Sanchez Contests Subpoenas Issued in Dornan Inquiry

Seeking to void subpoenas issued by former Congressman Robert K. Dornan aimed at overturning his election loss last November, lawyers for Rep. Loretta Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) moved in U.S. District Court on Thursday to halt the demand for records.

The former congressman has issued more than 40 subpoenas seeking documents to support his claim that the election was tainted by voter fraud and should be rerun, said Dornan attorney Michael Schroeder, who is also head of the state GOP.

Many of the subpoenas, which seek documents and records, are returnable beginning today and Friday.

Those receiving the demand for records include Sanchez, her husband Stephen Brixey III, various citizenship organizations, the Orange County registrar, district attorney’s office and several state and local agencies, as well as Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, a Latino rights organization that has been at the center of voter fraud allegations.

Lawyers for Dornan appeared eager Thursday to see records they believe might prove their hotly disputed claim.

Sanchez’s lawyers decried the sweeping nature of the searches, describing it as an effort to reach beyond the known areas of potential voter fraud, which are insufficient to overturn the election “and tear up the whole landscape.”

Mark Rosen, lawyer for Hermandad, asserted his clients’ 5th Amendment right against self-incrimination in papers Thursday and said the subpoenas are an unconstitutional delegation of congressional authority on private citizens.

While Dornan’s attorneys would name only several of those served in the past 10 days, lawyers for Sanchez released a list of 29 of the subpoenas. Among them:

* The IRS and state Economic Development Agency are being asked for records of people who filed specific forms required of noncitizens or illegal residents.

* The Laborers Union Local 652 in Santa Ana and Carpenters Union Local 2361 in Orange are being asked to supply extensive information about membership, voter registration efforts, contributions and correspondence with the Sanchez campaign, the Democratic Party or Hermandad.

Dornan has alleged that he lost the election due largely to vote fraud, including ballots cast by noncitizens who registered or voted before becoming citizens. Sanchez won by 984 votes.

Sanchez’s lawyers are seeking a stay of the subpoenas pending a public hearing before a federal district judge on whether Dornan should have been granted subpoena power at all.

In the motion, Sanchez said that U.S. Judge Magistrate Elgin Edwards erred in authorizing the subpoenas Feb. 14 and in denying her request to vacate the subpoenas Feb. 27.

Sanchez argues the subpoenas are “irrelevant, invasive of privacy rights [and] overbroad.” In addition, she contends that they were issued prematurely, as much as two weeks before the date when they might be properly authorized under the Contested Elections Act.

Wylie Aitken, an attorney for Sanchez and the chairman of her election committee, called the sweeping nature of the requests “the most incredible historical witch hunt I have ever seen.”

Bill Hart, an attorney representing Dornan, said the subpoenas are broadly drawn on purpose because “we don’t know what material someone has.”