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Michelle Steel (CA-48) Research Report The following report contains research on Michelle Steel, a Republican candidate in California’s 48th district. Research for this research memo was conducted by the DCCC’s Research Department between October and November 2019. By accepting this report, you are accepting responsibility for all information and analysis included. Therefore, it is your responsibility to verify all claims against the original documentation before you make use of it. Make sure you understand the facts behind our conclusions before making any specific charges against anyone. Michelle Steel Republican Candidate in California’s 48th Congressional District Research Book – 2020 Last Updated November 2019 Prepared by the DCCC Research Department Michelle Steel (CA-48) Research Book | 1 Table of Contents Table of Contents ....................................................................................... 1 Key Findings .............................................................................................. 3 Thematics .................................................................................................. 6 Steel Was A Corrupt Career Politician And Republican Insider ................ 7 Steel Repeatedly Sought To Curtail Transparency And Communication Between Her Constituents And Their Government .................................. 23 Steel Was Good For Corporations And Bad For California Families ...... 28 While Homelessness Increased And Led To Hundreds Of Deaths In Orange County, Steel Opposed Efforts To Provide Housing ................... 43 Key Visuals.............................................................................................. 49 Personal & Professional History .............................................................. 52 Biography ................................................................................................ 53 Personal Finance ...................................................................................... 56 Political Career ........................................................................................ 66 Ethics ....................................................................................................... 78 Relationships ........................................................................................... 98 Donald Trump ........................................................................................ 106 Issues ..................................................................................................... 108 Abortion & Women’s Health Issues ...................................................... 109 Budget Issues ......................................................................................... 110 Consumer Issues & Regulations ............................................................ 112 Crime & Public Safety Issues ................................................................ 113 Education Issues .................................................................................... 116 Election Law & Campaign Finance Issues............................................. 118 Environmental Issues ............................................................................. 124 Equal Rights & Workplace Fairness ...................................................... 128 FEMA & Disaster Relief Issues ............................................................. 133 Foreign Policy Issues ............................................................................. 134 Health Care Issues ................................................................................. 135 Housing Issues ....................................................................................... 138 Infrastructure & Transportation Issues ................................................... 142 Immigration & Border Issues ................................................................. 146 Michelle Steel (CA-48) Research Book | 2 Tax Issues .............................................................................................. 150 Veterans & Military Family Issues ........................................................ 159 Michelle Steel (CA-48) Research Book | 3 Key Findings Steel Was A Corrupt Career Politician And Republican Insider Steel used the power of her government office to promote, protect and benefit her political allies. Throughout her time in government office, Steel has repeatedly used her power to promote, protect and benefit her political allies. While serving as an Orange County Supervisor, Steel twice acted to benefit private jet operator ACI Jet, one of her leading campaign contributors. In 2019, she allowed consideration of a wildly unpopular proposal to expand private flights at John Wayne Airport, which would benefit ACI Jet. Three years earlier, she voted in favor of a lucrative general aviation contract for the company, prompting a FAA investigation into the decision. Steel has also shown a consistent willingness to use her governmental power to protect and promote key political allies. In 2018, Steel voted to defund the Office of Independent Review while it was actively investigating two of her close political allies – and campaign chairs – for misusing jailhouse informants to illegally obtain confessions. Earlier that year, Steel spent taxpayer funds to send 16,000 voters campaign-style mailers for an event that also featured her campaign chair and ally Tony Rackauckas. Additionally, while serving as Alan Nakanishi’s campaign chairwoman, Steel helped boost his candidacy by hiring Nakanishi as an “Assistant to the Board Member,” allowing him to list the position as his occupation on the ballot. Steel was characterized as knowing “first hand” the boost a staff job on the Board provided a candidate, having been on the reverse end of the same process during her first state-wide campaign. Steel was a corrupt career politician and Republican insider. Despite claiming in 2006 that she was not a career politician, Steel has spent the last 15 years seeking or in elected office. Months before she declared her candidacy for Congress in California 48th Congressional District, Steel filed to run for State Controller in 2022, a position she has never publicly expressed interest towards. The filing remains active as she campaigns for Congress, further signaling that Steel’s primary concern is not about Orange County residents, but rather her own political advancement. Furthermore, much of Steel’s early political success can be attributed to her status as a Republican insider, particularly in Orange County. Steel’s first lasting political appointment was to the Los Angeles County Commission for Children and Families. Mike Antonovich, a staunch supporter of the California Civil Rights Initiative, nominated Steel to the commission after Steel’s alleged support for the initiative forced her to resign from the Board of Airport Commissioners. Steel admitted that she had “little knowledge about the responsibilities of the commission” and said “it was a surprise that she had been appointed.” Later, in her first run for state-wide office, Steel served as a Deputy to Claude Parrish –a close political ally of her husband – for three months in order to list the position as her job title on the ballot. Parrish demoted his deputy of eight years and hired Steel, who resigned after three months – just long enough to secure the designation of “Deputy” on the ballot. The deputy Parrish had demoted, who worked on Steel’s campaign in the interim, was given his job back the day after Steel resigned. On the federal scale, Steel built connections in Republican circles through her work in an “elite group” of fundraisers for President Bush. Steel Repeatedly Sought To Curtail Transparency And Communication Between Her Constituents And Their Government Steel repeatedly sought to curtail transparency and communication between her constituents and their government. Steel repeatedly initiated moves and voted in support of measures that would curtail transparency and communication between her constituents and their government. In 2017, Steel voted for a policy that would allow county officials to immediately destroy any “working notes” they no longer needed. A judge later ruled against the policy and said Orange County officials “are likely breaking the law” by destroying the public records, citing the California Public Records Act and the Brown Act. Despite the judge’s ruling that public records must be kept for two years, in 2019 Steel voted for another policy that would allow for the immediate destruction of public records. Michelle Steel (CA-48) Research Book | 4 Steel hindered Orange County residents’ ability to communicate with their government and elected officials. Steel voted for another policy that would allow for the immediate destruction of public records. Additionally, in her first meeting as Chairwoman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, Steel instituted a one-minute limit on public comments – a time period significantly shorter than the historical three-minute accommodation given to the public. When it came time to impose the new limit, Steel was “more lenient with corporate executives than she was with county workers and homeless advocates.” The ACLU would later sue the Orange County Board of Supervisors over Steel’s decision to limit public comments – a lawsuit in which Steel was mentioned by name. Steel opposed a voting system upgrade that could “boost turnout and save taxpayers more than $20 million” without

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