Mike Carona Corruption Trial Question of the Day!

In March 2004, what caused then-Orange County Sheriff Mike Carona to finally reveal his secret, three-year-old personal financial interest in a company tied to one of his wealthy Newport Beach contributors? 

Answer: Days before Carona had fired Assistant Sheriff George Jaramillo, who knew the secret about the sheriff's Entrade, Inc. holdings. Carona feared that Jaramillo might share the information with the FBI. He did. The revelation came during federal prosecutor Ken Julian's examination today of Elaine Vasquez, Carona's longtime secretary and wife of Bush Administration official Gaddi Vasquez. Government officials in California are expected to honesty file Form 700, a mandatory annual disclosure to advise citizens about potential conflicts of interests as well as cash and gifts received. Under penalty of perjury, Carona routinely failed to honestly disclose information, according to prosecutors.

(R. Scott Moxley / OC Weekly)