Council candidate Dibaei faces disbarment questions at Malibu debate Play

Saturday saw the first debate among the four Malibu city council candidates. More than that — it was the first time one of the candidates had anything to say about Malibu in public. Ever. At least the first time we could find on the internet.

Council candidate Amir Sam Dibaie is basically a hidden candidate. At least until Saturday.

He has refused to return a reporter's phone calls, answer emails, and he admits he never appeared to speak at any city meeting on any local topic. Input his name on a search field and you get nothing. Except one issue in his history.

Saturday was the debate sponsored by the Malibu Township Council. Saturday afternoon, Amir Sam Dibaei looked at the other three candidates and made this pronouncement:

DIBAEI: "How much worse could I possibly be? The city has burned ito the ground.

"I am here for fire, for water, for safety, for education. Have those things objectively gotten better?

"Ask yourself: in the past four years have those things improved or not, have we taken to safeguard against them or not?

"I'm working for fixing those problems. I'm not here to waste your time."

MODERATOR JO DRUMMOND: "Sam, can I just ask you a question? Have you ever been to a city council meeting?"

DIBAEI: "I've watched plenty."

DRUMMOND: "Okay."

So who is Amir Sam Dibaei?

He graduated from Malibu High School in the late 1990s. He graduated from a private law school and opened a one-man practice in a rent-an-office suite in West L.A.

He says he has never attended a city council meeting. Never has made a public comment at a meeting.

And that leads to the only internet history of Amir Sam Dibaie.

The State Bar of California in 2022 found Amir Sam Dibaie guilty of moral turpitude, violating the California bar rules of professional conduct. He took money from his clients and coerced them.

The bar association discipline calls it a crime of moral turpitude.

Saturday, at the Malibu Township Council, Bill Sampson asked Amir Sam Dibaie about it. We'll let the tape run.

BILL SAMPSON: "You were disbarred. The allegations included that you had taken clients' money.

"And the question was, why would the voters want to trust you with theirs?"

DIBAEI: "Well, that same case was also litigated in an actual court and found that I had stolen no money.

"And the former clients and the state bar judge — which is not a constitutional entity — were, let's say, were family friends.

"So if in fact I had taken anyone's money, where are the receipts? Where is the proof?

"Because that would be a crime.

"Now it's very easy to shame me online by saying I have poor moral turpitude, but the laws of the state are clear:

"I have committed no crime, and if I had, I would not be allowed to run for office, because I would've lost the public trust. There are …"

DRUMMOND, INTERRUPTING: "Well, why were you disbarred? Were you disbarred?"

DIBAIE, STAMMERING: "Why? Why was I disbarred?"

DRUMMOND, CONTINUING: "Are you still disbarred?"

DIBAEI, FIRMLY: "I am. I have never even attempted to reinstate myself.

"The disbarment process is one of politic (sic). If you look it over, it is a 38-page work of fiction, I would say. I would say, ask you, what actually transpired?

"I represented four clients. I never took any money from them, and I got them $385,000. Now, even a criminal would tell you this is an association worth keeping."

Amir Sam Dibaei ... quesitoned at the end there by Jo Drummond.

What about the other three candidates? What about the actual debate? We'll have that part of the story Tuesday.

EDITOR'S NOTE: This story was edited to correct a few automatic transcription spelling errors shortly after it was first posted.