Retired LAPD Captain Cory Palka was in charge of the LAPD’s Hollywood station. He used his position of authority to become a high-profile “glamour cop.” Palka was LAPD’s senior commander in charge of security at the Oscars and other high profile events in his precinct. Palka was very often seen in the company of celebrities. He is also remembered for appearing yearly at Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Hollywood where he accepted a check from the Church for LAPD Youth Development Programs.

Cory Palka now finds himself at the center of what will surely be an intense and in-depth legal inquiry by the LAPD Inspector General for giving ex-CBS CEO Les Moonves a confidential copy of an LAPD criminal investigation report. This happened in 2017 when Palka was active duty and in charge of LAPD Hollywood.

Here is what happened: Hours after a woman made a criminal sexual complaint about CBS CEO Les Moonves at the LAPD Hollywood station, Palka learned of the complaint. He then immediately called CBS Senior VP Ian Mentrose to let him know about that the report against Moonves that had been filed. This is documented in New York Attorney General’s Letitia James settlement document with CBS and Moonves.

NY AG James lays out the narrative of what is a blatant conspiracy, a cover up, and other violations of the law between CBS and Les Moonves and LAPD Captain Palka. The narrative presents the story of a powerful and corrupt LAPD Captain conspiring to protect CBS boss Les Moonves from the consequences of his own actions at the expense of the woman Moonves had sexually harassed in the workplace. From the report:

(Scroll down to the bottom to read the entire report in PDF written by NY AG James’ office) 

To compound the good ol’ boy criminal scheming inside of CBS, the network permitted its Senior Executive Vice President and Chief Communication Officer, Gil Schwartz, to sell 160,700 shares of CBS stock after he was informed of the LAPD’s Moonves sexual complaint but before the matter became public. Schwartz made millions from selling before news of the Moonves scandal broke and CBS shares lost 10.9% in value.

CBS and Moonves settled this violation of the Martin Act and Executive Law § 63(12) by paying a $30.5 million fine.

WILL CORY PALKA BE CRIMINALLY INDICTED? 

From The Los Angeles Times report on the Palka-Moonves matter:

The Los Angeles Police Department’s inspector general will oversee an investigation into how at least one LAPD official became involved in a scheme to cover up sexual abuse allegations against former CBS Corp. chief Leslie Moonves.

The civilian Police Commission directed its independent watchdog, Inspector General Mark Smith, to monitor and help guide the LAPD’s inquiry at its meeting Tuesday. The move was fueled by anger among members of the commission, who expressed dismay over the revelation that a now-retired LAPD captain allegedly helped Moonves keep the assault claims under wraps.

“This is a stunning example of what some refer to as old-school cronyism. It goes to the heart of corruption,” said commission President William Briggs, adding that he was “beyond outraged” by the findings in a report released last week by the New York attorney general’s office about the cover-up that detailed the captain’s involvement.

“This absolutely puts our city, this department in a bad light nationally, that in this day and age that type of corrupt abuse of power is still going on and it revictimizes” the victim, Briggs said.

The LAPD Police Commission is the civilian body that oversees the LAPD. The Commission is furious at the actions of retired Captain Cory Palka and how he acted to betray the trust a victim of sexual harassment placed in the LAPD to keep her report confidential.

Our view is that Cory Palka will be criminally indicted and, possibly, so will Les Moonves and other former CBS officials.

In Part 2 of our series, we discuss certain parallels between the Danny Masterson rape trial and the Les Moonves case.

We have been covering the Masterson trial since it began and, based upon testimony from LAPD officers in the Masterson case, and what happened in the Moonves case, we have one disturbing question to ask:

Is the most dangerous place in Los Angeles for a woman who has been sexually assaulted by a powerful or well-connected man the LAPD Hollywood Station?  

LAPD Captain Cory Palka protected Les Moonves. Who else did he protect? Part of the LAPD Police Commission into Palka should focus on the Shelly Miscavige missing persons report and how that was actually handled.

The full text of NY AG Letitia James report on the Moonves matter.