State Computer Files Purged by GOP Aides : Nervous Staffers Feared FBI Would Find Proof Equipment Was Used for Politics, Sources Say

In the hours after the FBI’s raid of Capitol offices last month, nervous Assembly Republican staffers quietly began to purge state computer files of material that showed they had been working on political races at taxpayers’ expense, according to GOP sources and memos obtained by The Times.

Top Republican staffers, aware that it is against the law to run campaigns on state time and with state equipment, were worried that the FBI might learn about their activities, the sources said. This fear was heightened by the fact that one of the four offices searched by the FBI was Assembly Republican Leader Pat Nolan’s.

A GOP legislative staffer has provided The Times with copies of political material that had been placed into state computers. Included are a battle plan to defeat Assemblyman Phillip Isenberg (D-Sacramento), orders to conduct background checks on 13 other lawmakers, including fellow Republican Assemblyman Wayne Grisham of Norwalk, and fund-raising tactics.

One memorandum on May 12 to Nolan’s chief of staff, Richard Temple, outlines the strategy for Republican challenger Larry Bowler to defeat Isenberg, an ally of Speaker Willie Brown (D-San Francisco).

The memo said fund raising for Bowler had been “slow” but went on to describe Isenberg as “unpopular with active Republicans. Agriculture may also be a promising area. In addition, (lobbyist) Clay Jackson has suggested that he may have $10,000 for anyone running against Isenberg.”

Nolan and his top aides have declined requests for interviews about the reports, but some GOP lawmakers, who ask not to be identified, say the Glendale Republican privately has denied that any wholesale purging of the computer took place.

The GOP sources, speaking only on condition they not be identified, said the FBI raid produced a “bunker mentality” in the Republican Caucus’ district services section, where the computer purging quickly took place. The normal role of this staff is to help incumbents organize their local offices and to provide them with status reports on legislation.

The GOP sources, who were willing to discuss the matter because they are critical of Nolan’s leadership style, say staffers in the section have been warned by their supervisors not to discuss the purge or the caucus’ purely political activities.

But one source close to the caucus contended the memos obtained by The Times show that “a full-time campaign office at taxpayer expense” has been operated within the caucus. Moreover, a GOP lawmaker reviewed the memos and acknowledged that he had seen similar political papers prepared by the caucus staff.

Two GOP staff members told The Times that they watched political material spit out of a state printer in the caucus office during the purging.

Raid Spurred Purge

GOP sources said the purge was prompted by the FBI search of Nolan’s office on the night of Aug. 24. The Capitol raid climaxed an elaborate undercover sting operation, which the FBI code-named “Brispec,” for “bribery special interest.” Nolan and four other elected state officials--Assemblywoman Gwen Moore (D-Los Angeles), Assemblyman Frank Hill (R-Whittier), Sen. Joseph B. Montoya (D-Whittier) and Board of Equalization member Paul Carpenter, a former Democratic state senator--are subjects of the ongoing investigation.

Agents swept through the Capitol immediately after federal authorities failed in an hours-long effort to turn one of Nolan’s top aides, Karin Watson, into an FBI informant, it has been learned.

It is not uncommon for Democratic and Republican staff members to set aside their own time--including weekends, lunch hours and evenings--to work on partisan political campaigns.

The line that separates legal communications between legislative staffers and voters from illegal politicking is difficult to draw.

But under state law, it is illegal for legislative staffers to use public equipment and public money for the conduct of political campaigns. State attorneys familiar with the law say that violations have been prosecuted as misappropriations of taxpayer funds.

One former GOP caucus staffer said he was told that the day after the FBI searched Nolan’s office caucus staffers were afraid federal agents would knock on their doors to look through files.

So, he said, “they started to clean up any political stuff, any (campaign) finance information, anything they thought the FBI might be interested in.” But federal sources said the FBI did not search the caucus office.

The GOP legislative sources said the purge was not conducted at the request of any lawmaker. “It was not orchestrated. People just did it,” said one legislative staffer.

Staffer Describes Purge

One staffer close to the caucus said the purge was conducted in what he described as a low-key, deliberate and subdued manner, primarily by aides in the district services office. After material was deleted from the computer, some hard-copy printouts were boxed and moved out of the state office, located a few blocks from the Capitol, along with political fund-raising solicitations ready to be stuffed into envelopes, sources said.

One GOP staffer provided The Times with political material he said was prepared on the state computer.

Among the items is a three-page document entitled “research” which specifies background information to be gathered on at least 14 Democratic and Republican incumbents and challengers. The checks include detailed property record searches, court records, resumes and financial interests. One unexplained notation next to the name of a Democratic challenger asks a staff member to “check oriental woman background.” One item, a letter dated July 15, from Cynthia Bryant of Sacramento, requests Selective Service records of 14 Democratic and Republican assemblymen and challengers. Bryant said she allowed Deborah Spagnoli, a friend who worked at the Republican Caucus, to use her name and address as a favor. Bryant said she had no idea how the letter wound up in a state computer.

When she received a response from Selective Service, she gave it to Spagnoli, Bryant said. According to the Assembly Rules Committee, Spagnoli took a leave of absence effective Sept. 1. Attempts to reach Spagnoli were answered by Nolan’s press secretary, who said Spagnoli was not available for comment.

Assemblyman Grisham, whose draft records were sought, said he was unaware of the request and when asked why fellow Republicans would be checking his background, he suggested it was “just political research” conducted by the caucus to make sure that there is nothing that could damage his campaign.

Bryant’s letter also requested information about Grisham’s Democratic challenger, Robert Epple. Grisham, in the interview, theorized that the GOP staffers were “trying to do some research and find something bad on him. Don’t you think?”

Political Operatives

Another Republican lawmaker, who asked not to be identified, said he was unaware of the purge, but he described the district services staff as “very political. They are political operatives pure and simple. They weren’t hired to decide no-fault insurance. They came from the bowels of hard-knock politics. They are fund-raisers.”

The legislative source who provided the documents said they were “prepared at state time, using state paper, state equipment. Both caucuses (Democrat and Republican) do it and all of that’s paid out of the contingency fund of the Legislature.”

GOP lawmakers said the political operation stems from Nolan’s goal to gain a majority in the 80-member Assembly so that after the 1990 election his forces will control the once-a-decade redrawing of Assembly district lines.

Republican legislators, who asked not to be identified, privately contend that the minority leader’s staff felt justified in doing political research on state time because they say the Democrats have engaged in similar activities.

Assemblyman William P. Baker (R-Danville), a Nolan lieutenant, said: “It wouldn’t surprise me if their (the Democrats’) district services people were helping their members get reelected.”

He cited reports in 1986 that Assembly Speaker Brown’s top aide had used taxpayer funds to set up a telephone bank to conduct surveys for four Democrats “targeted” for defeat by Republicans. In that case, the state Fair Political Practices Commission determined that nothing illegal had been done.

One Democratic staffer maintained that since the 1986 Rules Committee incident, Brown’s staff has been cautioned to engage in politics away from their state offices and on their own time.