Hahn’s Ties to Fundraiser’s Mailers Probed

A steady flow of campaign cash was cementing developer Mark Alan Abrams’ relationship with mayoral candidate James K. Hahn, but as the 2001 election approached the fundraiser had a problem.

Abrams had raised more than $30,000 for Hahn, but he began complaining that the city’s $1,000 limit on contributions was choking his effort to quickly get the candidate larger sums.

He soon had a solution.

Abrams and his business partner, Charles Elliott Fitzgerald, angled around the limits with $70,000 in “independent expenditures” to finance mailers attacking Hahn’s opponent, Antonio Villaraigosa, as a tax-friendly liberal soft on crime. Such outlays are legal only if they have no connection to a candidate or his campaign.

Investigators from the Los Angeles Ethics Commission have questioned witnesses about the mailers backed by Abrams and Fitzgerald, in part to determine if anyone associated with Hahn’s campaign played a role in arranging the attacks, according to sources familiar with the interviews by authorities.

The issue surfaced Tuesday in the current mayoral campaign when Villaraigosa, now a city councilman and again a leading challenger of Hahn, called for the mayor to release all records of contacts by his campaign and city staffs with Abrams and Fitzgerald. The request covered the 2001 period during which the “negative mailers against me” were produced, Villaraigosa wrote to Hahn.

Hahn’s campaign spokesman, Yusef K. Robb, said the mayor’s office had released all public records concerning Abrams. He declined to say whether campaign records would be produced.

Villaraigosa’s request followed a story, published in The Times on Tuesday, reporting that the district attorney’s office had opened a review of thousands of dollars in contributions funneled to Hahn’s campaign by Abrams and Fitzgerald. Three associates have told the newspaper that Abrams solicited contributions and then reimbursed the donors with cash, a practice that could lead to civil and criminal penalties.

City ethics investigators appeared to be interested in communications between the Hahn campaign and Abrams during the period the mailers were being created in late May 2001, according to the sources familiar with the interviews.

As Abrams was arranging the mailers, he was in close contact with Troy Edwards, Hahn’s campaign finance director, and William Lord-Butcher, the San Diego consultant who produced the mailers, according to sources familiar with activities in Abrams’ Beverly Hills office.

Though the content of the conversations could not be confirmed, the sources said the push for the mailers and the timing and sequence of the calls appeared to be related.

Abrams’ attorney, Nathan J. Hochman, declined to comment. Hahn said in a recent interview that he knew of no improper communication between his campaign and Abrams. Asked about the phone calls, Hahn spokesman Robb said Tuesday, “The campaign knew nothing about anything like that.” Edwards, who became a deputy mayor before resigning last April, would not comment. In an earlier interview, he acknowledged visiting Abrams’ office during the campaign but said he did not discuss mailers.

In a period of three days, four Hahn backers, including Abrams, arranged for $200,000 worth of similar mailers through Lord-Butcher, records and interviews show. It remains unclear how they all came to use Lord-Butcher’s services.

Responding to questions submitted by e-mail, Lord-Butcher said the requests for the mailers came “out of the blue” from just one or two people whom he did not know.

He said he could not recall their names and did not recall Abrams. Lord-Butcher said he did not deal with anyone in Hahn’s campaign.

Questions about anti-Villaraigosa mailers in 2001 prompted an investigation by the district attorney’s office that concluded that there was insufficient evidence to file criminal charges. But authorities never spoke to Abrams, Fitzgerald or their close associates. Head Deputy Dist. Atty. David Demerjian said that the probe focused elsewhere and that little was known about the two developers at the time.

Records show that those involved with the other mailers produced by Lord-Butcher included public works contractor Ron Tutor, attorney Pierce O’Donnell and carpenters union leader William Luddy.

Tutor said he could not recall details of the mailer arrangements. O’Donnell would not comment. Luddy did not respond to interview requests.