The criminal investigation related to Councilmember Omar Torres has taken an ugly political turn — with people lining up to either defend or denounce the downtown politician. San José Spotlight knew that would happen when we broke the news Torres was being accused of child sex abuse.
What we didn’t expect is San Jose City Hall would respond to the scandal under its roof by asking me — a journalist for nearly two decades — to reveal my confidential sources.
It’s highly unusual, unethical and alarming.
This morning, I received a call from Carolina Camarena, the city’s public information officer. Camarena has worked in communications for decades and has strong relationships with reporters across Silicon Valley, including me. She sounded uncomfortable as she asked me something she’s never had to ask a reporter before.
She asked me to reveal who’s been providing information to San José Spotlight about the Torres investigation . She claimed people say it’s the San Jose Police Officers’ Association — and asked if I would say whether that was true.