Gore Aide Seeks a Quick End to Probe of Pre-Debate Mailing

The lawyer for an advisor to Vice President Al Gore asked the Justice Department and FBI on Wednesday to quickly complete their investigation of the anonymous mailing of Bush debate materials.

He also suggested the mailing was the work of people associated with George W. Bush’s Republican presidential campaign, which the Bush campaign heatedly denied.

Raising an incident that had slipped from public attention as the presidential campaign moved into its final stages, Marc E. Miller, lawyer for former Rep. Tom Downey, released a copy of his letter to Atty. Gen. Janet Reno and FBI Director Louis J. Freeh.

Downey, who was helping Gore prepare for campaign debates with Bush, received the anonymous mailing on Sept. 13. He turned the material over to the FBI for investigation.

Miller wrote that “it appears more likely than not” that the mailing was “the concerted, intentional act by more than one person associated with the Bush campaign.”

That contention brought a strong response from Bush spokesman Ari Fleischer, who called Miller’s letter “one of the more bizarre letters anyone will ever read.”

“No one wants to know more than we who took our debate materials. We hope the FBI will get to the bottom of it quickly,” Fleischer said. “Nobody who is loyal to Gov. Bush would have done this.”

Reviewing news reports of early investigative findings, Miller wrote, “It is at this time inappropriate for the FBI and the Justice Department to maintain silence on this matter. It is time for this investigation to be finished, and for the information compiled to be released so that the American people can evaluate its significance.”

Justice Department spokeswoman Gretchen Michael said, “During the course of any investigation, we pursue all leads and these things take time. It would be premature to discuss investigative findings at this time because the investigation has not been completed.”

An FBI spokeswoman declined to comment.

Although some Democratic campaign aides have been interviewed, the FBI inquiry has focused on Yvette Lozano, an employee of Bush’s media consultant. Officials say a security camera videotaped her mailing a package Sept. 11 from the Austin, Texas, post office where the anonymous mailing originated on that day.

Lozano and her employer, Mark McKinnon, have said she was mailing pants back to The Gap for him, but officials have said The Gap did not receive pants from McKinnon until a week or so later, longer than it should have taken if they were mailed Sept. 11.