Tapes Indicate Lobbyist Promised to Pay Robbins : Investigation: A transcript of their conversation is filed to show that a federal corruption case against Clayton R. Jackson is strong. His lawyer says he was lured into discussing money but never paid any.

Capitol lobbyist Clayton R. Jackson repeatedly promised to pay then-state Sen. Alan Robbins $250,000 and agreed to send cash through a girlfriend of the lawmaker to avoid disclosure, according to transcripts of secretly recorded tapes filed in federal court Monday.

On the tapes, Jackson assured Robbins that getting that much money was “doable” and that he was sure he could make a first installment of $50,000.

“All I need to do is pull a trigger,” Jackson said on one July, 1991, tape, adding that he could obtain another $50,000 in 10 or 15 days.

The transcripts were included in documents intended to show that the federal political corruption case filed against Jackson last month is a strong one and that he should be required to post a $100,000 bail to remain free while awaiting trial.

Jackson never paid any of the $250,000 to Robbins, and Jackson’s attorneys contend that the lobbyist only spoke about the money at Robbins’ insistence.

The court papers provide new details about the relationship between Jackson and Robbins. In 1991 the former legislator agreed to plead guilty on racketeering and tax evasion charges and to cooperate with authorities.

After reviewing the documents, the federal magistrate assigned to the case, Peter A. Nowinski, allowed Jackson to remain free without posting bail. Nowinski decided that there was no threat that Jackson would flee to avoid prosecution.

Jackson’s attorney, Donald H. Heller, repeated his contention that Jackson was the victim of Robbins’ extortion attempt and that the lobbyist never made any improper payments to the lawmaker.

The defense attorney insisted that the same tapes can be used to buttress his argument that Jackson had no criminal intent. Both sides have made public only selected portions of the recorded conversations.

Heller argued that Robbins was used by government agents to lure Jackson into talking about money. “What Alan Robbins provides to the government is basically a puppet to justify millions of dollars of investigative expense,” Heller said.

In their court filings, the prosecutors quote Robbins as saying that the relationship between the two men began in 1974, a year after Robbins was elected to the state Senate and while he was still trying to retire a sizable campaign debt.

Robbins said that through intermediaries he agreed to vote against a no-fault insurance bill opposed by Jackson’s clients, and in return was later given $10,000 from the insurance industry.

The relationship continued over the years, with Jackson frequently providing campaign money to the state senator in return for favorable action on legislation.

In 1981, Robbins was appointed chairman of the Senate Insurance and Indemnity Committee by the newly elected Senate President Pro Tem, David A. Robert (D-Van Nuys).

The court document quoted Robbins as saying that he and Roberti discussed the fund-raising potential of that committee, because all insurance bills would be sent there. Soon, according to Robbins, he “became the biggest fund-raiser for Roberti.”

A spokesman for Roberti, Steve Glaser, denied that the Senate president ever asked Robbins to use the chairmanship as a means of raising money.

“If Sen. Roberti knew then what he knows now, he never would have supported (Robbins) for chairmanship,” Glazer said.

According to Robbins, he and Jackson worked closely together over the years and that the lobbyist on several occasions made contributions in exchange for help with legislation.

In 1991, Robbins agreed to plead guilty to charges of racketeering and tax evasion and began wearing a hidden recording device in his conversations with Jackson.

In the first of the tapes, recorded July 10, 1991, Robbins agreed to help Jackson’s client kill a workers’ compensation bill by transferring it to his committee. At several points in the transcript, Robbins asked Jackson how he planned to obtain the $250,000 that the lawmaker was seeking.

In response, Jackson listed a series of companies he represented, all firms that sold workers’ compensation insurance and had an interest in killing a pending bill. At the end of the conversation, Robbins asked whether the payments would be “limited to campaign contributions” or other payments could be worked out as well.

Jackson replied, “That, yeah, that’s possible. Like, that is doable, depending on how we do it.”

At one point, Robbins asked, “Are you sure all (are) people that you can deal with safely and who. . . . “

Jackson: “The ones I deal with I can, I’ve known for a long time.”

Robbins: “They would have sealed lips and follow careful instructions.”

Jackson: “Yep.”

In later meetings, Robbins continued to press for the money, and Jackson repeatedly assured him that it was on the way. When Robbins asked where the money would come from, Jackson replied: “My guess is that a bunch of these carriers will come directly out of the corporate coffers (of workers’ compensation insurers).”

At one point, Robbins suggested that the money be paid to “Robin Kinmore,” a name invented by government investigators for a fictitious girlfriend of Robbins.

Jackson and Robbins agreed on the tape to make any payments to “Robin Kinmore and Associates,” rather than just to Robin Kinmore. When Jackson asked if the woman owned a regular business or if she was “a free-lancer,” Robbins replied, “Well, since she isn’t planning on doing any work in this connection, I guess it would classify her as a free-lancer.”

However, over the next several weeks, Jackson kept coming up with excuses for his failure to deliver. Finally in September, Jackson’s office left a message with Robbins’ secretary:

“Unfortunately the project I was working on has totally collapsed,” the message read. “I am now out of ideas.”