Baugh’s Philosophy: ‘Stand Up and Fight’

When it comes to defending his name, Assemblyman Scott Baugh knows few bounds.

Ever since he was accused of falsifying financial disclosure forms, Baugh has struck back with a vengeance.

His political pals have charged Dist. Atty. Michael R. Capizzi with Gestapo tactics, and Baugh has turned to local newspapers and television stations to sway public opinion. Baugh, a Huntington Beach Republican, has lodged numerous complaints against prosecutors with state and legal agencies.

Baugh even filed a federal lawsuit against investigators who searched his home in 1995, and he sued his former campaign treasurer, Dan Traxler, a key witness against Baugh before the 1996 grand jury.

Baugh believes he is the victim; Capizzi the wrongdoer.

“They are trying to put me in jail for things I did not do with criminal intent, and you cannot take that sitting down,” he said in an interview. “Where I come from, you don’t allow someone with more money, more power and more influence to bully you. You must stand up and fight.”

Capizzi rejects all of Baugh’s allegations.

“I am eager to get this into a courtroom and decided by a jury,” he said. “Baugh’s tactics are denying the public a very basic right, the right to speedy trial. It is the public’s right as well as the defendant’s.”

Baugh’s stance does not surprise his political colleagues.

“Scott Baugh is an elected official; that puts him in a different category than most defendants,” said Sen. John Lewis (R-Orange). “He not only wants to win in the court itself but in the court of public opinion.”

It was nearly two years ago that Baugh, having won an Assembly seat, carefully timed a critical disclosure.

On the night of the Nov. 28, 1995, election, he admitted that he had hidden from the public his longtime friendship with Democrat Laurie Campbell, a decoy candidate placed on the ballot by Republicans to split the Democratic vote and ensure Baugh’s victory.

The district attorney immediately sought to uncover evidence that Baugh broke the law in helping to get Campbell on the ballot. In December, investigators executed a search warrant just after dawn at Baugh’s house.

It angered Baugh, who was especially upset because he said investigators had roughed him up. The Baugh camp saw the search as a public relations opportunity and launched a two-day media blitz on Capizzi.

That day, his political mentor, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), sent a blizzard of faxes and phone calls to the press labeling the raid “a home invasion assault.” The next day, flanked by Baugh and the Rev. Lou Sheldon, Rohrabacher held a news conference, calling Capizzi’s investigation “reminiscent of the way Nazis and gangsters act” against political enemies.

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Baugh has been charged with five felony perjury counts and 13 misdemeanor violations of the Campaign Reform Act for allegedly falsifying five campaign and officeholder financial disclosure forms. Prosecutors allege he purposely misreported tens of thousands of dollars in contributions and loans relating to his first campaign for office in 1995.

Baugh has become heavily involved in the battle against him. An honors graduate of McGeorge School of Law, he has spent hundreds, if not thousands, of hours assisting his four lawyers. The former corporate lawyer helped prepare a voluminous analysis of inconsistent statements by campaign treasurer Traxler that eventually lead to a Superior Court judge dismissing much of the original indictment.

The judge also criticized prosecutors for acting too zealously before the grand jury. Prosecutors later rewrote the charges, refiling them to minimize their reliance on Traxler’s testimony.

Baugh and his allies launched other assaults on the district attorney’s office and heavily publicized them. They filed several complaints with the state Bar Assn. and the state attorney general alleging misconduct or discriminatory prosecution by Capizzi, and also sought to have the district attorney removed from the case. All these efforts were rejected.

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Being an elected official has helped Baugh. His prominence has given him easy media access to make his case. He also is able to use campaign funds to pay lawyers’ bills that will top $300,000.

But Baugh, up for reelection next year, still has to answer to voters.

“I have 400,000 constituents who are asking why I got charged,” Baugh said, adding that he can’t wait until the criminal case is resolved to defend himself or he will be an easy target against political foes.

His advisors have been adamant that Baugh go on the offensive.

“You don’t just play defense or you lose,” said one Republican official, who also counseled Baugh to “pressure Traxler.”

“I told Baugh early on: ‘Sue [Traxler] for malpractice because he needs something on his worry horizon to counterbalance pressure from the D.A.,’ ” the official said. “ ‘It could also pay off by allowing you discovery against him.’ ”

Baugh took the advice. He sued his former campaign treasurer for fraud and professional negligence, and the county for violating his civil rights by allegedly assaulting him during the search. Lawyers involved on both sides call it a highly unusual tactic.

The federal suit seeks damages from the county and two investigators for violating Baugh’s civil rights. The county has denied the allegations, saying that if Baugh was hurt, it happened when he interfered with the search.

The suit against Traxler has already paid big dividends, one of his lawyers said.

During Traxler’s Sept. 12 deposition, he testified that he had been “confused” when he implicated Baugh in previous statements. Just days before the start of the preliminary hearing, Traxler signed a declaration and took responsibility for virtually all the errors on the campaign disclosure documents.

The Baugh camp sought to capitalize on that declaration last week, both in court and the press. They told reporters of the declaration’s contents the day it was written and alerted reporters when it was filed in court Thursday.

“Trying to get out ahead of negative publicity that could come out in the hearing is a good idea,” political consultant Jerry Pierson said. “Remember he is also preconditioning potential jurors and voters. If he keeps working at it, a certain amount of it could stick in people’s minds.”