Van de Kamp Critical of FBI’s Capitol Raid

State Atty. Gen. John K. Van de Kamp said Tuesday that the FBI’s late-night surprise search of Capitol offices two weeks ago had the effect of unfairly “prejudging” legislative targets before any charges were filed.

Van de Kamp said he would have handled the investigation differently, not announcing it publicly until he had filed charges or completed the probe. The FBI, on the other hand, was forced by circumstances to publicly acknowledge its investigation when 30 agents swept through the Capitol during an overnight raid.

“Seems to me that when you are operating in this kind of milieu, with highly visible people and obviously a major press corps around, that it is . . . preferable that if you’re going to file charges, you file charges, and that’s the way the information gets out,” Van de Kamp said.

‘It’s Unfortunate’

“I think it’s unfortunate in a sense to have people prejudged in the way some of the people here are being prejudged here right now without access to all the evidence. That’s my concern. I do not know why they had to issue search warrants as they did. There may have been justifiable reasons and they may have had no other choice. And so I may have been faced with that same kind of decision.”

The Democratic attorney general said that when law enforcement authorities are “dealing with public figures, I think you have to be careful . . . that you don’t throw away their lives and reputations.”

“Ask the people who are involved in this investigation whether or not their lives have been affected adversely,” he continued. “Is there any question about it?”

Told of Van de Kamp’s remarks, Terry Knowles, special agent in charge of the FBI office in Sacramento, said he recognized “the sensitivity and impact of our investigation.” He said there were “a number of reasons that were considered that evening (Aug. 24) that led to the decision to execute the search warrants.”

He refused to discuss specifics, but said “there will be answers to questions that have arisen” once the investigation is completed. The Times reported on Tuesday that federal authorities moved quickly on Aug. 24 because they had just failed, after several hours of trying, to recruit an Assembly staff member for their sting operation and feared that word would leak out and evidence might be destroyed.

‘Legitimate’ Concerns

U.S. Atty. David Levi said Van de Kamp expressed “legitimate” concerns in the wake of the raid “and they were considered in deciding to go forward with the searches. . . . They are just aspects of the case that any thoughtful person would think about and give attention to, and we did.”

Since the raid, the FBI and Levi have refused to publicly discuss details of the investigation, a situation that some legislators have complained leaves the targets dangling.

Van de Kamp, the top law enforcement officer in California and a potential Democratic candidate for governor in 1990, told reporters that his state Department of Justice was not informed by the FBI of its investigation into legislative corruption. But he did not criticize this, saying that federal officials operated “quite justifiably on a need-to-know basis.”

“I know literally what I read in the newspapers about it,” said Van de Kamp, who, in response to questions, gingerly tried to avoid directly criticizing the FBI or federal prosecutors.

The FBI’s three-year undercover operation, using at least one Capitol informant, broke into public view on the night of Aug. 24 when federal agents with search warrants began raiding the offices of four legislators.

Went After Records

They sought, among other things, records of campaign contributions, speaking fees or other payments in connection with two special-interest bills introduced on behalf of bogus companies set up by the FBI.

No charges have been filed or grand jury indictments returned in the case, which the FBI has said is still being investigated. The four lawmakers are Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier), Assembly Republican Floor Leader Pat Nolan of Glendale, one of Nolan’s top lieutenants, Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier), and Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles).

Paul Carpenter, now a member of the State Board of Equalization and a former state senator who helped raise money for Senate Democrats, also is a target of the probe.

Informant Returns

The legislative informant, John Shahabian, a $67,224-a-year consultant to the Senate Elections Committee who abruptly went on vacation on the heels of the raid, returned to the Capitol on Tuesday but declined to discuss the investigation.

Shahabian, who was himself stung in an early phase of the FBI investigation operation and who subsequently helped the FBI gather tape-recorded and videotaped evidence, said only that he was “feeling fine” and believes that “it is everybody’s responsibility to follow their conscience and do what is right.”