Kim Should Resign, Says Lungren

Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren on Thursday called for the resignation of Rep. Jay C. Kim (R-Diamond Bar), after his conviction on campaign finance violations, and endorsed one of Kim’s opponents in the upcoming primary, Assemblyman Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar).

“These offenses constituted a willful pattern of illegal conduct which go to the heart of campaign laws,” Lungren, a former congressman, said in a strongly worded statement. Kim’s actions brought “dishonor” on the House, the statement said.

Lungren is the latest and most prominent of several local and state Republican officials to back Miller over Kim, who pleaded guilty to federal campaign finance misdemeanors in August and was sentenced this month to two months home detention, a year probation, a $5,000 fine and 200 hours of community service.

Also backing Miller are state Republican caucus leader and state Sen. Jim Brulte (R-Rancho Cucamonga), state Treasurer Matt Fong and several local elected officials. Miller and the two other Republicans challenging Kim in the June 2 primary--Orange County Deputy Dist. Atty. Pete Pierce and Diamond Bar school board member Jack Healy--have called for Kim’s resignation, as has the English-language edition of the Korea Times.

For Lungren, the front-runner for the Republican gubernatorial nomination, and the top law enforcement official in the state, to issue such a strongly worded statement against a sitting congressman is extraordinary, analysts said.

“The message is loud and clear, that the Republican leadership in California is ready for a change,” said Allan Hoffenblum, author of a respected guide to California elections. “How could Republicans be so critical of the campaign finance activities of the Clinton campaign during the presidency and not be as harsh and critical of Jay Kim’s fund-raising activities?”

Kim spokesman P.J. O’Neil declined to comment Thursday. In the past, O’Neil has said that voters should decide the fate of the three-term congressman, who was the first Korean American elected to Congress.

But in his statement, Lungren said that “the people of California are not well-served in [Kim’s] insistence on remaining in the U.S. House of Representatives as one who stands convicted of these specific violations of U.S. law.” He added that he had reviewed the evidence and found that despite Kim’s statements at his sentencing, the case against him did not involve “mere ‘technical violations.’ ”

Lungren called Miller “a man of experience and integrity who will uphold the best traditions of honor in the U.S. Congress.”

Miller is one of three Republicans challenging Kim in the primary, and Hoffenblum said Lungren’s endorsement may show that GOP leaders want to avoid the possibility that the challengers will split the anti-Kim vote. Miller welcomed the endorsement.

“I believe the position he’s taken almost echoes what I’ve heard from voters in the 41st Congressional District,” Miller said. “I talk about the election and I tell people Jay’s running and they look at me in disbelief.”

Still unresolved are the terms of Kim’s home detention, which his spokesman has said will not interfere with either his campaign or duties in Washington. A federal judge is expected to soon decide whether to begin the detention, which usually involves wearing an electronic monitoring device, before or after the primary.

Also, the House Ethics Committee is probing Kim’s conduct and could recommend censure or dismissal, which would have to be voted on by the full House. Speaker Newt Gingrich is remaining neutral in the primary, at least until the Ethics Committee finishes its inquiry, according to GOP sources.

Times staff writer Mark Z. Barabak contributed to this story.