Old Mac Susan Had a Farm . . .

The Hidden Lawyer Lobbyists Behind Senator Susan Rubio: How Susan Rubio Got Higher on Marijuana Money.

On December 8, 2024, the Legal Lens broke the story that the Department of Justice (“DOJ”) accused State Senator Susan Rubio of taking $230,000 in kickback money to vote on issuing marijuana distribution licenses for select businesses. According to the DOJ, former Baldwin Park City Attorney, Robert Tafoya (“Tafoya”) was the mastermind behind the entire pay-to-play cannabis scheme. Now, after reviewing Rubio’s campaign contribution, the Legal Lens has identified Tafoya’s other secret legal associates who elevated Rubio to her higher position, from Baldwin Park Council Member to California State Senate.

Albright, Yee & Schmit; Cristeta Paguirigan-Summers; and the Jade Effect.

At the center of these hidden lawyers is the law firm of Albright, Yee, & Schmit. Tafoya contracted out this law firm on behalf of the City in 2017. The Tafoya-Albright deal brought the Albright law firm around $206,458.20 for that year, which is also the year that Rubio received her contributions from the Albright firm. 

The three relevant lawyers in this firm are Clifton Albright, Lucian A. Schmit III, and Cristeta Paguirigan (“Cristeta”). Cristeta is a disbarred attorney, who perjured documents, in representing a defendant, in a criminal case.

Besides billing the City for defending free speech and public records act lawsuit, Cristeta is also the principal of a consulting firm called the Jade Effect, which represents marijuana businesses, in obtaining licenses from the City of Baldwin Park. 

The law firm donated to Rubio the maximum campaign contribution of $4,400 (in two separate payments.) Cristeta donated $3,500; Partner, Lucien A. Schmit III $2,500; Partner, Albright, $500; and the Jade Effect, LLC $2,500.

Expectedly, the Jade Effect was successful in obtaining city cannabis licenses for RD Baldwin Park; Cloud Control, Inc.; and Medical Grade Farms BP.

(Albright, Yee, & Schmit also donated $8,000 to Monica Garcia, a former Baldwin Park City Council Member, who also voted in favor of the Jade Effect businesses.)

The California Latino PAC, Women’s Political Committee and Stephen J. Kaufman.

The California Latino PAC gave Rubio $8,800. The PAC paid Rubio twice $4,400. This appears to be above the legal campaign contribution limit.

The PAC’s mission statement says, “The California Latino PAC is a political action committee representing the interests of California’s Latino Community.” According to the Secretary of State website, the PAC’s phone number is (213) 452-6565. That phone number is traced to the Kaufman Legal Group. The main partner of the group is Stephen J. Kaufman. 

Kaufman’s profile says that he is “A recognized authority in the field of campaign finance and election law[.] Mr. Kaufman advises and represents elected officials, candidates, PACs, . . .  non-profit organizations . . . political parties, major donors, lobbyists and government agencies on a wide variety of campaign finance, election and governmental ethics matters.”

The Fair Political Practice Commission (FPPC) has previously appointed Stephen as chair. Conveniently, the FPPC has the discretion to fine or not fine politicians for violating campaign contribution law.

The Latino PAC has also given money to Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara; Governor Gavin Newsom; former California State Senator, Ed Hernandez; former Los Angeles Mayor, Antonia, Villaraigosa; former Secretary of State and current Senator, Alex Padilla; former California Attorney General, Xavier Becerra; California State Assembly Woman, Blanca Rubio; and others. In 2017-2018, the PAC gave $36,500 to the California Democratic Party.

The Woman’s Committee also gave $4,400 to Rubio. That PAC’s phone number is also traced to the Kaufman Legal Group.

The Legal Lens believes that Stephen and Martin Kaufman are brothers. Martin is a personal injury attorney. Tafoya hired Martin as a contracted attorney, when Tafoya was general counsel at West Valley Water District. 

Tafoya’s appointment as counsel at West Valley Water was also a pay-for-play deal. The details of this story could be read about in Tafoya; Baldwin Park’s former Chief, Michael Taylor, and former Council Member Ricardo Pacheco’s coup in overtaking West Valley Water District, also all funded by marijuana money.

Incidentally, Page Valley News has accused a Stephen Kaufman and his wife of engaging in healthcare insurance fraud in the amount of $808,000 in Luray, Virginia. The Legal Lens obtained a photo of the accused Kaufman, and one of the photos appears to resemble Martin.

Currently, Martin is seeking victims for the Edison Wildfire to sue Southern California Edison. Given that Rubio has taken money from insurance lobbyists and from Stephen Kaufman’s PACs, the public will have to see whether Rubio endorses new laws to sue insurance companies, regarding the wildfires, or, whether she will side with the insurance companies, which would disproportionately harm the residents of California.

Susan Rubio Reappointed as California’s Chair of Insurance

Senate Pro Tem Mike McGuire recently reappointed Rubio as chair of the committee that oversees insurance-related legislation. The LA Times has exposed issues about the re-appointment of the insurance chair, especially in light of Rubio’s state and federal probes and the Southern California wildfires.

As chair, Rubio would have the power, directly or indirectly, to influence the settlement payouts of wildfire victims, justify insurance rate increases for consumers, justify denial of coverage for those victims, justify insurance companies dropping consumers, and foster insurance fraud by declining to prosecute insurance scammers.

Although McGuire and Rubio maintain that Rubio hasn’t been found guilty yet, Rubio’s critics have stated, “Where there’s smoke, there’s also fire.”

2025 - the Year of Exposing the Snakes - the Year of Light

2025 will be the year where the snakes will be exposed. On the Jewish Holiday of Yom Kippur - I fasted without drinking water or eating food for an entire day. During that time, I was reading the Holy Scripture, and I felt like the Lord told me to proclaim this verse: The Lord "reveals the deep things of darkness and brings utter darkness into the light." (Job 12:22).

According to the Chinese Zodiac, 2025 will be the year of the wood snake. Snakes, generally represent, evil, deceit, treachery, envy, and danger in the Scriptures. On few occasions, they also represent God's judgment and even healing. 

I've had numerous encounters with deadly snakes in my life. For some reason, I'm not afraid of them. I remember picking up the most venomous snake in the world: a sea snake. The Dubois sea snake is 100 times more deadly than a terrestrial snake, and like I said, I picked it up on a scuba dive. Then I let it back down. It slithered away.

When I was in Kakadu, Australia, I picked up a huge python, which urinated in my hand and left a terrible stench. It's body was as thick as a coke bottle. So, I've had my fair share of snake handling. 

As per my usual tradition, let's review 2024 - which was a good year for me.

* * *

We ended the year strong, by breaking the story on the Legal Lens regarding Susan Rubio, and all her marijuana kickbacks. There's a snake, if I've ever seen one.

Also, I won my first reversal on an appeal. No, I didn't make some great law, or settle some complex or significant legal issue, which I've always wanted to do. But again, consistent with the theme of 2025, I exposed more snakes in that appeal.

I always published another opinion editorial, advocating for conservatorship reform.

We also exposed a pretty big story, which didn't get as much attention as it should've. Elder and Marilyn and I discovered that it appears Cyrus Towing was hiring a professional car crasher to hit cars, engage in insurance fraud and make a profit at the risk of serious harm to people.

According to an admission from Cyrus Towing, an officer is calling in these crashes to make a profit. His name is Eric Voss. He appears to be a snake too, along with Daniella Sullivan ("Dee Dee") and Amir Eftkhari.

Furthermore, I made significant progress on my father's case, which I'll be writing more about this year. The reason I haven't written as much from 2021 until now, is because I've been taking care of my father and this case.

 * * *

Last year, I wanted to set the vision that Truth would prevail and expose evil. I think I'm accomplishing that. To me, it appears 2025 will be a continuation of 2024 in bringing "the utter darkness into the light."

In 2025, I'll be writing more on government corruption, elder abuse, and other dark crimes. 2024 was a good year for me, but regardless, it's time to say goodbye to it. The Year of the Dragon has ended, and now comes the Year of the Snake.

Won my First Appeal; Trial Judge Should've Recused Himself

 

I won my first appeal on November 21, 2024. It's a long time coming. This is my father's case. If you've been following, I prevailed in an elder abuse restraining against the step-lady in my father's life, Yun Ja Kim. She retaliated and filed a conservatorship against my brother and me. 

I had my worst trial court experience ever. I knew something was wrong at the hearing. The first thing that happened was that there was a substitute judge named William Barry. The court didn't send me notice. The court appointed counsel, William C. Price hasn't been sending me any service copies of the documents he filed in court. I found the whole thing strange.

In California - within time limits - everyone has the right to recuse one judge. So, I orally disqualified him. Barry said that I couldn't do this. I told Barry that I would email him the recusal documents, or we should continue the hearing until 1:30, so I could come to court to file it. Barry still refused. (Barry was actually reversed by the Court of Appeal before, because he blocked a litigant from blocking him or her from filing paper work.)

Barry then ordered sanctions against me and later told me I had to self-report to the bar. (See; I knew something was wrong.) When I tried to dispute what he was doing, Barry muted me; so I couldn't make my record. His last words to me was that I was disruptive and unprofessional.

Anyways, I appealed him and the appellate court said I was right. The first recusal is the first one presented to the court, in this case, my oral recusal challenge. The second ruling the court held was that an oral peremptory challenge is valid.

You know what was weird after that? I got a notice from Los Angeles Superior Court that Judge Barry would no longer be coming back to the bench.

Anyways, I reported Barry to Judicial Performance (which is the agency that oversees judges). Judicial Performance wrote to me and said I should check with Judicial Council to see if he was even authorized to sit on the bench during this hearing. In other words, Barry might not have even been permitted to hear this case.

Anyways, I've been finding at least two of these conservatorship judges, Judge Barry and Judge Jonathan L. Rosenbloom, to engage in unjustified amounts of arbitrariness. The Epoch Times has written its first piece on the abuses of the conservatorship processes. 

I wrote an opinion on what I believe to be the unconstitutionality of the conservatorship process. You can read it on Cerritos News, titled: "California State Legislature Needs To Enact Laws That Require a Probable Cause Determination In Conservatorship Hearings".

The other appeal I came close to winning was against the City of Baldwin Park. I argued that the City was illegally indemnifying Manuel Carrillo, the Director of Parks and Recreation, by providing him an attorney, when Carrillo was being sued for non-city activity and instead for illegally running the City's sham alter-ego nonprofit.  Carrillo was taking thousands of dollars in funds and then laundering them into gift cards that he can't account for.

After the nonprofit was dissolved, the City started up another nonprofit, called the Baldwin Park Charitable Relief Foundation. The officers are the same directors of the City of Baldwin Park: Director of Parks and Recreation, Manuel Carrillo; City Manager, Enrique Zaldivar; and Finance Director, Rose Tam.

I didn't win that in appeal in 2016, but you can read the opinion here. (It was a close call.)

 Incidentally, the law firm representing Carrillo on appeal appears to be under FBI investigation right now for a bribery scheme that involved the granting of marijuana distribution licenses. The firm is Albright, Yee & Schmit, and Cristeta Paguirigan-Summer, a disbarred attorney who works for Albright, was a consultant representing the Jade Effect, a marijuana company. 

Cristeta was an avid donor to state Senator, Susan Rubio. Cristeta was previously disbarred for forgery.

The Carrillo-appeal was my first appeal. I appeared in front of Norman Epstein. I have nothing but the greatest respect for him. Funny that my trial mentor also appeared in front of him, when he was a litigator.

To end, I recall Ulysses S. Grant's quote: "Man proposes and God disposes."

My Opinion Was Published in Cerritos News - California State Legislature Needs To Enact Laws That Require a Probable Cause Determination In Conservatorship Hearings

(C) Reuters

Imagine that people from a cultish church show up to kidnap your father. You call the police on them. Then you find out that your father’s confidential wife also smuggled in opiates into the rehab center, to convince your father to leave the place. Then you find out that while your father had dementia and was being drugged on opiates the whole time, the confidential wife deeded herself all of his real properties, worth over $2 million, and was trying to conceal all this and take control over your father again to get away with her scheme and flee with the money.

. . .

  Read more on Los Cerritos News here.

Breaking News: Former City Attorney, Robert Tafoya, Admits to Bribing California State Senator, Susan Rubio, to Promote Her Senate Election.

According to a plea agreement with the Department of Justice entered into with Robert Tafoya, former City Attorney of Baldwin Park, Tafoya bribed California State Senator, Susan Rubio with approximately $230,000 in money received from marijuana kickbacks. The Legal Lens has identified that Person 20, which the plea agreement describes as, "public official", as Rubio. In this agreement, Tafoya admitted that he was the architect of a complex marijuana scheme, in which people would pay Baldwin Park City public officials to vote for their licenses, if they provided $240,000 to him and other city officials, like former Council Member, Ricardo Pacheco.

According to it, "In or around 2017 or 2018," Susan Rubio, "approached defendant and asked him to solicit a bribe payment from company seeking a marijuana permit in the City using the same intermediary scheme utilized by Pacheco."

Tafoya then selected a close friend or relative to launder the money for him; with the purpose of Susan Rubio receiving $200,000, while $40,000 would be kept by the money launderer, who used the title, "consultant".

When the marijuana operator started backing down from the deal, Rubio and Tafoya met with him or her to reassure them that a permit would be received for the price of $240,000. Tafoya became concerned that the marijuana operator might report the two of them to law enforcement. So, he threatened that if they didn't pay, the deal was off.

Rubio started running for State elected office from 2017 to the end of 2018. "To raise campaign funds, [Rubio] asked [Tafoya] on two occasions to provide [her] $15,000 in cash that [Rubio] could then funnel to other individuals to make conduit contributions to [her] campaign. [Rubio] wanted these small donations to demonstrate to other donors [her] broad support amongst the community. 

"[Tafoya] agreed on both occasions to provide the cash because he believed [Rubio] could remove defendant as [Baldwin Park] City Attorney and understood that [Rubio] would provide [Tafoya] additional work if [she] were elected to State office.

"In or around October 2017, while in the primary for [Rubio's] election, [Rubio] first asked defendant for $15,000 in cash. [Tafoya] agreed to provide it and then withdrew $15,000 from the Tafoya & Garcia, LLP account at Wells Fargo in four transactions between October 25, 2017 and October 26, 2017. Defendant then met with [Rubio] and provided [her] the $15,000 in cash in an envelope.

"After [Rubio] won [her] primary in June 2018, [Rubio] once more solicited $15,000 in cash from defendant in order to further engage in the conduit contribution scheme described above. 

"[Tafoya] agreed but, before providing the money, wanted assurances from [Rubio] that [she] would take care of [him], protect [Tafoya's] job as the City Attorney, and assist defendant financially or professionally in [her] official capacity if [she] obtained State elected office.

"[Rubio] agreed, and [Tafoya] withdrew $15,000 in cash, which he provided to [Rubio]".

The DOJ has unsealed Tafoya's plea agreement, in which he pleaded guilty to bribery and tax evasion, owing the IRS $675,000, accruing since 2007. Rubio was a former city council member of Baldwin Park and allegedly and originally from the City of Bell.

Activists, employees, business owners, citizens, civil rights attorneys and academics, and the Department of Justice, have been tirelessly exposing the rampant, open, and brazen corruption of Baldwin Park's officials and administrators. Greg S. Tuttle, small business owner in Baldwin Park, first blew the whistle in 2007, when former Mayor Manuel Lozano, Council Member Monica Garcia, and Council Member Ricardo Pacheco tried to steal his business by eminent domain. More to be exposed.

Mugshot of Robert Tafoya,
Looking like he's high on drugs.

Alleged mugshot of Susan Rubio

Christian Assembly - Jezebel's Modern American Church

Matt Price, Evangelism Pastor

I went to a small group at this church, and the small group leader started introducing Catholic doctrine, such as the doctrine of Holy Saturday - where Jesus allegedly rescued people from Hell. He also started arguing that the Shack's Trinity was a good representation of the actual Trinity.

I went to ask the theological pastor, Matt Price, if Christian Assembly (CA) of Eaglerock agreed with the belief in purgatory and the doctrines of God's judgment and Hell, as stated on the Four Square Assembly website. Price refused to answer for almost a month, and I emailed him, without an answer I have to assume that CA endorses purgatory and doesn't believe in judgment and Hell as stated by the Four Square Assembly belief. Still no response. Price can't even be respectful to answer simple questions on theology.

I found Matt Price's talk to be so boring at Fusion. I asked the leaders to tell me when he speaks; so, I don't have to come back and have my time wasted.

I brought a guest to Fusion. And Price was preaching again. I noticed at least 7 people were sleeping. My guest told me, "This is the worst Christian talk I've ever heard. And I didn't learn any Bible."

There used to be a Facebook group that talked about how boring Price was. I don't understand why they continue to let him speak. I can only guess that he must know something about the internal church accounting.

Otherwise, after attending 2-3 months, I find them to be racially discriminatory. I only hear preaching from white people, like unqualified Price. For a racially diverse City, I would expect to hear more preaching from Asian-Americans and Hispanics as well.

To conclude, I question whether this Church is following sound doctrine. They seem to care more about numbers and the $5 million they bring in annually. I'd stay away.

A month later, I heard from Price. Price saw my review on Google Reviews (which has been censored) and wrote back that CA doesn't endorse purgatory and that it subscribes to all the values on Four Square Assembly. But then he proceeded to appear to make misrepresentations and attacked me.

After not hearing back from him since May 8, 2023 (nearly a month), Price wrote, "I sent a response to this email last week while I was staying in a hotel for a convention out of town."

So I replied back, "PS: please forward me a copy of the email you sent last week."

Price had to then admit: "I don’t have a copy of the email I wrote last week which didn’t get delivered. It isn’t in my sent or drafts files." This appears to be a lie, and from a "Christian preacher" of all people.

Then Price kicks me out of the church, just because I asked questions of theology, "Based on . . . your concerns with the theology taught at Christian Assembly it seems like Christian Assembly is not a good fit for you. I hope that you are able to find a local church that suits you." He then signs his signature "With grace".

Given that it took him almost a month to respond to simple theology questions, I have to assume that Price, himself, does not agree with Four Square's doctrine on judgment, Hell, final judgment, and sin. Generally, people who agree with core values will email back promptly and are not uncomfortable with answering simple questions.

So I wrote back: "Do you personally believe in God's judgment upon our lives and that Hell exists and that that judgment is final?"

Price responds: "Paul, / Please seek elsewhere for answers to your questions."

I conclude by writing back, "Matt: / I will assume your answer to be no then. Only you can provide me the answer to your . . . beliefs."

Based on the attitude, no repentance of bad doctrine, and the lack of grace and lying, I stand by my remarks that leaders like Price endorse heresy.

 

There are unsubstantiated allegations of CA that need to be verified and someone should do a records request on the church. According to an anonymous source, there was money that was allegedly laundered into the purchasing of some property in Glendale or La Canada. 

 

Also, in 2019, CA said it gave $5.3 million to pay off the medical debt of locals by donating it to a nonprofit, RIP Medical Debt. Someone should do a records request on the New York (not California based on nonprofit) to see how much money was actually spent on this medical debt.

 

I felt convicted to publish this as a warning to the body out there.

Scripture warns the Church. of Thyatira, "But this is what I have against you: you tolerate that woman Jezebel, who calls herself a messenger of God. By her teaching she misleads my servants into practicing sexual immorality and eating food that has been offered to idols. . . . . I will throw her on a bed where she and those who committed adultery with her will suffer terribly." (Revelation 2:20, GNT).