Rohrabacher Defends Campaign Director

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) continued to maintain Monday that his campaign director played only a “peripheral role” in a GOP scheme last year to help elect Assemblyman Scott Baugh, despite a court confession by a Baugh campaign worker that suggests much deeper involvement by the aide.

The sworn declaration implicating Rohrabacher’s campaign director, Rhonda Carmony, and other Republican legislative aides, was made in court last week by Richard Martin.

Carmony could not be reached for comment.

Martin, 26, a former Baugh campaign worker, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor, admitting he played a significant role in helping to put a decoy Democrat on the Nov. 28 ballot to siphon votes from a better-known candidate for the 67th Assembly District seat.

Martin said in his confession that Carmony played the key tactical role in a plan under which GOP aides circulated nominating petitions for Democrat Laurie Campbell and Campbell allegedly signed them.

In a spirited defense of Carmony, Rohrabacher said Martin was “intimidated” by Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi into implicating other Republican activists so that Capizzi could “deflect people’s attention away” from his own lackluster performance in office, including preventing the county from tumbling into bankruptcy.

“The D.A. intimidated poor Richard, but even then, he couldn’t get anything that suggested that Rhonda or Scott or anybody else has broken the law,” Rohrabacher said.

The Huntington Beach congressman also contended Capizzi had committed the same election law violations that the GOP campaign workers are being accused of in the 67th Assembly District special election. “We will disclose all that information [against Capizzi] if any indictments come down,” Rohrabacher warned.

Capizzi could not be reached for comment Monday. However, Assistant Dist. Atty. John Conley said the state attorney general’s office has rejected Rohrabacher’s claim that Capizzi’s campaign committed similar misdeeds.

“I think we are going to fight this in court and we have no further comment other than to refer [Rohrabacher] to the attorney general’s office,” Conley said.

Rohrabacher also blamed the Los Angeles Times for what he said is a “vendetta” against him, Carmony and Baugh.

Baugh (R-Huntington Beach) easily captured the 67th district seat, succeeding former Assemblywoman Doris Allen, who was recalled the same day.

Rohrabacher made his comments Monday before Jeffrey Christopher Gibson, manager of the Allen recall campaign, pleaded guilty to the same charge of circulating nominating petitions knowing he would not sign them. Gibson also said in a sworn declaration that Carmony played a central role in orchestrating the effort.

When told of Gibson’s guilty plea late Monday night, Rohrabacher said he was certain that Carmony “has not broken the law.”

Rohrabacher said Monday that Carmony met Campbell in the parking lot at the registrar of voters office Sept. 21 only to turn over a pro-Campbell signature by a Democrat who hangs around the Rohrabacher campaign office.