FBI Raids San Bernardino County Supervisor, Ontario Councilman in Widening China Influence Probe

Raids Hit Two Sitting Officials, an Attorney, and a Media CEO

FBI agents fanned out across Southern California this week, executing search warrants tied to a public corruption and foreign influence investigation, according to the Los Angeles Times. The targets: San Bernardino County Supervisor Curt Hagman, Ontario Councilmember Alan Wapner, civil litigator Frank Lizarraga, and James Su, chief executive of Chinese-American media company EDI Media.

Agents searched homes and offices connected to all four men, plus EDI Media's West Covina headquarters, a Beverly Hills mansion owned by a Chinese family, and Ontario International Airport, where Hagman and Wapner both sit on the airport authority board with Wapner serving as president. Investigators also subpoenaed records from Ontario City Hall, the Times reported.

FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimiller confirmed the addresses where warrants were served but declined to say what investigators are looking for. The search warrant affidavits are sealed. No one has been charged. No one has been arrested.

What's Actually Known vs. What's Speculation

A source close to the investigation described it to the New York Post as a public corruption probe with a "possible foreign influence component." That characterization offers little clarity on the scope of the inquiry.

The Times could not confirm whether Hagman, Wapner, Lizarraga, or Su are actual targets of the investigation or simply people whose records investigators wanted. None of the four returned calls seeking comment, per the Times. Andrew Cowan, an attorney representing Su, told the Post his client is an American citizen who has donated to political campaigns "across the political spectrum" and doesn't know why the FBI searched properties connected to him.

Donating to a political campaign is not illegal, and plenty of business executives write checks to candidates from both parties as a matter of routine influence-building, not espionage. The mere fact that Su's company, EDI Media, gave $500 to former Arcadia Mayor Eileen Wang's campaign back on Oct. 10, 2022, doesn't by itself prove anything about the current raids. It's unclear whether that donation is even part of what investigators are examining.

The Wang Case Looms Over Everything

The raids land roughly two months after Eileen Wang, the former mayor of Arcadia, pleaded guilty in May to accusations that she was directed by the Chinese government to promote propaganda inside the United States. Prosecutors alleged Wang helped run US News Center, a website that presented itself as a news outlet for Chinese Americans while carrying out directives from Beijing. Wang is now awaiting sentencing.

EDI Media, the company run by Su, had to register as a foreign agent back in May 2022 because it formerly printed the U.S. version of a newspaper the government considers a "foreign mission," according to the Times. That regulatory requirement reflects the kind of paper trail that explains why federal investigators would want a look at Su's operation.

Part of a Bigger Pattern

This isn't an isolated action. In April, FBI agents searched Lancaster City Hall and the homes of two city council members. A source who reviewed that warrant told the Times it sought communications between city officials and BYD, the Chinese electric vehicle and bus manufacturer that runs a major production facility in Lancaster. BYD did not respond to requests for comment. That investigation remains open and no one has been arrested there either.

Federal prosecutors have separately alleged a broader Chinese intelligence operation was running in the San Gabriel Valley aimed at cultivating political allies favorable to Beijing's interests, according to the Times.

The Open Question

The strongest skeptical read is straightforward: sealed warrants, no charges, no named targets from the