Why does this not surprise me?

Rep. Richardson Failed to Disclose Loan from Strip Club Owner

The latest on the triple-default, single-foreclosure Democratic congresswoman from Long Beach: "Rep. Laura Richardson  initially failed to disclose economic interests -- including a loan from a strip club owner -- when she served on the Long Beach City Council, public records show," the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.

From the Press-Telegram: the loan in question was for $20,000, in 2000, and came from a family trust controlled by Jerry Westlund, who owns the Fantasy Castle strip club in Signal Hill and 13 other strip clubs in seven states. Two years later, Richardson -- who had not yet disclosed the loan -- voted with the council to place Westlund's father on the city's board of examiners. She eventually disclosed the loan in 2004.

It gets more complicated: Westlund tells the newspaper that the 60-month loan, at 15.5% interest, was made to Richardson and her then-husband, Long Beach Police Chief Anthony Batts, but Batts strongly disputes that, and the newspaper reports that only Richardson's name is on public records of the loan.

Here's where it really gets interesting: "Westlund said he asked to be paid back in about 2005 when Long Beach police began showing up with frequency to investigate his Fantasy Ranch strip club, which was on South Street in Long Beach."

Richardson declined to talk to her hometown paper for the story.

For more go to:
http://www.presstelegram.com/news/ci_9582385 or
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/laland/2008/06/rep-richardson.html