Lisa Falkenberg has a chat with Lloyd Kelley.
Kelley, the attorney whose lawsuit against the county unearthed embarrassing e-mails that brought down former District Attorney Chuck Rosenthal a couple of years ago, is at it again, with his latest public document fishing expedition at least appearing to have reeled in another big one in Metro’s chief executive Frank Wilson.
Metro has hired a consultant to investigate allegations raised by Kelley’s attorney that Wilson is carrying on an inappropriate relationship with his chief of staff and misused public funds in various ways, including a trip to Spain in which the alleged “girlfriend” accompanied him. Wilson is also key figure in shreddergate, involving a criminal investigation into whether Metro destroyed public documents Kelley requested. Wilson maintains no wrongdoing.
I sat down with Kelley to ask what motivates him on these crusades and whether he gets the obvious irony of his involvement: the idea that a disgraced former public official accused of any number of shady dealings is now reinventing himself as a soldier of the public trust.
I would have asked him why he had no witnesses to present to back up his allegations about document shredding and Wilson’s alleged canoodling. Maybe his sources are reluctant to speak on the record, perhaps because they fear reprisals. Maybe he’s bluffing. I don’t know, but that’s what I would have asked.