Jose Huizar Attends 1st LA City Council Meeting Since FBI Raids

LOS ANGELES (CBSLA) — City Councilman Jose Huizar made his first appearance at a council meeting Tuesday since the FBI searched his home and offices.

Huizar entered the council chambers for the start of the meeting before ducking into a back room after about 10 minutes.

Reporters hoping to get a statement were told by both a Huizar staffer and a Los Angeles Police Department officer that no formal statement would be made. Huizar then made his way back onto the council floor.

Prior to entering the council meeting earlier Tuesday, Huizar was quoted by the Los Angeles Times as saying, "I'm here to do my job. I'm here to work."

The City Council meeting marked Huizar's first since FBI agents armed with a search warrant seized boxes and bags of potential evidence from his City Hall office on Nov. 7 while also conducting searches at his Boyle Heights home and Boyle Heights field office.

The FBI searches came weeks after two of Huizar's former staff members filed separate lawsuits accusing him of ethics violations and other wrongdoing. It's not yet clear whether the FBI searches are related to the lawsuits.

The FBI would not elaborate on the nature of its investigation, citing that the warrant had been sealed.

Huizar represents District 13, which is mostly made up by the Boyle Heights area. He has not publicly commented on the situation.

Huizar has faced several legal issues since taking office in 2005. In 2012, he was involved in a traffic accident in which he rear-ended another vehicle. The city was forced to pay up to $185,000 as part of a settlement.

In 2014, the city settled a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by a former staff member.

Huizar was named in two new lawsuits filed in October by two former employees who accused him of doctoring his schedule to hide certain meetings from the media, along with other ethics violations, including that his staff was pressured to work during city time on the campaign of his wife, Richelle Huizar, who is running in the 2020 election to succeed Huizar in the 14th District.

Huizar has served on the City Council since 2005 but is prevented from running again due to term limits when his current term expires in 2020.

(© Copyright 2018 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)