FBI agents raided the offices of the Latino caucus and California State Senator Ron Calderon Tuesday afternoon, but have not yet revealed the reason or the nature behind its investigation.
Laura Eimiller, a spokesperson for the agency in Los Angeles, told reporters the warrants were served in the afternoon and about eight agents responded to the offices, leaving with at least six boxes and what looked like a computer hard drive.
"Those warrants are sealed by order of the federal court; therefore we have no further information," said Tony Beard, the Senate sergeant-at-arms. "The Senate has and will continue to fully cooperate with the agents in this manner.
The warrants were issued out of the U.S. District Court in Sacramento, and the investigation is being carried out by federal authorities from the area to explore the senator's involvement in "allegations of criminal activity," but it is too premature to disclose exactly what those allegations are.
Calderon has not commented yet on the investigation.
"I have a sense that they're on a witch hunt," Calderon's attorney Mark Geragos told reporters. "My client refused to read their script and so this is what resulted... My client has done absolutely nothing wrong."
Calderon, a Democrat, is the state senator serving the 30th district in California and stands as the current Chair of the Senate Insurance Committee, as well as a member of the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee, Government Organization Committee, and Environmental Quality Committee.
In 2012 he, along with other state lawmakers, passed the Homeowner Bill of Rights that prohibits lenders from foreclosing "while considering alternatives to the foreclosure process," and allows homeowners in their state to "sue lenders to stop foreclosures or seek monetary damages if the lender violates state law."
