SoCal Dem candidate accused of X-rated harassment by staff

An Orange County Democrat’s struggling campaign is fighting back after ex-staffers accused the candidate of turning a discussion about her fake boobs into an all-hands meeting.

Janet Keo Conklin, a real estate agent and La Palma council member who is seeking to become Orange County’s next assessor, has denied allegations that she forced staff to feel her breasts while claiming she had no feeling in her nipples. 

On Friday, LAist reported that Conklin — who is also accused of misusing campaign money on personal expenses — allegedly told two staffers that “she has no feeling in her nipples” and placed their hands on her chest to “give it a squeeze.”

“We took our hands off because we were just in shock,” the staffers told the outlet.

Conklin denied all wrongdoing in an interview with LAist, and Michael Trujillo, a political consultant for the candidate, slammed the allegations as false. 

He told The Post that jilted ex-staffers have coordinated a smear campaign after being let go for poor performance, and he singled out ex-campaign treasurer Cine Ivery. 

Ivery was named in an enforcement decision by the state’s Fair Political Practices Commission in 2024 after the state’s political watchdog found that former Los Angeles County Sheriff Alex Villanueva’s 2018 campaign had laundered contributions.

“Shortly after being brought on by Janet,” Trujillo told The Post, “I recommended she fire this treasurer who has a troubling history getting it wrong, not knowing the rules and, quite honestly, just being plain dumb.”

Ivery did not respond to a request for comment.

Conklin’s former staffers accused the candidate of repeatedly spending campaign funds on personal use, including restaurants.

She also allegedly pestered staff about trying to write off the costs of her living arrangements as a campaign expense. Trujillo chalked that up to an inexperienced candidate simply asking questions, as her home was used as a campaing headquarters.

As of mid-April, Conklin’s campaign had spent almost all of the $61,000 it had raised since last year.

Former campaign staffers also alleged that after they left the operation, campaign cash was paid out to Conklin’s daughter, Natalie Khay, and a friend, Shauna Harris — two people aides claimed never worked on the campaign.

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Trujillo told The Post that the entire situation has been overblown after Conklin had dinner at Sizzler and couldn’t provide documentation for the meal. 

“This entire episode that the LAist story missed — all of these receipts — is primarily about a dinner at Sizzler. F—ing Sizzler! I swear to god, what is wrong with the media? It’s about Sizzler. This is crazy,” Truillo said.

After learning of the allegations earlier this year, the Democratic Party of Orange County yanked its endorsement of Conklin, who is running against Republican incumbent Claude Parrish to oversee the county office that manages property tax assessments.

Florice Hoffman, an attorney who serves as chair of the local Democratic Party, told LAist she first learned of the issues in February and moved quickly to rescind the endorsement.

She reportedly told Conklin at the time: “Our advice is you need to get a lawyer, a criminal lawyer.”

Conklin seemed unconcerned about the loss of the party’s blessing. 

“Endorsements come and go,” she told LAist. “If it doesn’t come with money, so what?”

Trujillo said the party’s chair acted inappropriately and he intends to put more energy into finding new leaders to run as Democratic Party delegates in Orange County.

“I now know what my assignment is in 2028 — it’s to run a slate of Orange County delegates to fire the executive director of the Democratic Party,” he said.

“She should have never been on the record. What she said was outrageous and unbecoming of any party chair of the 58 counties in California. And she will be reprimanded.”