Sources of Some of Bradley’s Travel Funds Probed

Expanding its investigation of Mayor Tom Bradley, the city attorney’s office is trying to determine who paid for some of the mayor’s foreign travel in recent years, The Times learned Monday.

Sources familiar with the investigation said the city attorney’s office is interested in how Bradley financed a visit to Africa and at least one trip to Israel. The mayor has not accounted for his expenses on these trips, state and city records indicate.

Bradley often travels overseas on official public business, which is paid for by the city. He is not required to report the trips on his annual financial disclosure statements.

However, under California law public officials must disclose out-of-state travel expenses paid for by organizations or individuals, said Sandra Michioku, spokeswoman for the state Fair Political Practices Commission.

Mark Fabiani, special counsel to Bradley, insisted that the trips need not be reported because they were paid for by charitable or educational organizations. He declined to comment Monday on the widening of the city attorney’s investigation.

Michioku disagreed. She said the funding source of the trips must be reported either as a gift or as income if he was paid for a speech or other services.

The city attorney’s office declined comment Monday.

Additionally, it was learned Monday that the Los Angeles Police Department last week asked the city controller’s office to halt interviews in overlapping inquiries into the mayor’s business dealings because the controller was preparing to question Bradley himself.

Police officials last week said they wanted to interview certain witnesses first so their testimony would not be “tainted.” They have refused to disclose the names of those witnesses.

But sources familiar with the investigations told The Times that the Police Department was particularly concerned about the controller’s intention to interview the mayor.

Controller Rick Tuttle refused comment.

However, the hold-off request apparently did not apply to the city clerk’s staff, some of whom were placed under oath beginning last week and questioned about $400,000 in city funds allotted to the Task Force for Africa/Los Angeles Relations, a pet Bradley project. Among the material that Tuttle wants to examine are documents showing why Juanita St. John, the task force executive director, wrote $180,000 in Task Force checks to herself or to “cash.”

Bradley is a business partner in a real estate investment with St. John. The city attorney’s office has said it will prosecute St. John for failing to comply with a city controller’s subpoena to turn over the agency’s records.

In January, 1987, Bradley traveled to the African nation of Ivory Coast with about a dozen black business leaders from Los Angeles, said Herbert Hischemoller, the Ivory Coast honorary consul general who arranged part of the trip. The mayor did not report how the trip was paid for or by whom.

Fabiani said Monday the tab for the trip was picked up by Asian-American Economic Development Enterprises Inc., which he described as a nonprofit charitable organization.

Bill Chandler, the mayor’s press secretary, said the trip was organized by the Mayor’s Office of Small Business Assistance. He said he believed the Africa task force may have coordinated part of the trip.

In 1985 and 1987, Bradley traveled to Israel with close friend Abraham Spiegel, a prominent Jewish community leader who is vice chairman of Columbia Savings & Loan Assn. in Beverly Hills.

Fabiani said Monday that the first trip, involving a Los Angeles business delegation, was paid for by Bar-Ilan University in Israel. For the second trip, Bradley reported on his annual financial statement that his air fare was paid for by the International Society for Yad Vashem, which sponsors a Jerusalem memorial for Jewish children killed in the Holocaust. Spiegel has raised money for Yad Vashem and, in 1980, notified the mayor that he was raising funds to establish a chair at Bar-Ilan in Bradley’s name, according to documents.

Sources said the mayor’s lawyers are trying to determine whether Spiegel paid for any part of the trip. Earlier, The Times reported that the mayor’s lawyers were exploring Bradley’s business relationship with Spiegel regarding some of the mayor’s investments.

Trip Canceled

Bradley had been scheduled to visit Israel again earlier this year with Spiegel but canceled the trip after media scrutiny of his finances began.

City, state and federal agencies are probing Bradley’s personal financial dealings and possible conflicts of interest in city business.

Bradley has denied any wrongdoing.

The mayor is expected to amend his own financial disclosure statements soon. Although it is not clear whether the amended forms will include new information about his travels, the mayor’s team of lawyers has been trying to document how the trips were financed, sources said.

Times staff writers Frederick M. Muir, Joel Sappell and Tracy Wood contributed to this report.