Former Anaheim City Councilman Jordan Brandman died of acute methamphetamine intoxication, according to an autopsy report from the Orange County Sheriff’s Coroner office.
Brandman was found dead at his home in September at the age of 43 in the wake of one of the largest corruption scandals to hit OC in recent history – which independent investigators and FBI agents allege Disneyland resort interests exert undue influence on city hall.
[Read: Former Anaheim Councilman Jordan Brandman Dead at 43]
Questions about Brandman’s wellbeing had been circulating since 2021, when he resigned from the city council after leaked text messages showed him violently disparaging a council colleague, and an LA Times investigation found he threatened to shoot up city hall in 2020.
Brandman was a Democrat who served on the council from 2012 to 2016 and from 2018 to 2021.
He often sided with resort interests on the dais as part of the controversial council majority under the disgraced former mayor, Harry Sidhu.
Sidhu pleaded guilty to federal corruption charges last September, also admitting he lied to federal investigators about trying to ram through the Angel Stadium deal in exchange for $1 million in campaign support.
[Read: Ex-Anaheim Mayor Sidhu Agrees to Plead Guilty to Corruption Charges]
Brandman also voted in favor of the canned Angel Stadium deal, and was close with Carrie Nocella, Disney’s chief lobbyist at city hall.
Melahat Rafiei, one of Brandman’s top political consultants according to campaign disclosures, also pleaded guilty to attempted wire fraud and admitted to trying to bribe Irvine City Council members in a plea deal announced last year.
Disney heavily backed his campaign in 2018 through their main political spending arm – the Support Our Anaheim Resort political action committee.
Brandman also approved a $6.5 million bailout to the resort district during the COVID-19 pandemic, which state auditors recently questioned if it was necessary.
[Read: CA Auditors Lambast Anaheim’s Tourism Bureau, Find Improper Tax Dollar Spending]
City hired-independent investigators also allege about $1.5 million dollars of that money was improperly given to an Anaheim Chamber of Commerce nonprofit as part of a conspiracy.
Noah Biesiada is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at nbiesiada@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @NBiesiada.
Hosam Elattar is a Voice of OC reporter and corps member with Report for America, a GroundTruth initiative. Contact him at helattar@voiceofoc.org or on Twitter @ElattarHosam.
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