THE BUZZ: The brother of California Assembly Speaker Robert Rivas allegedly stirred up drama at the Democratic National Convention in August, name-dropping his powerful sibling to secure prime seating and berating delegates. An official code of conduct complaint, obtained by POLITICO, was filed with the California Democratic Party over his behavior at the Chicago convention. Three attendees, including one who was granted anonymity for fear of retribution, described Rick Rivas’ demeanor at the convention as inappropriate, aggressive and erratic, and two of them noted that he repeatedly said, “I’m the brother of the speaker.” The party deemed the complaint bona fide but found that it did not warrant further investigation. Rick Rivas did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Rick Rivas has long been his brother’s most trusted political adviser — and as he ascended to the heights of public office — one of his biggest liabilities. The speaker has been scrutinized for his brother’s proximity to his political career, and has often had to answer awkward questions about his sibling’s influence on his decision-making. Robert Rivas has, repeatedly, denied that his brother, a high-ranking political strategist for the American Beverage Association, wields any leverage in his office. The complaint, submitted by Jonathan Padilla, a delegate from San Jose, was reviewed by party officials, who decided not to take any additional action. Emails between Padilla and the party ombudsperson, obtained by POLITICO, indicated that because Rick Rivas was not alleged to have discriminated based on a protected category, like race or ethnicity, the allegations raised by Padilla did not violate the party’s code of conduct — but that Padilla was protected against retaliation for filing a bona fide complaint. “The California Democratic Party takes all inquiries of violations of our Code of Conduct seriously and has a thorough process through an Ombudsperson to address complaints,” Robin Swanson, a spokesperson for the party, said in a statement. “In this case, the full complaint was reviewed by the Ombudsperson and determined that this incident did not merit further investigation.” But the people who spoke to POLITICO say the DNC incident raises questions about the role Rick Rivas plays in the office of the Assembly speaker. A campaign spokesperson for Robert Rivas responded to questions from POLITICO with a statement, calling it a “meritless complaint.” “The Speaker respects the CA Dem Party process and this complaint was found to have no merit over two months ago,” Elizabeth Ashford said. “He didn’t attend the convention and he has not been involved in this matter.” Padilla, who filed the complaint, is a longtime supporter of former San Jose Mayor and Congress member-elect Sam Liccardo, and works in the tech sector. This year he helped organize crypto Democrats in support of Harris. Padilla was also behind a high-profile vote recount in the primary contest between Liccardo, Assemblymember Evan Low and Santa Clara County Supervisor Joe Simitian, and he has worked on an independent expenditure committee in support of Liccardo’s congressional bid this year. His 1,100-word complaint, obtained by POLITICO, offers a scathing narrative of Rick Rivas’ conduct and chastises the speaker for tacitly sanctioning such behavior. “The guy was acting like a bully,” he said in an interview. Read the full story here. GOOD MORNING. Happy Friday. Thanks for waking up with Playbook. You can text us at 916-562-0685 — save it as “CA Playbook” in your contacts. Or drop us a line at lkorte@politico.com and dgardiner@politico.com, or on X — @DustinGardiner and @Lara_Korte. WHERE’S GAVIN? Nothing official announced. FAREWELL — After two-and-a-half years, this is my final Playbook. Thank you to all the loyal readers. The superb Tyler Katzenberger will be lending a hand to Dustin temporarily, so send all your best tips and gossip to him at tkatzenberger@politico.com. My next adventure takes me overseas, but you can always find me on X. — Lara
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