Rohrabacher’s Treasurer Quits, Says Data Taken

The campaign treasurer to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) has abruptly quit, saying he could not perform his duties because the campaign’s financial records had been removed from his office.

In a letter to the Federal Elections Commission obtained Wednesday by The Times, treasurer Dan Traxler wrote that the records had been taken by Rhonda Carmony, a Rohrabacher aide under investigation for possible misdeeds in connection with Republican Scott Baugh’s election to the state Assembly last November.

Baugh’s victory enabled the GOP to take control of the Assembly and elect Curt Pringle of Garden Grove as speaker.

Three people, one of them until Tuesday a paid employee of Pringle, have pleaded guilty to election law violations in connection with that GOP-backed campaign to recall former Speaker Doris Allen and elect Baugh to her Assembly seat.

All three have implicated Carmony in a scheme to enhance Baugh’s election chances by planting a fake Democrat on the ballot to draw votes away from Linda Moulton-Patterson, a well-known Democrat the Republicans feared might win the seat against a divided GOP field.

In an interview Wednesday, Traxler said Carmony removed the records from his office in late December or early January, saying she was concerned that they would be subpoenaed by prosecutors conducting the investigation into Baugh’s election.

Traxler quoted her as saying she wanted to make copies of Rohrabacher’s records in case district attorney’s investigators took the originals away, depriving the congressman of records he would need to complete his next campaign report to the FEC.

Carmony never returned the records, Traxler said, despite his requests. As today’s deadline for filing campaign reports neared, Traxler said, he feared that he would not be able to attest to the accuracy of Rohrabacher’s campaign reports without the supporting documentation, and decided to resign.

“I do not have any of your back records in my possession due to Rhonda removing all records from my office,” Traxler wrote to Rohrabacher and the FEC on Feb. 29. “These records are not complete.”

Carmony declined to talk about the matter Wednesday. Her lawyer, Creighton Laz, said the letter contained “significant misrepresentations,” but he would not be specific.

Carmony has already been charged with seven election law violations in connection with a 1991 municipal campaign in the city of Diamond Bar, and Laz is defending her on those charges.

Rohrabacher said Wednesday that he and Carmony had decided to turn the files over to another accountant, because they wanted to double-check Traxler’s work. Traxler was also the treasurer for Baugh’s campaign, and Rohrabacher said he was concerned about the accuracy of Traxler’s work because he was under so much pressure from prosecutors.

“Dan was a little confused about what records were there and what records weren’t,” Rohrabacher said. “It just underscored for him that he couldn’t do the job anymore.”

Traxler gave a different account. Traxler said that after the Baugh investigation got underway, he told Rohrabacher he believed he could continue as the congressman’s treasurer.

“He asked me if I still felt comfortable, and I told him, yes,” Traxler said.

Traxler, a professional accountant, has testified before the grand jury looking into the Baugh election, turned over records and also given statements to the district attorney’s office about the Baugh campaign.

Rohrabacher said he has recruited a new campaign treasurer, Daralyn Reed of Santa Monica.

The Republican congressman repeated his charge that Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi, also a Republican, is pursuing a vendetta against him and others in the party, in part to deflect criticism of Capizzi’s role in the county’s financial disaster.

“We have a D.A. who has gone berserk,” Rohrabacher said.

Capizzi’s continuing investigation into the Baugh election has enraged some GOP leaders, who say that it threatens the county’s preeminent place in statewide GOP politics.

On Wednesday night, Rohrabacher defended the young party activists and others caught up in the investigation.

“You have a lot of big players involved here,” Rohrabacher said. “And who is getting hurt? These 25-year-olds and guys like Dan Traxler. Lives are being destroyed.”

Times correspondent Rebecca Weiner contributed to this report.