POLITICS 88 : Simon Attacks Gephardt Over ‘Lost’ TV Filing

An ugly dispute broke out in the Democratic presidential campaign Friday when Sen. Paul Simon called for Rep. Richard A. Gephardt to suspend his Iowa television advertising until he produces a detailed spending report required by law.

“I think it is important that all of us strive to live within the law,” Simon said, referring to the Gephardt campaign’s failure to file a complete listing of how it spent money in Iowa in the period ending Dec. 31.

The Gephardt campaign, according to Friday’s Wall Street Journal, said its only copy of that report was lost in the mail. But within an hour of the Simon statement, Gephardt’s Washington campaign office suddenly produced the 1,000 missing pages and was copying them furiously for the press.

A spokeswoman for the Gephardt campaign in Iowa insisted that Gephardt’s report to the Federal Election Commission had been filed properly and on time. “The allegations are wrong,” she said.

Trying to Break From Pack

Simon, Gephardt and Massachusetts Gov. Michael S. Dukakis are locked in a fierce battle to break out of the Democratic pack in Monday night’s Iowa caucuses.

Once the front-runner in most polls here, Simon slipped behind in recent weeks as Gephardt surged with the help of expensive television advertising.

What Simon hopes to learn from Gephardt’s detailed FEC report is how much money the Gephardt campaign spent late last year on television advertising in Illinois and Nebraska, two states bordering Iowa whose TV ads reach Iowa viewers.

Part of the spending on commercials in those states would have to count against the $775,000 limit that candidates may spend on the Iowa caucuses.

“A major news organization is going with a report that says Gephardt is over the limit in Iowa,” Simon said at a press conference here.

He refused to name the news organization, but Simon Press Secretary Terry Michael said later he was referring to a report being prepared by the NBC network. NBC could not be reached for comment.

“We were interviewed for the NBC story,” Michael said.

‘Raises Serious Questions’

At his press conference, Simon said: “We were aware that story was being worked on, and then this (Gephardt’s alleged failure to file a complete spending report) came along, and it raises serious questions. I think those questions ought to be answered before we proceed with the television ads.”

In a related matter, Simon campaign director Brian Lunde, in a prepared statement, cited a New York Times report Friday that some Washington lobbyists had flown out to Iowa recently to campaign for Gephardt, and that on the return flight campaign aides had passed the hat to collect contributions from the lobbyists.

“At the same time they are obscuring these (FEC) spending figures,” Lunde charged, “the Gephardt campaign is increasing its already enormous TV buy . . . and (it) has been underwritten in part by prominent lobbyists, including lobbyists for oil and banking entities.”

Previous Accusations

Simon has already accused Gephardt of misleading Iowa voters about Gephardt’s positions on the issues, noting that while the congressman’s TV ads portray him as a fighter for the average man, he voted for Reaganomics in 1981 and voted to freeze Social Security cost-of-living increases in 1985.

On Friday, the Illinois senator said Gephardt’s actions on campaign spending also raise questions about Gephardt’s credibility, considering that he often attacks the Reagan Administration’s ethics, particularly those of Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III.

“I think we are not in a position to criticize Ronald Reagan about not abiding by the law if we do not go out of our way to abide by the letter and the spirit of the law,” Simon said, adding:

“I have instructed my campaign director and legal counsel to stay within the limit (in Iowa), period.”

Daughter Creates ‘Bite’

Simon, who sometimes struggles for the succinct statements, or “sound bites” that get candidates on television, finally left that to his 26-year-old daughter, Sheila, on Friday.

Referring to the Gephardt campaign’s first explanation that the complete FEC spending report had been lost in the mail, Sheila Simon said:

“This is like the high school kid telling the teacher that his dog ate his homework.”

Staff writer Maura Dolan in Des Moines contributed to this story.