Karl Asked Employees to Donate to Hart Campaign, Ex-Aide Says

Rama Middell, a former senior executive assistant to video entrepreneur Stuart Karl, said Friday that Karl asked her and other employees to donate to Gary Hart’s 1984 presidential campaign on his behalf to get around contribution limits in federal political races.

Middell said Karl also made the same request for contributions to 1986 Orange County congressional candidate David O. Carter, a Superior Court judge, and Kathleen Kennedy Townsend of Baltimore, who also was running for Congress.

All told, Middell said, the checks to the three candidates amounted to from $40,000 to $50,000.

“I was asked to do it, and I felt if I didn’t that my job could be in jeopardy--so I did it,” said Middell, who worked for Karl’s now defunct Karl-Lorimar Home Video company from 1983 to 1987.

Middell said she personally handled Karl’s requests of other employees.

Karl did not return phone calls Friday.

“I was the one who was directed by Stuart to collect the checks (from employees), go to the bank, get cash and pay them back,” Middell said. “No one ever said ‘no.’ . . . Nobody wanted to say ‘no’ to Stuart.”

Middell, 34, of Irvine, said she also, at Karl’s request, provided checks and wire transfers totaling $96,000 to Hart’s campaign in the heated closing hours of the 1984 presidential primary.

“The Hart people would call me and give me names, addresses and amounts,” she said, adding that she was instructed by Karl to “give them what they want.”

“In ‘84, when I wrote these checks, I wasn’t politically minded,” Middell said. “I didn’t know what I was doing. . . . I was happily going about my job and didn’t realize until later that that might not have been kosher.”

Karl reported to the Federal Elections Commission that he provided Hart with $96,000 in video and media services, for which he agreed after the campaign to be reimbursed 10 cents on the dollar.

Federal law prohibits contributions of more than $1,000 by an individual for any single primary or general election.

Carter said he knew nothing of any improper contributions to his campaign until he was contacted by reporters. He said that on Friday he combed through his contribution reports trying to identify Karl’s employees and came up with about $5,500, plus another $2,000 from Karl and his wife, Debra. He estimated that there probably were a few thousand more.

Unlike Hart, who said Friday he would reimburse the contributions, Carter said he had no immediate plans to return the money.

“Who do we reimburse?” Carter asked. “Do we reimburse people who have already been reimbursed from Stuart Karl? That doesn’t make sense.”

Of Karl’s efforts on his behalf, Carter said, “It really is a disappointment because I thought he was legitimately raising money from people he knew in business or personally.”

One of those who was on Carter’s list for a $1,000 contribution was Court Shannon of Corona del Mar, who was executive vice president at Karl-Lorimar.

Shannon said Friday that Karl’s interest in Democratic politics was “widely known” within the company. But he said he was unaware of anyone being “pressured into giving” to local or national candidates.

“Invitations were issued, particularly to upper management, to attend cocktail parties and fund-raisers,” Shannon said. “But I never heard of any cases involving employees who were hounded to give or who gave and then were repaid.”

Shannon, who also supported Gary Hart in 1984 and since has formed his own entertainment company, said Karl always kept his political activities separate from the home video business. He said Karl never solicited contributions or lobbied on behalf of candidates during business hours.

When allegations of illegal contributions by Karl surfaced this week, Shannon said, he was surprised.

“He’s a creative guy who is very committed to his causes,” Shannon said.

Another former Karl-Lorimar employee confirmed, however, that Karl did receive contributions from several other workers, who then were repaid.

The employee, who still works for Lorimar, agreed to talk on the condition that his name would not be used. He said that near the end of Hart’s sputtering 1984 presidential run Karl intensified efforts to raise money for the former Colorado senator.

The employee said he never contributed money to Karl’s political causes but knew of several workers who did.

“They were asked to chip in and were told they would be repaid quickly,” the employee said. “I wouldn’t say they were pressured heavily, but the message was clear that it would help the boss if they gave a little.

“As far as I know, those who contributed were repaid.”

Middell said that when she was contacted by the Miami Herald, which first published stories of Karl’s activities on behalf of Hart, she agreed to talk to reporters “because I felt it was the right thing to do. It was a story that needed to be told, and the public deserved to know.

“While we’re talking about that, I’d like to add I’ve been asked several times today whether I’ve been paid for this. I have not been paid. I have gotten no monetary benefit from this, and I just did it because I thought it was the right thing to do.”

She said at times the requests of employees got almost funny. One woman, for example, wrote a check for a contribution that Karl was to repay before the check reached her bank.

“Stuart didn’t reimburse people in a timely manner and her check bounced,” Middell said. “She was kind of bent out of shape.”