Gillooly Points to Harding : Figure skating: Lawyer of ex-husband speaks out to force her off U.S. Olympic team.

In the latest revelation of the figure skating saga, Tonya Harding’s ex-husband has accused Harding of helping plan the attack on Nancy Kerrigan, his lawyer said Monday.

The lawyer, Ronald Hoevet, said he divulged the accusation in hopes of forcing Harding off the U.S. Olympic team.

“The truth is, she was in on it from the beginning,” said Hoevet, who represents Jeff Gillooly. “That’s what Jeff said. I believe that to be the truth. It will be corroborated by other evidence.”

Harding said last week she became aware of the plot only after the Jan. 6 assault in Detroit where Kerrigan was clubbed in the knee after a practice session and forced to withdraw from the 1994 women’s national championships.

Hoevet said Harding was involved in planning the attack since early December, after she finished fourth at a competition in Japan.

He said much of Gillooly’s account could be corroborated by phone logs and bank records.

Hoevet said the U.S. Olympic Committee “cannot wait for the criminal justice system to run its course. That will not happen before the Olympics. She has at least violated the unsportsmanlike conduct code. They’ve got to find a way to take action.”

The Winter Olympics begin Feb. 12 in Lillehammer, Norway, but U.S. officials have until Feb. 21 before committing to their figure skating team. If Harding is withdrawn, Michelle Kwan, 13, of Torrance would replace her.

Prosecutors said they would release today portions of Harding’s Jan. 18 interview with authorities in which she implicated Gillooly.

Gillooly, who had reconciled and lived with Harding at the time of the assault, is expected to plead guilty today to racketeering in county court, said Judy Snyder, Hoevet’s law partner.

He also is expected to give his version of exactly what motivated the violent attempt to rig the national championships.

Brooding suspicions about the objectivity of judges and the fairness of scoring in women’s figure skating might have motivated the attack on Kerrigan.

Sources say Gillooly believed that his on-again, off-again spouse had been given a raw deal by skating judges, and that rival Kerrigan was plainly the favorite of the U.S. skating establishment.

Two events in particular were cited:

--Resentment over what he and his ex-wife believed was unfair scoring of Harding’s performances at an international competition in Japan in December.

--Cover-story treatment of Kerrigan in U.S. Figure Skating Assn. publications leading up to the Detroit national championships in January.

This account of investigators was published Monday in the Oregonian. The newspaper indicated it received the information from two days of interrogation Gillooly underwent at the FBI office in Portland last week. It was not verified by officials willing to speak publicly, or by court documents. Moreover, Gillooly’s statements are sure to be subject of doubt and challenge in this strange case.

Gillooly is believed to be seeking a reduced sentence by cooperating with the investigation.

Monday’s more detailed account of Gillooly’s story added this: Harding’s fourth-place finish in Japan so angered him that he began planning the assault on his own, and then discussed it with her. The skater’s first reaction was to question whether Gillooly’s associate and her acquaintance, Shawn Eckardt, was the right man for the job. Gillooly explained that Eckardt was only a go-between.

Harding has denied knowing of the plot beforehand. But she has admitted learning of events afterward and not reporting this to authorities.

A five-member committee of the U.S. Figure Staking Assn. is to meet in Colorado today and begin deliberations on whether Harding should be disqualified from the Olympic competition Feb. 23 and 25. A decision is not expected until the end of the week, at the soonest. For now, she and Kerrigan are the U.S. team’s two entries.

Meanwhile, Phillip Knight, chief executive officer of Nike, said that the company would donate $25,000 to Harding to defend herself, should she be taken off the Olympic team. Harding is not affiliated with Nike, but the company is based in nearby Beaverton.

Twice in the last year, Harding has finished fourth in skating competitions and complained about the judging.

After the January 1993 U.S. championships in Phoenix, she told a Portland journalist that she got a raw deal. Kerrigan won that competition.

Then again, after the NHK international competition in Japan Dec. 9-12, Harding returned unhappy with her scores--particularly her low marks in the mandatory technical program. Harding did not fall but was scored lower than skaters who did. Kerrigan did not enter that event.

According to the account published Monday, Gillooly said he and Harding brooded over what they believed was favoritism toward Kerrigan by the USFSA. Mentioned was the cover story on Kerrigan in the association’s monthly magazine in December. Also mentioned was a “brochure” that highlighted Kerrigan. This might have been the media guide for the Detroit competition, which featured Kerrigan and other 1993 U.S. champions on the cover.

Knowledgeable skating enthusiasts noted, however, that Harding has been on the cover of the association magazine and was on the cover of at least one of the organization’s brochures.

As an event that depends entirely on the opinion of a specialized clique of judges, and where style and presentation are hugely subjective, grumbling about scoring and favoritism is widespread.