agreement that Mandi Koba signed 19 years ago — under pressure from adults, including her parents — has totally been rendered totally null and void by her decision to go public under her own name. Everything is now public and “on the record” for anyone — including Lobez and Marchman — to discuss as freely and in as much detail as they please. That includes the video and everything that’s said on that video.
The people tweeting in response to Lopez were spot on:
——–
Stephen Rodrick @stephenrodrick Oct 14
@tlomedia @timmarchman “Well if you actually reported on the story rather than another publication’s reporting u wouldn’t be in this position”
memefan2000 @memefan2000 Oct 14
@tlomedia “do you even practice journalism?”
Mark In Victoria @markinvictoria Oct 14
@tlomedia Crazy idea. “How about you address the substance of the reports rather than attacking the messenger?”
Jeffrey Wuhl @jeffreywuhl Oct 14
@tlomedia @timmarchman cbs 13 covers “Mayor Johnson” like I imagine the North Korean local news covers Kim Jong Un
Brendan Kennedy @swingkennedy Oct 14
@tlomedia How much did it look like you were shitting your pants when he told you how bad the Sac media is at their jobs? Wow! Watch at 5.
Carson Stanwood @carsonstanwood Oct 14
@tlomedia @tomscocca I hear they also have a vendetta against statutory rape. Some nerve!
Drivewest @drivewest Oct 14
@tlomedia maybe you should be asking the mayor about his corruption and molesting girls instead of using your platform to troll blogs.”
A. Win @AlwaysWinning1 Oct 14
@tlomedia “how many dinners with Kevin Johnson did your integrity cost–1, 2?”
Pat Burda @gremlingolfer Oct 14
@tlomedia “that is such a horseshit tweet. Deadspin did your job for you, bud. And did it well.”
SirAter ® @Sir_Ater Oct 14
.@tlomedia “judging by the response this has backfired.” 😂
andrew @larson8er Oct 14
@tlomedia grow up. It’s not a joke and your mayor is a predator.
Guillermo Elenes @gdelenes Oct 14
@tlomedia @timmarchman “your missing the story bud ! And it’s not
0 retweets 3 favorites
As if to further prove DEADSPIN’s point that the local Sacramento media is ridiculously biased in favor of Kevin Johnson, here’s the report from the Sacramento Business Journal:
http://www.bizjournals.com/sacramento/news/2015/10/14/what-is-deadspin-and-why-is-it-gunning-for-kevin.html
———————-
SAC. BUSINESS JOURNAL: “Why is Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson suddenly under siege, mostly over news that isn’t new? The answer is something called Deadspin — a hard-hitting online site that has pummeled him with a dozen stories over more than a year.”
———————-
It’s interesting that this article attacking DEADSPIN and its managing editor Tim Marchman, and its writer Dave McKeanna…
FAILS TO INCLUDE A LINK TO THE VIDEO OF THE POLICE INTERVIEW THAT’S CAUSED THE LATEST EXPLOSION OF COVERAGE.
An innocent oversight, to be sure.
Once again, here’s the video:
Watch it and judge for yourself:
———————————————————————-
( 00:37 – 01:35 )
( 00:37 – 01:35 )
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “What … what specific areas (of your body did Kevin Johnson fondle)?”
MANDI KOBA: “My stomach. My breasts. My butt… ”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: (almost whispering) “Anywhere else?”
MANDI KOBA: “As it progressed.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “Where ELSE did it progress?”
MANDI KOBA: “Between my legs.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “Okay, and what do we call that area?”
MANDI KOBA: “My vagina.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “And – and I know some of the questions sound stupid. Okay? And I apologize for it, but there are certain things I’m looking for. Unless I know these things, then…
MANDI KOBA: “I understand.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: ” … then I don’t know what’s going on.”
— (PAUSE)
“He (Kevin Johnson) had HIS clothes off?”
MANDI KOBA: “Yes.”
PHOENIX P.D. DETECTIVE: “What happened after the fondling?”
MANDI KOBA: “That’s … we didn’t have intercourse… It was… just a lot of THAT. I don’t know how long it lasted, and then… ummm ”
CLIP ENDS
———————————–
Dave McKenna at DEADSPIN just dropped another thermonuclear bomb of an article attacking Kevin Johnson:
http://deadspin.com/kevin-johnson-wants-certain-people-to-not-talk-about-ke-1736645309
It’s a sprawling piece, full of actual documents… so sprawling that it’s hard to summarize.
Vanessa Williams (not the actress / singer) is part of the Black Mayors’ group that is fighting Johnson’s hostile takeover of that same group… and also claiming sexual harrassment, “he grabbed my butt”… and calling her at her hotel in the middle of the night inviting her to his room for what she says was “a booty call,” or that he was “trying to initiate a sexual relationship” with her.
In the latest maneuvering, Johnson and his lawyers are now trying to buy Ms. Williams’ silence with a settlement agreement that, in exchange for a large cash sum, requires her to drop her attempts to thwart the hostile take over of the Black Mayor’s group, and that further required her to say that everything she told DEADSPIN to date was a lie, and requiring her to never never talk to DEADSPIN or the media again.
The actual wording of the proposed hush-up agreement are really mind-bogglingly incriminating and embarassing (there’s a photo of parts of the the agreement itself). Didn’t these idiots ever think that this might one day become public?
Her response to Johnson’s offer, “I’m not 15 (like Mandi Koba, JACK). Kevin Johnson can kiss my black ass!”
Where are the rest of the stories that DeadSpin broke on how Kevin Johnson is misusing public funds by using his office and staff to expand his personal business activities?
Where are the stories of his recent behaviors with underage girls?
Google deadspin and mckenna.
Here’s a Fox News video of Kevin denying everything on-camera at the movie-premiere-turned-excrutiatingly-awkward-press-conference
(NOTE: it’s the premiere of an ESPN documentary movie lionizing Kevin Johnson as the hero who saved the Sacramento Kings basketball franchise from leaving town… In light of the police video’s release, ESPN put out an order that no ESPN employee, nor the film’s director or anyone involved with the film was allowed to attend):
http://fox40.com/2015/10/12/mayor-kevin-johnson-responds-to-espn-pulling-kings-documentary/
————————————
(00:15)
KEVIN JOHNSON: “I think it’s very clear that there’s no there there.”
————————————
then later…
——————————————–
(01:10 – 02:20)
NARRATOR: “But 20-years-later his accuser, now a grown woman, has come forward with her story in detail… saying the $230,000 Johnson paid her in a civil settlement isn’t worth her silence.
“Hers is the first, but not the most recent allegation against the embattled mayor, who just this year faced sexual harassment accusations from a City employee.”
–
KEVIN JOHNSON: “Politics is a game that throws out dirty things along the way, and you gotta take hits on the chin, and we’ll do that. And I’m lucky enough that Sacramento elected me when these stories came out the first time.”
–
ON-CAMERA INTERVIEWER: “Mr. Mayor, there have been allegations while you were still in office. Are you saying those most recent allegations while you were in City Hall are part of a political game?”
–
KEVIN JOHNSON: “No. I’m just saying that when you’re an elected official, there’s a lot of things thrown at you. And that’s just part of the territory. I accept that. I respect it. I understand it. My job is to not be swayed, to focus on the job at hand, and my commitment is to continue to do that.”
–
NARRATOR: “ESPN was not so understanding, canceling today in the 11th hour, the world television premiere of ‘DOWN IN THE VALLEY,’ the documentary about the fight to keep the Kings in Sacramento.”
——————————————–
Really?
Seriously?
“… there’s no ‘there’ there”?
If you or I were innocent, and a video of someone saying the things that Mandi Koba said was posted on YouTube… I’d say that there’s a heckuva lot of “there” there. It would not be something that you would calmly dismiss with no viable explanation (she’s delusional, she’s a gold-digger fabricating for financial gain… something!)
And then he wraps himself in the mantle of victimhood. He’s just a victim of “dirty things being thrown” at him.
KEVIN JOHNSON: “And I’m lucky enough that Sacramento elected me when these stories came out the first time.”
Oh yeah… I’d say he’s “lucky”, all right. I’d love to know not only how Kevin Johnson survived “these stories” without going to jail, but then also get elected mayor of the capitol city of the largest state (population) in the country.
KEVIN JOHNSON: “I think it’s very clear that there’s no there there.”
That is almost literally a quote from a movie starring Whoopie Goldberg and Ray Liotta: Because, in the words of Gertrude Stein, girl, there ain’t no “there” there.
I guess KJ was a fan.
I hope the heat stays on this child molester, and some light of day shines on his disgusting wife the child abuser, grifter, resume padder, and liar, who put teachers into rubber room/teacher jail and insinuated that every single one was a pedophile–while running interference for her then fiancé, KJ.
They deserve to be in jail, both of them. Ah, the smell of it!
This must-read, first person narrative comes from the victim, Mandi Koba, herself:
http://www.mandikoba.com/my-silence-has-been-bought-my-story-is-not-my-own/
—————
my silence has been bought.
my story is not my own.
June 7, 2015
MANDI KOBA: “I am every victim of sexual assault by a celebrity, a professional athlete, a politician that has been silenced. I’ve been afraid to speak, come forward and tell my story. But no more. It’s time.
“I’ve been told that it’s my word against his, and who would people believe. I’ve been told that I was believed but the political and economic implications of filing charges didn’t make sense with the low likelihood of conviction without physical evidence.
“I’ve been intoxicated by the celebrity, the attention, the special-ness that draws people to the energy of the well known and celebrated. I benefited from my relationship with a high profile man, had my social status elevated, had my confidence sky-rocket.
“I’ve been conned by the squeaky clean reputation of a man held in high esteem by the public.
“I’ve lain in silence, accepting the unwanted touch of a grown man I trusted, believed in, thought believed in me. An adult mentoring me, grooming me, promising me the world if I would just trust, trust in him.
“I learned to leave my body, not feel the sensation of touch, not notice the passage of time, my brain protecting me from the trauma.
“I’ve walked through the door of the police headquarters, experienced the cleavage of time into before and after.
“I’ve disclosed my abuse, every intimate detail of how I was touched, where, how. I’ve answered questions about penetration… if he had an erection, all to a male detective I’d just met. I’ve been secretly tape recorded and had the tapes released to the media.
“I’ve been called a sick slut in the media, a gold digger, an unreliable victim.
“I’ve had attorneys infer that the man who abused me had much more attractive women, options, so the idea that he’d sexually abuse me, a minor, was ludicrous.
“I’ve had my perpetrator – that’s what he is, a perpetrator, not someone who just made a mistake – held up as an example, a leader, a trusted advisor.
“I’ve been afraid, confused, drowned in self-doubt, questioned my self-worth because the currency of his celebrity trumped me, who I was, who I am as a person.
“I’ve sat with the disgust I felt about the abuse and my inability to see what was happening, the grooming, to prevent it – that I was so desperate for affirmation, for someone to notice me and shower me with attention and tell me that I was more than okay. It’s still hard to not twist my disgust at the situation into disgust for myself.
“The shame that comes with sexual abuse swallows you and the swim to the surface is long, dark and tumultuous with only occasional glimpses of the light of the sun. These are wounds that do not ever heal completely. There will be people, stories, situations, anniversaries that open that wound once again. Like the blood that rises to the surface when a scab is picked, so, too, do the memories, fresh once more.
“I’ve recovered from anorexia, my attempt at taking up as little space as possible in a world I couldn’t trust, an all too common repercussion of sexual trauma.
“I’ve stared at myself in the mirror, questioning my will to live, to continue to fight, with a pile of pills clutched in my hand. I’ve experienced flashbacks – the way he smelled – a particular song – a brand name – a toothy smile.
“I hold my breath, anxiety lowers over me like a black curtain and I am there, again, a loop of my abuse playing like a movie over and over in my mind.
“I’ve learned to take account of my senses, slow my thoughts and remember that I am now safe, I am surviving. Surviving and not a survivor, because it doesn’t stop, the trauma never leaves the body. There is no end point. ‘
“But surviving can turn into thriving, in time.
“I’ve had to accept that I will never get the apology I want, deserve. The apology every victim, surviving, deserves. I earned his trust, kept promises, protected his privacy. Willingly, for too long.
:I’ve lived through the negotiations of a private settlement – been so worn down that I was convinced it was the only way I would achieve any form of justice, accountability. Committed legal blackmail – received restitution.
“My silence has been bought. My story is not my own.
“This should not be the only option available to victims of sexual abuse by high profile men and women. To any victim of sexual abuse.
“The system, our culture, is set up to protect these perpetrators, to protect their images and the teams, shows, political parties they’re associated with and represent.
“We live in a twisted time where a person’s signature is worth money. A person just like any other person, with the mark of a pen, a scrawl across an object, increases it’s value and perpetuates the false ideology that one individual has greater worth than another.
“We live in a world where a person’s worth is based on their gender, race, location, sexuality and station in life and not just because they are alive, living next to each of us, inhaling and exhaling.
“Please know it’s not easy to come forward. It’s not comfortable to make intimate details of one’s abuse available for public consumption. There is no amount of money that can soothe the wound of sexual trauma, make it okay, make it go away.
:Please know that our system is broken. The civil arena is often the only way victims can attempt to get justice and that should be shocking and shameful. But it’s not. It’s the victims that are further shamed and victimized – victimized because they have the nerve, the strength, to fight for themselves in the only way available to them. They are not trying to put a dollar amount on their abuse, their self-worth.
“Please know victims come forward with the hopes that they will be able to prevent further abuse. That their silence feels like giving the perpetrator permission to continue to abuse others.
“Please know that no one would subject oneself to the level of public scrutiny that comes with telling the truth, telling one’s story of sexual assault by a person protected by celebrity.
“Please listen and give us the benefit of the doubt and not default to blaming us, the victims.
“Please listen. Just listen.”
Thanks for posting that Jack. Wow. I kept thinking of all the women that have been accusing Bill Cosby. And I kept thinking of my youngest sister Patty who was sexually abused by someone she had gone on a date with. Very powerful words by Mandi Koba.
Maybe the reporter is just telling the truth. Maybe voters and his powerful friends in politics don’t care. This isn’t the first allegation and the last time allegations surfaced nothing happened to him- the President of the United States appeared publicly with him AFTER the federal investigation regarding the charter school and that was huge- the Obama Administration fired an Inspector General and there was a congressional inquiry into why the IG was fired. Congress produced a report that details the allegations related to the charter school:
Click to access 11-20-09-The-Firing-of-the-Inspector-General-for-The-Corporation-for-National-and-Community-Service.pdf
How long did the Penn State situation go on before anyone did anything? Decades, right? It’s not like it’s unimaginable. Maybe Mayor Johnson is Too Big To Fail.
Life goes on for sports millionaires like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Johnson after they pay off their rape victims. Or does Tiger Woods’ affairs suggest otherwise?
He’s a serial molester and Shell is an enabler. Her kids are nowhere near him. In addition, isn’t there an investigation regarding his activities at City Hall? Here’s a Deadspin link form June http://deadspin.com/how-kevin-johnson-used-public-money-to-his-own-personal-1708971481 May future references to “Sweet 16” be prefaced with a serial number issued by the California Department of Correction.
Arghhh: Corrections
He’s a serial molester and Shell is an enabler. Her kids are nowhere near him. In addition, isn’t there an investigation regarding his activities at City Hall? Here’s a Deadspin link form June http://deadspin.com/how-kevin-johnson-used-public-money-to-his-own-personal-1708971481 May future references to “Sweet 16” be prefaced with a serial number issued by the California Department of Corrections.
Cosby was long ago too… but there are still repercussions. Doesn’t the sense of justice continue for a longer span than “old news”? That is how a person’s life experiences are discounted and a person gets de-valued.
Ms Clinton…..Diane Ravitch posted on her blog today….” it may strike you as odd that this teenager is questioned by a middle-aged policeman, who asks her intimate questions about what happened to her. Maybe this is standard police practice, but it seemed to me that she should have been questioned by a female police officer.” This is related to charges against Sacremento mayor Kevin Johnston. Do you think anything is odd about that?
I wonder what Jerry Brown’s opinion is.
A writer for THE NEW REPUBLIC, Max Rivlin-Nadler, actually got a screener copy of DOWN IN THE VALLEY, and reports that it was far more a blatant propaganda piece promoting Johnson than he expected:
http://www.newrepublic.com/article/123104/espn-pulled-its-kevin-johnson-documentary-not-i-watched-it
Max Rivlin-Nadler: “But before it was pulled, I was able to see the film in its entirety. And despite the best efforts of ESPN’s PR apparatus to try to convince the media otherwise, the film goes well beyond portraying Kevin Johnson in a positive light. DOWN IN THE VALLEY amounts to a 77-minute political advertisement for Johnson, a man who in 1995 paid a 15-year-old over $230,000 to keep quiet after she alleged that he had sexually abused her.”
then later…
Max Rivlin-Nadler: “Johnson’s more recent exploits, some as mayor, include intentionally bankrupting a historic black mayor’s conference, flagrant misuse of federal funds, and the installation within his city hall of paid staff members of an aggressively pro-charter school organization, who often failed to disclose their other employer.
“These revelations, as well as his long history of alleged sexual abuse, have been brought to the nation’s attention by the veteran sportswriter Dave McKenna, who has been meticulously detailing the dealings of Johnson for Deadspin.
“But even before that, thanks to the dogged reporting of the Sacramento Bee, a paper Johnson has battled with recently, ESPN had to be well aware that the protagonist of its film was not even close to the near-messianic figure he was being made out to be.
Curious coincidence: Gary Solomon, who is at the center of the kickback scheme involving Barbara Byrd Bennett, was let go from Niles Township high school for inappropriate contact with underage girls. He too went on to become a big player in the school ‘reform’ industry.
There’s a new petition circulating urging KJ to resign: https://www.change.org/p/city-of-sacramento-ca-kevin-johnson-resign-now