Robbins Made Secret Tapes for U.S. Probers : Capitol: Word of recordings is likely to heighten fear among some who have dealt with him in recent months.

For more than five months as a state senator, Alan Robbins cooperated with federal authorities in their Capitol corruption probe, at times wearing a hidden recording device and taping conversations with colleagues, lobbyists and others, The Times has learned.

The revelation that Robbins, who quit his seat Tuesday, wore the device--a “wire” in FBI parlance--is likely to add to an atmosphere of fear and anxiety that already prevails among some who have had dealings with him in recent months.

Within that period--from mid-June to the end of the session in September--Robbins was in touch with countless Capitol figures who sought his vote as he acted on more than 1,000 bills on the Senate floor and dozens more in committees.

Tape recordings have proved crucial in earlier corruption cases brought by the U.S. attorney here, and the federal decision to have Robbins wear a wire is a sign of just how determined prosecutors are to pursue corruption to its roots.

Already as a result of Robbins’ cooperation, the federal investigation has focused on Clayton R. Jackson, one of the most influential lobbyists in the Capitol, whose offices were searched by FBI and IRS agents Tuesday.

Jackson has been a central figure in a range of major issues in the last several months--particularly in matters affecting the insurance industry.

Sources familiar with the investigation say that Jackson is now the subject of a separate investigation. Neither Jackson nor his lawyer could be reached for comment Wednesday.

The same sources, who asked not to be identified, have confirmed that Robbins has been working with federal authorities for at least five months. They said he wore a wire and made secret recordings of discussions of legislative and personal business.

Robbins has refused to discuss details of the deal he struck with prosecutors--an agreement that required him to quit the office he has held for almost two decades, plead guilty to two felony counts of political corruption and accept a prison sentence of five years.

Both Robbins and his attorney, Thomas Pollack, refused to comment Wednesday on whether the ex-lawmaker had been wearing a wire.

One key legislator, who has often been at odds with Robbins on important insurance issues, pointed out that Robbins was at the center of a series of crucial measures at the time when he was cooperating with federal authorities.

“He was obviously positioned to produce for the prosecutors information and evidence that perhaps no other lawmaker in the Capitol could produce,” said Assemblyman Burt Margolin (D-Los Angeles). “His involvement in that way could produce explosive results and could reveal wrongdoing and corruption that the prosecutors otherwise would have no way of reaching.”

As chairman of the Assembly Insurance Committee, Margolin often found himself doing battle with Robbins, who chaired the Senate Insurance, Claims and Corporations Committee.

By turning their scrutiny to Jackson, federal authorities for the first time are indicating their willingness to take on the lobbying corps as well as public officials as their political corruption probe widens near the end of its fifth year.

In the past, lobbyists have been treated as “victims” of extortion by greedy politicians; now, in some cases, federal officials may view them as bribers of public officials.

During the time Robbins was cooperating with federal authorities, he played a central role in such insurance matters as moves to rewrite the state’s fledgling earthquake insurance program and make insurance more available to small businesses.

One event that stands out is Robbins’ involvement at the end of the legislative session with a bill that would have strengthened regulation of credit insurance--policies that promise to pay off a person’s bills if he or she suffers a disability or dies.

The measure, by Assemblyman Lloyd Connelly (D-Sacramento), was sponsored by Consumers Union and would have overturned a 1985 Robbins bill that transferred from the state Insurance Department to the Legislature the power to regulate the credit industry’s rates. One of the charges that Robbins has agreed to plead guilty to is accepting bribes in connection with that earlier bill.

Connelly’s bill cleared the Assembly, but Robbins, according to Connelly and others, was reluctant to hold a hearing on the measure. In August, according to Connelly aide Gene Erbin, Robbins pleaded with Connelly to withdraw his request for reasons “unrelated to the (Capitol) building.”

“He was cryptic,” Erbin said Wednesday.

Robbins finally relented and agreed to hold a special hearing, but he did not attend. With lobbyist Jackson in attendance, opposing the bill, the measure got four votes--one short of the majority it needed to advance.

At the time, Consumers Union blamed the insurance industry and Robbins for blocking the measure. But Robbins’ erratic behavior puzzled Nettie Hoge, a Consumers Union analyst who worked on the credit life insurance bill.

“He usually knew exactly what he was going to do on every bill,” Hoge said. “Everything that went through his committee was greased like lightning.”

In a search of lobbyist Jackson’s office Tuesday, federal investigators armed with a search warrant removed several boxes of documents, including business and campaign contribution records and files on two insurance bills, said Leslie Spahnn, a lobbyist who works with Jackson. Spahnn said that he could not recall which bills were of interest to federal authorities.

He maintained that the records did not relate to the credit life insurance measures.

Sources familiar with the investigation say that investigators are also looking at Jackson’s role as a lobbyist for the GTECH Corp., which had an interest in a 1986 bill that required lottery contractors to print game tickets in California.

Jackson is an imposing Capitol figure often at the center of some of the Legislature’s most high-profile issues. The towering, cigar chomping lawyer frequently testifies before committees, but works most effectively behind the scenes--buttonholing lawmakers in corridors or meeting with them in private. Jackson’s company, SRJ Jackson, Barish & Associates, has long been one of the top lobbying firms in Sacramento. During the 1989-90 session, it took in $4.1 million--more than any other firm that lobbies the Legislature.

Robbins has agreed to plead guilty to a racketeering charge, which includes his acceptance of a $13,500 bribe from an unnamed source for influencing the outcome of the lottery bill.

Times staff writers Virginia Ellis, Ralph Frammolino and Daniel M. Weintraub contributed to this report.

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