D.A. Gets Boost in Probe of Lewis : Investigation: Board of Supervisors waives attorney-client privileges over documents that prosecutors hope will shed new light on auditor-controller’s role in the county’s bankruptcy.

In a boost to its investigation of Auditor-Controller Steve E. Lewis, the Orange County district attorney’s office on Tuesday gained access to a broad range of documents between county officials and their attorneys regarding the county’s financial crisis.

The Board of Supervisors on Tuesday waived its attorney-client privileges over the materials at the request of prosecutors, who have so far been unsuccessful in persuading Lewis to sign a similar waiver for his records.

Other top county leaders including former Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy and acting Treasurer-Tax Collector Thomas Daxon have granted the district attorney access to their legal communications.

Investigators hope the Board of Supervisors’ waiver will offer them new insights into Lewis’ role in the bankruptcy, along with communications between top officials and the county’s bond counsel, LeBoeuf, Lamb, Greene & MacRae.

Prosecutors stated in a letter to the board that they were examining transactions involving the county’s short-term borrowing in the budget years 1992-93 through 1994-95. During that period, short-term borrowing increased from $100 million to just under $1 billion.

In approving the waiver, supervisors said they felt a duty to help the prosecution with the criminal probe of the county’s bankruptcy.

“It makes it easier for the district attorney to get to the truth,” Supervisor William G. Steiner said. “But Steve Lewis has the right to his approach. He has to come to his own conclusions.”

Lewis has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing. His attorney, Michael A. Greene, said Tuesday that Lewis is cooperating with the district attorney and has not ruled out waiving his attorney-client privilege to legal communications before the county’s Dec. 6 bankruptcy.

“No decision has been made about whether he will waive,” Greene said. “He’s been asked. He has not indicated he will do it. He has not refused to do it.”

Investigators stated in a letter to supervisors that they have sought Lewis’ waiver since February.

The new turn in the investigation comes about a week after the district attorney’s office began presenting evidence to the Orange County Grand Jury concerning Lewis’ actions in the months leading up to the bankruptcy.

Supervisors and others have criticized Lewis, 52, for not adequately overseeing the actions of former Treasurer-Tax Collector Robert L. Citron, whose risky investments caused the county portfolio to lose $1.7 billion of its value.

Citron pleaded guilty in April to six felony counts of fraud and mishandling of public funds.

Employees in Lewis’ office have testified before the grand jury in recent weeks. Once the district attorney has completed presenting its case, the panel will either issue criminal indictments or determine that no transgressions occurred.

The Board of Supervisors’ waiver on Tuesday--which releases various confidential legal documents--will not affect Lewis’ own communications with county and outside counsel, Greene said.

“To the extent that Mr. Lewis has the rights he possesses, the waiver must be made by him, not by anyone else,” he said.

County officials said they could not estimate how many documents are covered by the board’s action, which applies to materials prepared between Jan. 1, 1993, and Dec. 6, 1994.

In a letter, the district attorney’s office requested access to “all contacts, communications, discussions and documents” related to “the county’s investment pool or fund, investment strategy, budget, finance, financial strategy, cash flow, borrowing, sizing for borrowing, bond issuances and debt repayment.”

Investigators sought access to dialogue between legal counsel and supervisors, their aides and county staffers, including workers in the auditor-controller’s office and the treasurer-tax collector’s office.

Supervisors stressed Tuesday that the waiver does not cover any post-bankruptcy legal communications, including those related to litigation and Bankruptcy Court proceedings.

Times staff writer Matt Lait contributed to this report.