Way back in 2021, a few Los Angeles City Council members came under fire for a leaked conversation with racist jokes and schemes to maintain Latino political power in redistricting. One of the callers was former Councilman Gil Cedillo. After over a year, he finally spoke out.
The district attorney's office asked for further work because of shortcomings in the LAPD's initial investigation, according to two law enforcement sources familiar with the case.
I immediately recognized how the L.A. politicians were weaponizing Spanglish on the tape. Now, Nury Martinez, Kevin De León and Gil Cedillo are maintaining they were talking as Latinos normally do.
Kevin de León is the last one standing after an audio leak caught him in a conversation that featured racist and derogatory remarks. Now he's running for reelection.