Capitol Bugged by Case of Election-Time Jitters

With the November elections only three weeks away, a bad case of campaign jitters seems to have gripped the Capitol. Consider the strange case of the midnight escapade that has one senator sweeping his office for electronic bugs and another talking in hushed tones of political espionage.

The tale of intrigue began unfolding last Wednesday night when an employee of Senate Republican leader James W. Nielsen persuaded a janitor to let her and an male companion into the office of Senate Democratic leader Barry Keene.

Keene (R-Benicia), who was not notified of the incident for several days, said his desk had been rifled, along with a large stack of papers containing sensitive political documents. He said he fears that copies may now be in the hands of the political opposition.

“I thought this kind of thing went out with Watergate,” Keene said. Realizing that one can never be too sure, he immediately ordered the office locks changed and a sweep made for evidence of electronic eavesdropping. No devices were found, and Keene has been unable to identify any documents that might have been removed from his office.

Suspicious of Spying

Nielsen (R-Woodland), meanwhile, said he believes after learning that the woman also entered his office that she might have been a spy for Keene, possibly intent on gathering politically damaging information about him.

“I thought Keene was doing it to me,” Nielsen fumed. “I’m really upset.”

The object of all this talk of clandestine politics is Virginia Porter, who has worked for both Democrats and Republicans at the Capitol for more than 14 years.

Porter served for several months as executive secretary to Keene, who said he dismissed her “because she couldn’t handle the pressure,” and was subsequently hired by Nielsen to work as a research assistant in his Republican staff office.

While acknowledging that she and a male friend entered the offices of both Senate leaders late Wednesday night, Porter insisted that she was there merely to pick up mail and decided on the spur of the moment to retrieve some expensive hand lotion that she had left in Keene’s office when she was fired.

“This is ludicrous,” Porter said, adding that she fears that her reputation and career will be besmirched by what she called an “election-year incident.”

“I’ve always been able to go between Republicans and Democrats because I’ve made it a point never to divulge information to anyone,” she added. “It’s my code of ethics. Besides, if I were going to be doing something scandalous, I wouldn’t be asking a janitor to let me in.”

State police, after initially failing to report the incident to either Nielsen or Keene, completed their own investigation Tuesday and issued a report that cleared Porter of any wrongdoing.

For both sides, talk of Watergate and bugging seems a natural outgrowth of some spirited political feuding.

Nielsen and his Republican Senate colleagues have targeted Keene and several other Senate Democrats for defeat in November. Moreover, Nielsen has financed Keene’s opponent--a candidate who is given little chance of winning but who has launched a stinging attack based on Keene’s support for California Chief Justice Rose Elizabeth Bird.

In return, Keene has bankrolled a Democrat running against Nielsen in a radio campaign that has attempted to link the Republican leader to charges of dirty dealing and corruption.

“It’s easy for everyone to say there is nothing personal in all of this,” said Nielsen aide Jim Branham. “But when your job is on the line, it’s a little hard to believe that.”