Leading L.A. mayoral candidate caught up in USC corruption case


Karen Bass, who would be the first woman ever elected as L.A.’s mayor, is headed into the final weeks of the mayoral election against Rick Caruso. (Melissa Cabello-Cuahutle | Daily Trojan file photo)

The leading contender in the Los Angeles mayoral race, Rep. Karen Bass, is caught up in a scandal involving the former dean of USC’s social work program, the Los Angeles Times reported Wednesday.

Bass — who in the latest polls holds a double-digit lead over Rick Caruso, the former chair of the USC Board of Trustees — accepted a $95,000 scholarship at the Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work midway through her first congressional term in 2011. Bass accepted the scholarship in line with congressional procedure and is not under criminal investigation. 

But in a July court filing, prosecutors asserted that former Dean Marilyn Flynn offered Bass admission and tuition hoping for assistance in advancing legislation that would help the School of Social Work receive more funding.

In an interview with the Times, Bass denied that it was apparent that Flynn had a legislative agenda in offering her the scholarship. 

Federal prosecutors are charging Flynn for a separate dealing in which she conspired with former L.A. County supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas to steer county funds to the University in return for admission of Ridley-Thomas’ son into the graduate school with a full scholarship and paid professorship.

Though Bass is not under investigation, prosecutors have called her scholarship and dealings with USC “critical” to the cases against Flynn and Ridley-Thomas, and their broader portrayal of corruption in the University’s social work program, the Times reported.

Bass, for her part, has asserted since 2011 — when she requested an exemption on the rule prohibiting gifts to members of Congress to accept the scholarship — that the graduate degree at USC would expand her understanding of child welfare policy and therefore help her better represent her constituents. 

“Everybody knows that the welfare of children and families has been a passion and policy focus of mine for decades,” Bass said in a recent interview with the Times. “The only reason I studied nights and weekends for a master’s degree was to become a better advocate for children and families — period.”

The congresswoman maintained that she never authored any legislation that benefited USC. Flynn and Ridley-Thomas will go on trial in November.

Bass, who would be the first woman ever elected as L.A.’s mayor, is headed into the final weeks of the mayoral election against Caruso, who served on the board of trustees when Bass received her scholarship. 

In a statement to the Daily Trojan, the University said that it quickly reported Flynn’s misconduct to the U.S. Attorney’s Office after learning of the matter in the summer of 2018.

“Marilyn Flynn has not been employed by the university since September 2018,” the University wrote. “Although we have complied with the government’s document requests, USC is not a party to the criminal case and is not privy to what or who the federal government may be investigating beyond what has been publicly reported.”