Get the Facts on Phil

Check the Facts

During the 2018 General Election, an illegal dark money PAC, currently under investigation by state and local authorities, launched false personal attacks against Phil Bacerra, a candidate for City Council.

The illegal PAC coordinated directly with the individual, Griselda Govea, who alleged these false attacks and flooded the city with an unprecedented sum of dark money on advertisements in the weeks before Election Day.

[Voice of OC: November 27, 2018]

The illegal PAC refused to disclose its donors, file correct paperwork with the state, or work within the confines of the law. Multiple complaints were filed against the PAC and its controlling interests are subject to fines or other legal penalties.

[Voice of OC: November 27, 2018]

The personal attacks against Phil Bacerra are unequivocally false.

Individuals aligned with the dark money interests have posted publicly on social media and other avenues that Phil Bacerra has criminal convictions as a way to attempt to discredit him and his campaign. Phil Bacerra in fact has no record of any convictions and has never been arrested. This information is all public record.
An independent, non-partisan investigator hired by Democratic Party officials in the midst of the dark money campaign found “no independent evidence” existed to corroborate the authenticity of the allegations against Phil Bacerra.
[Voice of OC: October 24, 2018]
Multiple eyewitnesses have come forward independently to claim publicly that the events described by Ms. Govea, the individual who coordinated with the PAC, did not happen.

No police reports were ever filed and no physical evidence or independent corroboration exist to substantiate any of the false allegations against Phil Bacerra.

Griselda Govea coordinated directly with political consultants and the dark money PAC before announcing her allegations.

Before Ms. Govea came forward and created her social media post alleging her false attacks against Phil Bacerra, Ms. Govea participated in a professionally scripted, shot, and edited video, paid for by the illegal PAC and entirely featuring Ms. Govea. The video appeared on a website and paid election ads attacking Phil Bacerra. Yet, Ms. Govea claimed that she did not work with Phil Bacerra’s opponents and the illegal dark money PAC.

Illegal Dark Money Promoted a Former Councilmember Convicted of Perjury and Election Fraud.

In the 2018 general election, the same illegal PAC that attacked Phil Bacerra, generated positive election materials funding the campaign of Roman Reyna, who broke the law and lied about his residency. In March of 2019, he resigned from the City Council as part of a court settlement.

Santa Ana councilman will step down to settle suit over whether he lives in district he represents

Most recently, Roman Reyna plead guilty to perjury and Election Fraud, was forced to pay a $578k fine, and banned from ever holding public office.

Ex-Santa Ana Councilman Pleads Guilty to Election Fraud

Govea Goes from GoFundMe to Going to Parties in Portugal

Although Govea had a GoFundMe page set up in 2019 that requested financial assistance, Govea and her husband took a trip to a beach city in Portugal, where they stayed at a waterfront resort, to attend a music festival suspiciously just a few short months after she made her accusations against Phil Bacerra.