As Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker stands trial for allegedly leaking a confidential civil grand jury report to the San Francisco 49ers, his attorneys have zeroed in on emails from former team executive Rahul Chandhok claiming he received the document from “multiple press outlets” — despite Chandhok’s testimony that Becker was the source of the leak.
Becker’s long-awaited trial got underway last week as the current District 6 representative fell to dead last in a challenging re-election bid where he struggled to get endorsements and the 49ers spent big backing one of his two opponents. Just two years prior, the NFL team had shelled out more than $1.4 million trying to get Becker elected mayor, and another roughly $1 million attacking Mayor Lisa Gillmor.
But a month shy of Election Day in 2022, an explosive Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury report appeared in several media outlets three days before it was supposed to be public. Titled “Unsportsmanlike Conduct,” the report accused several members of the Santa Clara City Council — including Becker — of getting too cozy with the 49ers and holding closed-door meetings with team lobbyists that potentially violated state law.
Becker is on trial for allegedly leaking the report, as well as charges of felony perjury for allegedly lying about it under oath. If convicted, he faces up to four years in county jail.
Chandhok, the 49ers’ former chief of communications and the prosecution’s star witness, took the stand for the third time on Tuesday in Santa Clara County Superior Court in Morgan Hill, testifying that Becker leaked him the report on Oct. 6, 2022. Chandhok, who now works for the United States Soccer Federation, received immunity for his testimony.
But Grant Fondo — an attorney with the Goodwin Procter firm who is part of Becker’s five-person, largely pro-bono legal team — tried to poke holes in Chandhok’s testimony, pointing to a series of emails from October 2022.
In one instance, Chandhok told several of his colleagues at the 49ers, as well as some of the team’s consultants, that he received the report from “multiple press outlets.”
“Was it your intention to lie to your team?” Fondo asked about the email.
Chandhok testified that it wasn’t his intent to lie to or mislead anyone on the team, and reiterated that Becker gave him the report. However, he said several journalists subsequently sent him copies of the report when they asked him for a comment for their articles.
In another email exchange several days after the report was leaked, Barry Holtzclaw, the managing editor of online news outlet San Jose Inside, asked Chandhok if he knew who leaked the report. The former chief of communications said he didn’t know, but that he received the report from members of the media.
“Are you lying today, or were you lying then when you answered that question?” Fondo asked about Chandhok’s email.
Chandhok again testified that it was Becker who sent him the report and said he felt like it wasn’t in the “best interest of the 49ers” to share who leaked the report.
“Leaks obviously happen, news can get out that way, but I’ve always been consistent with where I’ve received this report, and that’s Mr. Becker,” Chandhok said.
Santa Clara County Deputy District Attorney Jason Malinsky, representing the prosecution, asked Chandhok why he didn’t reveal to others that Becker leaked him the report.
“I think it would have been adverse to the candidate,” Chandhok said.
Malinsky followed up by asking whether it would “help or hurt the 49ers’ interests in your view if there was damage to Mr. Becker’s campaign?”
Chandhok said that because the 49ers were backing Becker financially, anything adverse that happened to his campaign, “would have been adverse to the 49ers.”
On Wednesday morning, former interim city attorney Steve Ngo took the stand, testifying that he was concerned about a potential leak because the report was so “politically charged.”
Ngo said he received the report on Oct. 5, 2022, from assistant city clerk Nora Pimentel. The first page, he said, had a “very clear mandate” not to disclose the document until the following Monday, Oct. 10.
“Before it got any further I wanted to remind them (the council) of what I just read – that it should not be disclosed until the following Monday,” Ngo said.
The former city attorney proceeded to send an email to the entire council reminding them of the prohibition. In the subject line, Ngo wrote “do not disclose” in all capital letters. At the very top of the email, he reiterated that point, telling the council in bold, red, capital letters to not disclose the content of the report until the 10th. He made a third reminder in the body of the email.
Later that afternoon, Christopher Jackson — a longtime IT services manager for the city of Santa Clara — testified that Becker was among the councilmembers BCC’d on the email sent by Ngo.
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