Dornan Asked Reno About Rumors of Impending Raids : Guns: Aide says congressman wrote a letter only to be assured that the rumors lacked substance, not to defend armed citizen groups that were purported targets.

Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) was one of eight members of the House and Senate who wrote to the Justice Department earlier this year asking about rumors that the government was planning to raid armed citizen groups, a Justice Department spokesman said Wednesday.

The disclosure followed statements earlier this week by Rep. Steve Stockman (R-Tex.) acknowledging that he had written to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno--at the request of the National Rifle Assn. and similar groups--inquiring about an impending raid against “citizen militias,” like the anti-government group that has been linked with the Oklahoma City bombing.

A spokesman for Dornan said the congressman wrote his letter not in defense of such groups but to make sure that the talk about a possible raid by federal officials was just a wild rumor being circulated on the Internet, a global computer information system that can be accessed by millions of people worldwide.

Dornan, along with the other members of the Orange County congressional delegation, is considered a strong ally of the gun lobby.

In addition to the letters from three senators and five congressmen, the Justice Department received numerous telephone calls from congressional offices about a planned federal raid.

“They all came in about the same time,” agency spokesman John Russell said, leading the department to believe that the inquiries were part of a coordinated campaign.

“I told them it was nonsense,” Russell said.

Paul Morrell, Dornan’s chief of staff, said Dornan’s office received no reply from the Justice Department concerning his letter, which was prompted by a friend of the congressman who was a former prisoner of war.

“There were all these items on the Internet. . . . There was tremendous fear being generated by these rumors and it was possibly getting to the point where it was reaching a high fever pitch,” Morrell said. “The rhetoric was getting out of control.”

Dornan’s aide said a copy of the letter to the Justice Department could not be located, and that Dornan could not be reached for comment.

Paraphrasing the letter, Morrell recalled that Dornan “said something to the effect: ‘I know that the Justice Department would not do anything to violate the rights of people who are not breaking the law, but please confirm there’s nothing to this.’ ”

Asked if Dornan was corresponding on behalf of militia groups, Morrell replied: “No, absolutely not. He knew they were rumors and he did not believe them.”

Morrell said the office faced a similar situation last year when some members of the Marine Corps received a survey that was rumored to ask: “Would you be willing to break into someone’s house as part of an order from your commander to confiscate guns?”

After checking with the military, Dornan discovered that the survey had been exaggerated; it was being conducted by a naval officer as part of his graduate school thesis on United Nations peacekeeping operations, Morrell said.

One of Dornan’s constituents, National Rifle Assn. board member T.J. Johnston of Anaheim, said he had previously received Dornan’s support on holding congressional hearings about NRA concerns that the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms is “using firearms to intimidate citizens.” However, Johnston said those hearings would probably be delayed because of Oklahoma City bombing.

In addition to Dornan and Rep. Stockman, others sending letters to Reno included Sens. Larry E. Craig (R-Ida.), Lauch Faircloth (R-N.C.), and Strom Thurmond (R-S.C.) and Reps. Mac Collins (R-Ga.), James V. Hansen (R-Utah), and Karen L. Thurman (D-Fla.).

In his letter, Stockman stated: “A paramilitary-style attack against Americans who pose no risk to others, even if violations of criminal law might be imputed to them, would run the risk of an irreparable breach between the federal government and the public, especially if it turned out to be an ill-considered, poorly planned but bloody fiasco like Waco,” referring to the 1993 confrontation in Texas between the Branch Davidian religious sect and federal law enforcement officials.

A Stockman spokesman said his office was unaware that other members of Congress had written similar letters to Reno.

Craig and Faircloth said their joint letter was not prompted by concern about militias but focused only on verifying reports of military training of law enforcement personnel.

“You are doubtless aware of the concerns being raised in many quarters about what is perceived as the growing militarization of our domestic law enforcement agencies,” according to their letter to Reno seeking clarification of the reports.

Thurman’s office said it had no record that such a letter had been sent to the Justice Department. Other offices could not be reached for comment.