Mecham Aide Scoffed at Report of Death Threat, Trial Is Told

An official whose report of an alleged death threat led to obstruction of justice accusations against Gov. Evan Mecham said Friday that when she tried to tell a Mecham aide about the incident it was shrugged off as “just a bunch of hot air.”

Peggy Griffith said at Mecham’s Senate impeachment trial that she was so agitated by the threat against a former Mecham aide that she called the governor at home to alert him.

“He told me to calm down, not to be concerned and everything would be taken care of,” she recalled. “He kept trying to assure me I was not to be concerned.”

Later Friday, former Mecham aide Lee Watkins, accused of making the threat, invoked his Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination and refused to testify. His lawyer noted that a grand jury is considering criminal charges against Watkins.

Mecham, the first U.S. governor to face an impeachment trial in six decades, was absent from the proceedings for a fifth day.

Charge Against Mecham

Among the charges being considered is an accusation that Mecham tried to block an official from cooperating in an investigation of the alleged threat.

Griffith, the head of Mecham’s women’s services office, told how she was approached by Watkins last Nov. 12. She said Watkins told her that her friend, former Mecham aide Donna Carlson, then testifying before a grand jury investigating Mecham’s campaign finances, was “a bad girl.”

Later that day, she said, she asked Watkins to explain the comment.

“He said, ‘Your friend Donna is a w-h-o-r-e,’ ” she said. “He spelled out the word. He said: ‘A lot of the governor’s friends are angry with her and if she doesn’t shut her goddamn mouth she is going to take a long boat ride.’ ”

When told that Carlson was going to California, she said, “He said: ‘California isn’t far enough. She better go to Wisconsin and change her name.’ ”

As Watkins was leaving, she said, “he turned and said: ‘This conversation never happened.’ ”

Griffith said his tone was “very angry” and she was “extremely alarmed.” She said she knew that Watkins had once assaulted a fellow employee in an argument and had threatened someone else.

Told Part of Her Story

The next day, she went to Public Safety Department officers on Mecham’s security detail, told part of her story and later was referred to Mecham aide Max Hawkins, who was Watkins’ boss.

“I told him this was serious and something needed to be done,” she said. “He told me he had talked to Lee and he, Mr. Hawkins, did not think it was as serious as I did.”

Griffith said he left her with the words that the death threat was “just a bunch of hot air.”

Watkins told reporters that Griffith “has a great imagination.” He previously has denied threatening Carlson and has not been charged.

The obstruction of justice charge is one of three broad accusations detailed in 23 articles of impeachment against Mecham, 63, a first-term Republican. He also is accused of concealing a $350,000 campaign loan and misusing $80,000 from the governor’s protocol fund by lending it to his car dealership.