Riverside County Supervisor Jose Medina on Monday called for Sheriff Chad Bianco to stop his investigation into alleged election fraud and return 650,000 recently seized ballots.
Medina also called for an investigation into alleged misuse of funds by Bianco, who is a leading Republican candidate for governor, over the sheriff’s investigation into alleged election fraud.
“The only fraud I see is a candidate for governor of the state of California using Riverside County resources and personnel to advance his own political agenda,” Medina said in a statement that noted no evidence of election fraud exists. “The Riverside County Board of Supervisors should not turn a blind eye while Sheriff Chad Bianco misuses valuable county resources for his own political gain.”
Bianco did not respond to requests for comment.
In a statement to The Riverside Record, Bianco said Medina had his head “buried in political identity” and called the District 1 supervisor “a partisan politics cancer that has never existed in Riverside County government until now. Elections have consequences, and Riverside, Perris and Moreno Valley residents are realizing theirs,” Bianco said.
On Friday Bianco held a press conference about the investigation and accused elected officials, including Medina, of interfering.
“Four out of five of your elected Board of Supervisors are committed to a thorough, impartial and ethical investigation to confirm whether election results are accurate,” Bianco said during the press conference.
He also alleged Medina violated the state law governing items discussed in closed session by talking about the investigation at the board’s March 10 meeting.
Medina called Bianco’s media conference a gubernatorial “campaign rally” that was held at the Sheriff’s Department headquarters, “where candidate Chad Bianco happens to be the County Sheriff,” Medina said. “The campaign rally was advertised on the official Riverside County Sheriff’s website as an Election Fraud Investigation press conference. The only thing is, there exists absolutely no evidence of election fraud.”
At the conference Bianco said, “Let me make this perfectly clear. I am the Sheriff of Riverside County, and I couldn’t care less what I’m doing in another election. And this has absolutely nothing to do with it. I have a duty to make sure we investigate crime in Riverside County. Or alleged crime in Riverside County.”
Medina countered in his statement, “The Sheriff doth protest too much.
“Before the last Riverside County Board of Supervisors meeting, I suggested that …. Sheriff Chad Bianco take a leave of absence from his duties … because he wouldn’t be capable of running a department of 4,300 employees and a budget of 1.2 billion dollars while at the same time running for Governor in a state as large as California,” Medina said. “After watching last Friday’s so-called press conference, it is clear to me that Sheriff Chad Bianco has chosen to be a full-time candidate for Governor of the State of California.
“What is not clear to me is who is running the Riverside County Sheriff’s Office,” the supervisor said.
“It is past time to put an end to this sham of a so-called investigation into election irregularities,” Medina added. “Sheriff Chad Bianco must return all 650,000 ballots where they belong, to the Riverside County Registrar of Voters, and find another way to campaign for Governor of the State of California other than the stunt we all witnessed Friday.”
Medina said he would refer his allegations to the District Attorney’s Office to consider fraud, waste and abuse charges.
“Our office only reviews allegations or concerns submitted through our formal complaint process,” a DA’s Office statement to The Record said. “Until that occurs, a matter cannot be evaluated or acted upon by this office. This procedure ensures that all complaints are properly documented and helps maintain transparency, fairness, and objectivity throughout.”
The other Republican running for the governor is Steve Hilton, a Fox News contributor and former adviser to conservative British prime minister David Cameron. Ten Democrats are seeking the office in the November election.
