As Santa Clara Vice Mayor Anthony Becker’s trial continues, his attorneys on Monday fought to establish who had access to the bombshell “Unsportsmanlike Conduct” civil grand jury report before it became public.
Britney Huelbig, the deputy manager for the Santa Clara County Civil Grand Jury, testified on the seventh day of Becker’s trial that she couldn’t pinpoint exactly how she heard that the report in question had been leaked, instead describing it as a “flurry of activity.”
On Oct. 5, 2022, Huelbig sent a draft copy of the report — which accused several members of the Santa Clara City Council of getting too cozy with the San Francisco 49ers — to Santa Clara City Clerk Hosam Hagagg. It was set to be released to the public on Oct. 10, but appeared in several media outlets a few days prior.
Becker is now on trial in Santa Clara County Superior Court in Morgan Hill for allegedly leaking the report and felony perjury for lying about it under oath. Rahul Chandhok, the 49ers former chief of communications, previously testified that Becker gave him the report on Oct. 6.
Christopher Montoya — a deputy public defender who is part of Becker’s five-person legal team — questioned Huelbig on Monday about her role with the civil grand jury, asking her why she decided to send the report to Hagagg.
A draft copy of the report is generally sent to the “affected agency” — in this case, the city of Santa Clara — before it is released to the public. Huelbig said that city clerks are typically in charge of receiving communications for the city.
But Haggag, who is the city’s elected clerk, didn’t respond, prompting Huelbig to call the city. She spoke with Assistant City Clerk Nora Pimentel, who told her to send it to the general clerk’s email address. The testimony sparked Montoya to ask her if she knew why Pimentel had her resend to a different email address.
“I recall that I was informed that Mr. Hoggag did not maintain business hours where it may be more in line with their office policy to send it to the general clerk’s address,” Huelbig said.
During his line of questioning, Montoya pointed to emails with the draft report attached with Huelbig and other Santa Clara city employees.
“Would you agree Ms. Huelbig that this is an email chain with you and others?” he asked, pointing to other individuals who had been sent the report before it became public.
Montoya also fought to get in questions about who else at the county might have had early access to the report — inquiries that the prosecution and deputy county counsel Aryn Harris often objected to on the grounds that much of the work the civil grand jury does is privileged.
Following the leak, the San Francisco 49ers contacted Huelbig several times, fighting to get their side of the story in the report. Chandhok sent Huelbig several emails and called her on the phone.
“Do you recall him sounding frantic?” Montoya asked.
“A lot of time has passed since that phone call, but I do not recall it being lighthearted,” Huelbig said.