Wilson Aide Admits Drunk-Driving Arrests

A top aide to Gov. Pete Wilson has been cited twice for drunk driving, once after an accident that injured the driver and passenger in another car, he acknowledged Tuesday.

Dan Schnur, Wilson’s campaign press secretary, said he was arrested for the second time early in the morning March 5. He was pulled over a few blocks from the Capitol as he drove a friend home from a downtown Sacramento bar and grill, he said.

Schnur, in an interview Tuesday night, said a breath test showed his blood-alcohol level to be .13% or .14%, far in excess of the legal limit of .08%. He said he was taken to Sacramento police headquarters and spent the night in jail.

Schnur, 30, said he intends to plead no contest to the charges when he appears in court next month.

“I’m ready to face whatever the courts decide the appropriate punishment will be,” he said. He expects that punishment to be at least one weekend in jail, an extended term on a county work detail and a hefty fine.

Schnur is a native of Wisconsin who worked for the Republican National Committee, the 1988 campaign of President George Bush and for the California Republican Party before moving to the Wilson Administration when Wilson took office in 1991.

He has been Wilson’s deputy communications director and later the director of communications and press secretary. Known for his acerbic wit and ability to quickly come up with biting comments on the governor’s opponents, Schnur moved over to Wilson’s reelection campaign at the end of 1993.

Schnur said he did not believe his troubles would undermine his role as spokesman for Wilson, who has built a reputation as tough on crime and substance abuse. He said he offered his resignation to Wilson after both incidents and both times it has been rejected.

“Everyone’s been very supportive,” Schnur said. “If the governor thought that my continued involvement might cause a problem for the campaign, I’d resign without hesitation.”

Schnur said he has voluntarily entered an outpatient treatment and rehabilitation program and is in the process of quitting drinking.

“I’m disappointed at myself, not only for my foolish decision to drive home that night but for not recognizing how serious this problem was until it reached this stage,” he said.

In the first incident, Schnur said he was arrested in January, 1992, after he turned left on a green light in downtown Sacramento and hit another car, injuring two people. The extent of their injuries could not be determined Tuesday.