SACRAMENTO — Attorney General Jerry Brown has returned $52,500 in campaign contributions from an investment firm and relatives of two California businessmen he is investigating in a public pension fund corruption probe.
Last month, a spokesman for Brown said the state's top cop had no intention of returning donations from four family members of Sacramento lobbyist Darius Anderson and the firm of Los Angeles political fundraiser Daniel Weinstein.
The contributions to Brown's 2010 campaign committee were made months before the attorney general reportedly subpoenaed companies run by Anderson and Weinstein.
Neither has been charged in a public pension scandal that surfaced in New York and resulted in indictments and two guilty pleas, including one by one of Weinstein's former employees.
Rubeena Singh, treasurer for Jerry Brown 2010, said the campaign returned the political donations on June 29 "so that the contributions would not distract from the work of the attorney general's office."
Brown, who is widely expected to run for governor, is keeping his options open to seek a second term as attorney general.
Brown received $48,000 in contributions from the wife, brother and parents of Anderson in December 2008, according to state finance records. The donations included $12,000 from brother Kirk Anderson, with whom Darius Anderson co-founded Gold Bridge Capital.
Brown also received $4,500 from Wetherly Capital, a firm run by Weinstein.
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