FBI searches Spokane mayor's home

SPOKANE, Wash., Aug. 5 (UPI) -- The FBI recently searched the home of Spokane, Wash., Mayor Jim West, it was reported Friday.

The Spokesman-Review newspaper reported online that court documents filed Friday revealed agents seized West's computers and related files. The FBI obtained a federal search warrant indicating there was evidence at West's home that he "engaged in a scheme to entice others to engage in sexual activity with him through offers and grants of city of Spokane jobs, internships or appointments."

The warrant suggests the conservative Republican used interstate wireless communications to violate federal public corruption law.

West and one of his team attorneys were present when the search was conducted on July 27, The Spokesman-Review reported.

The case against West is based largely on a series of investigative stories published in The Spokesman-Review beginning May 5. Portions of the newspaper's reporting are quoted in the search warrant affidavit, the paper said.

West took a leave of absence after the newspaper stories appeared, but returned to City Hall 10 days later. The City Council, the Chamber of Commerce, the Convention and Visitors Bureau and the Republican Party -- among others -- have called on West to resign.