Deukmejian Moves to Defuse Issue of Moriarty

Gov. George Deukmejian has moved to defuse any potential problems stemming from reports that he received illegal campaign contributions from Orange County businessman W. Patrick Moriarty, it was learned Monday.

In a letter to the secretary of state’s political reform section, Patrick Formby, the treasurer of Deukmejian’s 1982 campaign, said it “may be necessary” to amend reports showing $17,000 in contributions to the governor from Moriarty associates John E. (Pete) Murphy and Albert Hole.

Murphy and Hole have told investigators and The Times that the money they gave in their names to Deukmejian and dozens of other California political figures during 1981 and 1982 actually came from Moriarty, in violation of a state law that prohibits laundered political gifts.

Governor Consulted

Deukmejian’s press secretary, Larry Thomas, said Monday that Formby’s letter was written “in consultation with the governor” and described the situation as “something of a dilemma for us.”

Thomas said that on at least two occasions Murphy and Hole “were asked in writing whether the contributions they made were from them or whether they were acting as an intermediary. By their silence, we assumed (the contributions) were done on their own behalf, which is at odds with what they have now told the Los Angeles Times.”

Moriarty pleaded guilty two weeks ago to a variety of corruption charges, including making illegal campaign contributions, and agreed to be a witness against politicians who allegedly received bribes from him in the form of money, prostitutes, vehicles, vacation housing and the hiring of relatives.

There has been no impropriety suggested on the governor’s part, and he told a press conference late in January that he was “very surprised” to hear about Moriarty’s alleged laundering scheme because his campaign routinely sent notices to large contributors advising them of the law requiring intermediaries to report the actual source of campaign donations.

Murphy acknowledged several weeks ago receiving two such notices from the Deukmejian campaign but said he was told by Moriarty to “forget it.”

Formby said in his letter to the secretary of state that “as yet the (Deukmejian campaign) committee has not been notified by (Murphy or Hole) that they were in fact acting as intermediaries for anyone. However, this is to notify your office that should we receive any information from these individuals we will immediately amend the pertinent reports.”

The intent of the letter, Formby said in a telephone interview, was “just to let the secretary of state’s office know that we know” there might be a problem with the Murphy and Hole contributions.

At least three legislators--Assemblymen Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles) and Rusty Areias (D-Los Banos) and Sen. Barry Keene (D-Benicia)--already have filed amended reports in response to allegations that Moriarty contributions to them were laundered, and one, Assemblyman Richard Katz (D-Sepulveda), returned $1,000 that was allegedly funneled to him through Murphy.

In a related development Monday, the attorney general’s office confirmed that it has received a letter from Assembly Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco) asking for what it described as “investigatory information” on the burgeoning Moriarty scandal. Asked what the request meant, a spokeswoman for the attorney general said, “We can’t discuss it.”

Since the attorney general’s office is not involved in the Moriarty investigation, it was unclear what Brown was seeking, and he was not available for comment.

The Speaker, who received $23,000 in allegedly laundered contributions from Moriarty, professed last week to be unconcerned about the Moriarty developments and said that the only people who ever ask him about it are “working members of the press.”

Like the governor, Brown has not been accused of any impropriety in connection with the case.