When Nathan Fletcher was accused of sexual misconduct and other transgressions in a civil lawsuit nearly two years ago, the then-San Diego County supervisor sharply denied the allegations and mounted a vigorous legal defense.
The litigation brought by a former Metropolitan Transit System public relations specialist named Grecia Figueroa prompted Fletcher to step away and later resign from public office.
At the time, Fletcher also was running for an open California Senate seat and had squirreled away more than $1 million for the campaign. He would then use the money to pay for his legal defense, and the legal bills have continued to climb as the civil case pushes forward.
Now Fletcher and former campaign treasurer Nancy Haley face a new lawsuit accusing them of mishandling the political contributions by tapping the abandoned state Senate campaign to finance more than $1.1 million of the candidate’s personal legal debts.
The lawsuit challenging Fletcher’s use of political donations for personal legal services was filed by two San Diego activists named Richard Shigley and Kenneth Moser.
“Defendants falsely misused and misreported campaign funds for a candidacy for California State Senate to defend a sexual harassment lawsuit which had nothing to do with his State Senate candidacy,” the lawsuit they filed this week says.
Fletcher lawyer Jim Sutton said in a statement that there was no merit to the allegations in the complaint, which seeks millions of dollars in damages, attorney fees and other costs.
“A politically motivated complaint to the Fair Political Practices Commission, which the FPPC has not acted upon, has now morphed into a baseless politically motivated lawsuit by right-wing attorneys with a history of suing democratically elected officials,” he said.
“Both the complaint and the lawsuit have no merit because Nathan Fletcher did not violate any law or rule (and the lawsuit is riddled with factual and legal errors),” Sutton added.
Haley did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The allegation that Fletcher was misusing Senate campaign contributions is not new.
As the spending was reported by The San Diego Union-Tribune and other news organizations over recent months, Fletcher’s lawyers have maintained that using the Senate campaign funds to pay attorney fees for a candidate is proper and legal.
Both Moser and Shigley have sued elected officials before, although Moser has pursued scores of legal claims dating back decades. He runs a telemarketing firm that federal regulators in 2019 fined $10 million for deceptive marketing practices.
Moser said he challenged the penalty in federal court and prevailed under a related U.S. Supreme Court ruling issued in 2023 that nullified administrative fines that were imposed absent due process.
The plaintiffs say they filed their case because the district attorney and state election regulators failed to act on similar complaints they submitted last year.
The San Diego County District Attorney’s Office does not comment on investigations or active cases as a matter of policy.
The California Fair Political Practices Commission opened its own review of the claims last fall. It remains pending, according to the FPPC website.
The sworn complaint to the FPPC was co-signed by Amy Reichert, who unsuccessfully challenged Fletcher in his 2022 campaign for re-election to the Board of Supervisors.
Moser and Shigley argue that Fletcher and Haley violated the state Political Reform Act in two ways: by misusing contributions to Fletcher’s Senate campaign and by wrongly reporting the expenses as “professional services” rather than legal expenses.
“The ostensible reason for and importance of the ‘PRO’ versus ‘LEG’ designation to defendants is that ‘PRO’ professional services need never be reimbursed,” their lawsuit says.
Also, under state law, if a candidate or elected official is eventually held liable for sexual assault, abuse and harassment, he or she must reimburse the campaign for all of the funds used in connection with the legal costs and expenses, the plaintiffs note.
“Therefore, based on the foregoing, plaintiff pleads on information and belief that defendants committed this misreporting fraudulently,” the complaint says.
The underlying sexual misconduct lawsuit remains ongoing and bitter, even though Figueroa late last year withdrew the sexual assault and battery claims. The remaining causes of action against Fletcher and MTS include retaliation and sexual harassment.
Fletcher last year filed a counterclaim against Figueroa, accusing her of defamation, and the two claims have since been consolidated into a single proceeding.
The trial date that had been reserved for this month was canceled, and further hearings are scheduled for next month.
