Orange County Debate : Dornan and Robinson Unleash Hot Barrage

The principal rivals in an Orange County congressional race turned the heat up on their campaigns Friday, with incumbent Republican Robert K. Dornan publicly accusing his Democratic rival of accepting prostitutes and other favors from W. Patrick Moriarty, a businessman later convicted of trying to bribe politicians.

During a television studio debate in Huntington Beach, Dornan cited articles published in the Los Angeles Times linking Assemblyman Richard Robinson to Moriarty, a former fireworks manufacturer who is serving a prison sentence for political corruption. The reporters who wrote the articles, Dornan said, will “tell you that Mr. Robinson is guilty of influence peddling, bribery, extortion and dealing with teen-age prostitutes in Sacramento.”

‘A Damnable Lie’

Robinson, who at first declined to respond, grew angry when Dornan made similar comments later in the broadcast. “That’s a damnable lie,” said the 12-year Assembly veteran, who is backed by powerful party leaders and heavy Democratic funding in his battle against Dornan for the 38th Congressional District seat. “What Bob is very artful at doing is trying to get campaigns down in the gutter, in personality contests, with white lies, innuendo and what not. . . . I’m not going to engage in a smear campaign.”

Noel Greenwood, deputy managing editor of The Times, noted that the newspaper in 1985 reported that former aides to Moriarty identified Robinson as one of several political figures provided prostitutes by Moriarty.

“However, The Times has never published a story in which Robinson has been declared guilty of, or even accused of, ‘influence peddling,’ ‘bribery,’ ‘extortion’ or ‘trafficking for extortion,’ ” Greenwood said.

In The Times report in 1985, Robinson said the prostitute allegations were “ludicrous.” Friday’s clash between Dornan and Robinson over the Moriarty scandal and other issues suggested that the congressional race--long expected to be one of the nation’s nastiest and most expensive contests--is finally living up to advance expectations.

‘Big-Spending Liberal’

The combined spending by both candidates topped the $1-million mark this week, and a blizzard of political mailers are expected to hit district voters in the last week of the campaign.

Dornan, 53, accused Robinson of being a “big-spending liberal” and an enemy of President Reagan. Brandishing a mailer he had just sent out to voters, Dornan added that Robinson, 43, had voted to increase the salary of Rose Elizabeth Bird, chief justice of the California Supreme Court, to $93,140.

“I have never voted to raise my own salary in public life, and yet my opponent has done that five times, every opportunity presented to him in the Assembly,” Dornan charged.

Earlier, Robinson said the Rose Bird charge is “an outrageous distortion” because he opposes the confirmation of the chief justice. He noted that his vote to raise Bird’s salary was merely part of a package of bills increasing the salaries of state officials that had been requested by Gov. George Deukmejian and legislators from both parties.