Hahn Ends Two Days of Questioning Bradley

Los Angeles City Atty. James K. Hahn and a team of investigators completed their interrogation of Mayor Tom Bradley on Thursday, capping the city’s five-month-long investigation of possible conflicts of interest by the chief executive.

With Hahn taking the unusual role of joining his deputies, the questioning took 10 1/2 hours and spanned just a day and a half, well short of the three days that had been anticipated by the mayor’s staff.

One source close to the investigation described the sessions as “sometimes tense” but overall rated Bradley as a “cooperative” subject.

Flanked by his aides, Hahn bounded out of the mayor’s City Hall offices just before noon Thursday and told waiting reporters, “We’re finished for the day. We have no plans to return today.”

In all, Hahn and his deputies met with Bradley and his legal staff for about 3 1/2 hours Thursday after a seven-hour session Wednesday.

Future Date

Hahn indicated that the questioning of Bradley was over for now, but he left open the possibility that his investigators could revisit the mayor at some future date.

When asked when the entire investigation might be completed, Hahn said only, “I’m not done yet.”

Earlier, Hahn indicated that his final report will be released in September.

Hahn, in the midst of the most politically delicate investigation of his five-year tenure as the city’s chief prosecutor, batted away most reporters’ questions with a curt “no comment,” as he hastily walked out of the mayor’s suite and down the corridor to elevators that whisked him to his own headquarters on the 18th floor of City Hall East.

While Hahn took the unusual position of joining his investigators for the interview, sources said his presence may have been more ceremonial than of substance.

‘Balance of Power’

“He was basically there to enforce the balance of power in the room and to enforce Bradley’s pledge to cooperate,” rather than act as the chief inquisitor, said one source close to the investigation.

It is still unclear what specifically was asked of Bradley and how the mayor responded, but the city attorney has said that he is investigating several broad areas for possible conflicts of interest.

Under investigation are the mayor’s ties to two financial institutions that did business with the city: Far East National Bank, which employed him as an $18,000-a-year adviser, and Valley Federal Savings & Loan Assn., where as a director he was paid up to $24,000 a year for more than a decade.

The city attorney is also probing the relationship of Bradley and the Task Force for Africa/Los Angeles Relations, a city-sponsored civic group headed by Bradley business associate Juanita St. John. Also being probed are some of Bradley’s overseas travel expenses.

Key Figures

Hahn, with four of his deputies and two Police Department detectives from the bunco-forgery detail, questioned Bradley in the mayor’s City Hall office. The city attorney’s staff has reportedly interviewed scores of people--including some of Bradley’s closest assistants, such as chief deputy Mike Gage--and reviewed thousands of documents. Bradley is believed to be the last of the key figures to be interviewed.

A source familiar with the investigation said the interviews with Bradley indicate that the investigators are nearing the end of their “field work” and will shortly begin sorting information and writing their report.