CRISIS IN THE LAPD: THE RODNEY KING CASE : Sparring Seen Over LAPD Investigations : Politics: Ongoing probes of Mayor Tom Bradley and the head of the Police Commission have become political weapons, sources say.

As Police Chief Daryl F. Gates fights to regain the helm of his besieged department, Police Department investigations of Mayor Tom Bradley and the Police Commission president are becoming a new legal and political battlefront.

Knowledgeable sources say the chief in recent days has made pointed--even threatening--references to ongoing probes of the mayor and Police Commission President Daniel P. Garcia, whose panel ordered Gates on Thursday to temporarily step down because of the furor over the Rodney G. King beating. On Friday, the City Council voted to reverse the action through a legal maneuver.

Harry G. Melkonian, Gates’ lawyer, denies that the chief made any threats. But he said Gates in a legal challenge may argue that Garcia should have been disqualified from the commission’s vote because he has been under Police Department investigation for six months.

Investigators are trying to determine whether Garcia improperly raised campaign funds at a 1986 fund-raiser for Bradley, according to Capt. Doug Watson. Garcia has denied wrongdoing.

Bradley and several other present and former members of his Administration also are being investigated. The probes range from possible conflicts of interest and political fund-raising violations to influence peddling. Investigators have nicknamed the patchwork of inquiries “Chinatown,” after the hit movie’s labyrinthine portrayal of Los Angeles politics in the 1930s.

Watson, who has said he is retiring in protest over the commission’s action against Gates, said Friday the investigations have been unaffected by the political turmoil. “We are being absolutely deliberate. We are being very careful,” he said.

No one has attempted to influence the course of the investigations of Bradley or Garcia, Watson said.

Bradley’s camp is concerned that Gates may use the investigation to fight back, said City Hall sources.

In a tense private meeting Tuesday, where the mayor asked Gates to resign, the chief made angry comments to Bradley regarding the investigation, said a source who spoke on condition of anonymity.

“Gates threatened the mayor during the meeting, making a pointed reference to the department’s investigations,” one source said. “(He) even went so far as to speculate that the mayor’s call for the resignation was based on the investigations.”

Gates’ attorney Melkonian said, “I don’t know anything about that going on in there.”

George Morrison, Police Department chief of staff, said he had discussed the matter with the chief and it was “absolutely untrue . . . there was no threat whatsoever.” Morrison said he did not know if Gates discussed the investigations with Bradley during the meeting.

Bradley spokesman Bill Chandler declined to comment.

Before the Police Commission meeting on Thursday, Gates raised the issue of the Garcia investigation, according to Senior Assistant City Atty. Fred Merkin.

“Gates raised with me an issue that Commissioner Garcia was disqualified . . . because Garcia was under investigation by the Los Angeles Police Department,” he said. “He (Gates) thought it was a legal conflict.”

Merkin said there was no immediate basis to disqualify Garcia. Garcia concurred in Merkin’s version of events.

Melkonian insisted it was the city attorney, rather than Gates, who raised the issue of the Garcia investigation before the commission meeting.

In any case, Gates and his supporters have signaled they may use the ethics scandal surrounding Bradley to fight back. After Bradley went on live television to demand the chief’s resignation Tuesday, Gates held a news conference and brought up a 1989 city attorney’s investigation of Bradley. That probe resulted in $20,000 in civil fines against the mayor, and City Atty. James K. Hahn criticized the mayor for failing to avoid the appearance of conflicts of interests.

At the same time, the chief has been making vague hints that there may be some major revelations coming. “If I laid it on the line,” Gates said in an interview Wednesday night on KABC-TV, “. . . and it may come down to just exactly that, and when I do, watch out.”

Pressed to elaborate in another television interview, the chief said he was referring to the politics behind the effort to remove him. “I think there’s a great deal involved in that. Much of that has not come out yet. And I think that at the appropriate time that may have to come out,” he said.

Watson declined to say what, if any, charges may result from the ongoing investigations. The department is looking into:

Bradley’s relationship with political fund-raiser Harold R. Washington, a developer whose city-subsidized housing project is the focus of a political corruption probe. Informants have said Washington sought contributions or payments for Bradley and other city officials to secure the project. Bradley and Washington have denied doing anything improper.

Bradley’s fund-raising operation. After a series of articles in The Times last year, the police opened an investigation of Garcia and other city commissioners who helped raise political donations from developers, lobbyists and others who have business with their agencies. The probe also includes possible misuse of city equipment and resources by Bradley’s City Hall staff members who doubled as fund-raisers.

Patric Mayers, a former Bradley appointee to the city Building Advisory Appeals board. Mayers is being investigated for possible conflicts fo interest and influence peddling, Watson said, in connection with payments and free movie passes he sought from firms doing business with the city. Mayers has denied doing anything improper.

Politically connected consultants who have helped obtain city contracts from a variety of departments.

Times staff writer Tracy Wood contributed to this story.