Former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus tells I-Team she will retire same day she was fired

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) -- The San Mateo County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously to remove Christina Corpus as San Mateo County sheriff on Tuesday. She is the first sitting sheriff to face removal in the county's history.

Hours later, ABC7 News I-Team Reporter Dan Noyes confirmed Christina Corpus retired under duress. She would have otherwise lost her medical benefits for her and her children.

Since being elected in 2022, she's been plagued by scandals, including accusations of nepotism, retaliation, and the use of racist and homophobic slurs against political opponents, and accused of misconduct, which she has denied.

She fought her removal for months, giving one final speech before the board on Tuesday, arguing the accusations against her stem from her attempts to reform the department.

"If I lose my position today, I will walk out with my head held up very high because I never betrayed the people who trusted me," she said.

TIMELINE: San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus investigation

"The power structure was challenged, not by another politician, but by a woman who refused to play their roles. When I refused to bow to political interference, when I protected whistleblowers, when I demanded transparency, I became a threat. Let's be honest, this isn't about accountability, it's about control," Christina Corpus said.

She called this a "witch hunt" and said, "you may remove me from office, but you will not erase the truth."

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Corpus' lawyers argued that the supervisors and the public who voted on Measure A were misled by the Cordell Report. It is true that the investigation into Corpus by a retired judge was deemed inadmissible in court as hearsay.

"Been totally discredited, should be thrown out. Not worth the paper it's on it has no legal significance but it got us to Measure A," said attorney Thomas Mazzucco.

They also claimed Supervisors Noelia Corzo and Ray Mueller should not be part of what is, in effect, the sheriff's jury because of the many public statements they've made against the sheriff.

"They've asked for the removal, so if they were jurors and I was the judge picking the case, they would be removed for cause. They cannot vote," said Mazzucco.

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After a closed session, the board came back and quickly made it clear what the outcome would be, agreeing with an administrative law judge that Corpus had a conflict of interest-that she put her close friend and chief of staff, Victor Aenlle, in charge of too many decisions and that she retaliated against her detractors.

"In my view, Sheriff Corpus lost her sense of purpose and put Mr. Aenlle above the vocal opposition to him among the ranks of her deputies and in so doing permanently damaged her relationship with those she was charged to lead. It's a tragedy, a real tragedy," said Supervisor Jackie Speier.

The final vote was unanimous. The supervisors' final decision on whether to fire her has been in the works for nearly a year.

"I stand by the process a thousand percent. I think the process was clear, it was transparent, it wasn't a rush to judgement," said David Canepa, President of San Mateo County Supervisor after the vote.

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In November of last year, voters gave supervisors the power to fire the elected sheriff.

Last week, a judge found there is cause to remove Corpus.

After the Board of Supervisors voted to remove Corpus in June, she appealed, leading to 10 days of hearings in September. The central issues were whether the sheriff wrongly fired her detractors or transferred them to positions they didn't want, and whether she had an inappropriate relationship with her chief of staff.

Corpus had previously asked the state Attorney General to intervene.

ABC7's Dan Noyes reached out to former Sheriff Corpus by text after the October 14 vote.

"I will be okay! They don't deserve me," she replied.

Corpus' legal team is filing an emergency motion in Superior Court questioning the process and asking for Corpus to get her job back.