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FBI Affidavit Reportedly Reveals Disneyland Resort Power Broker Is A Key Participant In "Cabal" Steering Anaheim's Government

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Sep 24, 2022, 3:45:58 AM9/24/22
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A FBI affidavit has seemingly revealed that an employee of a fairly
influential company could be one of the key participants pulling the
strings on the city of Anaheim’s government, and sources claim that this
power broker is a person that works at Disney.

“The employee of the firm, called ‘Company A’ in the affidavit that’s part
of a federal public corruption probe, helped script a statement read by an
elected official before the City Council voted to issue bonds and provided
input on whom to invite to a covert retreat for community powerbrokers,”
reported the L.A. Times.

As per the sources alluded to by the outlet, who are purportedly familiar
with the investigation being conducted by the FBI, ‘Company A’ is actually
Disneyland Resort, and the identity of the employee is Carrie Nocella,
Director of External Affairs at Disneyland Resort.

Interestingly, the L.A. Times reports that neither Disneyland Resort nor
Nocella have been accused of wrongdoing, in spite of Anaheim activists and
an unnamed past mayor claiming that Disneyland Resort has “parlayed its
influence into lucrative tax breaks at the expense of city residents.”

Councilman Jose Moreno said that Disneyland actively influencing Anaheim’s
role, in terms of city politics, “would be the worst kept secret in town,”
noting that people paying attention are well-aware of the situation.

According to the media outlet, the resort has also “bankrolled friendly
politicians with generous campaign donations,” although without disclosing
who these politicians are.

The Los Angeles Time reached out to Disney to clarify information about
the alluded ‘Company A’ amidst the corruption scandal. “We have seen media
reports of the complaint and no authorities have reached out to us about
it,” declared the company in an official statement issued to the
publication.

The publication also notes that Carrie Nocella has declined to comment on
the allegations. Further, the Director of External Affairs at Disneyland
Resort has reportedly deleted both her Facebook and Instagram accounts
last week as the corruption controversy unfolded.

The affidavit was written by FBI Special Agent Brian Adkins, who accused
Former Head of Anaheim Chamber of Commerce Todd Ament, in a 99-page
criminal complaint, of “lying to a mortgage lender about his assets while
seeking a loan for a $1.5 million home in the San Bernardino Mountains.”

According to the legal document, Ament, one unnamed political consultant,
and a ‘Company A’ employee, allegedly Nocella, used their influence to
script statements made by an anonymous elected official at an Anaheim City
Council Meeting.

The L.A. Times also notes that Disneyland Resort has been benefitting from
its relationship with the government of Anaheim, bringing forward an
agreement made in 1996 that stipulated city leaders were to “issue $510
million in bonds to finance, among other projects, construction of the
$108-million Mickey & Friends parking structure.”

Further, the outlet mentions that “The resort keeps the parking revenue,
and Anaheim will transfer ownership of the garage to Disney once the bonds
and $1.1 billion in interest are paid off.”

Additionally, in June of 2015 Anaheim’s five-member City Council voted 3-2
to approve The Walt Disney Company’s 30-year renewal proposal of tax
exemption for visitors to its Disneyland Resort, preventing the city from
making an estimated $1 billion in revenue.

The agreement stipulated that Disney needed to deliver on their promise to
complete $1 billion in development at the resort by the end of 2024, which
included the Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge expansion, and could apply for an
additional 15-year extension if the company spent an additional $500
million.

At the time Disney declared that the exemption was justified, considering
that the company accounted for an estimated 28,000 local jobs as the
city’s largest employer, as well as the economic benefit Anaheim derived
from the resort.

In 2018, Disneyland Resort President Josh D’Amaro asked Anaheim officials
to cancel the 45-year tax exemption, as well as a 20-year, 70 percent
hotel bed tax refund.

The Walt Disney Company’s fairly unusual request came amidst a union-
funded petition for a ballot measure that sought to require all businesses
in Anaheim’s Resort District to pay a minimum wage of $18 an hour by 2022.

In November of 2021, however, Orange County Superior Court Judge William
D. Claster ruled that Disneyland and its contractors are not subject to
Anaheim’s $18 an hour minimum wage increase for workers.

What do you make of the claims that a Disney employee may be a key
participant in Anaheim’s corruption scandal? Let us know your thoughts in
the comments section down below or on social media.

https://boundingintocomics.com/2022/06/02/fbi-affidavit-reportedly-
reveals-disneyland-resort-power-broker-is-a-key-participant-in-cabal-
steering-anaheims-government/
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