LA ethics panel rejects proposed fine for ex-CBS exec Les Moonves over police probe interference
LOS ANGELES — The Los Angeles City Ethics Commission on Wednesday unanimously rejected a proposed settlement between the city and Les Moonves, saying a stiffer sentence is warranted for the former CBS executive accused of interfering with a police investigation into sexual assault allegations against it.
Moonves had agreed to pay an $11,250 fine to settle an ethics commission complaint alleging he worked closely with a law enforcement official to obtain information about a sexual assault victim’s confidential police report.
Ethics Commission staff worked with Moonves on the proposed fine, but it still needed approval from the volunteer panel that oversees the commission, the Los Angeles Times reported.
The commissioners believed that the “extremely egregious nature of the allegations” warranted a harsher penalty, said Jeffrey Daar, chairman of the ethics committee.
A representative for Moonves declined to comment on Wednesday’s action to the Times.
According to documents released last Friday, Moonves acknowledged working closely with the then-captain. Cory Palka of the Los Angeles Police Department in 2017 to get details of the police report.
Palka, who had provided Moonves’ private security at the Grammy Awards, which CBS produced, from 2008 to 2014, notified network officials of the complaint against the director in November 2017, the documents show.
Through Palka, they say, Moonves obtained an unredacted copy of the police report, which also contained personal information such as the accuser’s home address and phone number. Moonves also met with Palka at a restaurant for an hour to discuss the complaint and ways to quash it.
Moonves was charged with three city code violations.
Palka retired as commander in 2021 after nearly 35 years with the LAPD.
The Los Angeles Government Ethics Ordinance governs the conduct of city employees and prohibits them from misusing or disclosing confidential information obtained through their work.
Weeks after the #MeToo movement erupted in 2017 with sexual assault allegations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein, Phyllis Golden-Gottlieb reported to LAPD Hollywood Division officers that she had been sexually assaulted by Moonves when they worked together in 1986 and 1988 at Lorimar Productions. .
Golden-Gottlieb, who made her allegations public in 2018, died in 2022.
The allegations of police interference against Moonves came to light in 2022, when New York Attorney General Letitia James announced a settlement in which CBS and Moonves agreed to pay $30.5 million for keeping shareholders in the dark while executives tried to prevent the sexual assault allegations from becoming public. .
Moonves acknowledged having had relationships with three of his accusers, but said it was consensual. He denied assaulting anyone, saying in a statement at the time: “Untrue accusations from decades ago are now being made against me.”
The Los Angeles County district attorney declined to file criminal charges against Moonves in 2018, saying the statute of limitations on Golden-Gottlieb’s charges had expired.