SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The FBI plans to talk with San Francisco city leaders as part of its ongoing investigation targeting political corruption and an alleged organized crime syndicate in Chinatown, the agency confirmed Monday.
An agent contacted Supervisor David Chiu’s office last week, an aide said, seeking to speak with the supervisor about the ongoing probe that led to the arrest of state Sen. Leland Yee and 19 others in coordinated raids throughout the San Francisco Bay Area late last month.
The FBI also has asked 10 other supervisors to set up voluntary, informal meetings with the agency, said Judson True, a legislative aide to Chiu, the president of the Board of Supervisors.
Yee, a San Francisco Democrat, served on the Board of Supervisors in the late 1990s. Since his arrest on March 26, Yee has pleaded not guilty to bribery and gun charges, and was suspended from the Legislature.
FBI spokesman Peter Lee said the agency will be holding multiple interviews at City Hall as part of its operation.
“Any sort of information that the public can give us can further the investigation of these criminal acts,” Lee said. “Just because someone is being interviewed or questioned it doesn’t mean that they are the subject of an investigation.”
Mayor Ed Lee hadn’t received a request to meet with the FBI, mayor’s spokeswoman Christine Falvey said.
Chiu will meet with the FBI over the next few weeks, True said.
“We want to be as helpful as possible,” he added.
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