Schwarzenegger Plans Inquiry Into Groping Allegations

Gov.-elect Arnold Schwarzenegger said Thursday that he is in the process of hiring a private investigator to look into allegations that he groped more than a dozen women over a 30-year period.

Schwarzenegger’s disclosure came in response to comments from Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer, who had said earlier in the day that he had encouraged the governor-elect to address the allegations, raised during the governor-elect’s recent campaign, because “they are not going to go away.”

Schwarzenegger spokesman Rob Stutzman refused to reveal the name of the investigative firm he is hiring and said the scope of the investigation had yet to be determined.

Despite skepticism that a prominent public official can pay for an investigation of himself, Stutzman said the “impeccable reputation” of the firm chosen would allay any concerns about the credibility of the investigation.

Stutzman accused Lockyer of violating a legal ethic that prohibits lawyers from revealing confidential discussions with clients. Lockyer and several independent legal experts said that no such confidentiality exists. Nevertheless, Stutzman said Schwarzenegger may not be turning over the investigation results to Lockyer as he had planned.

The feud between two of California’s most prominent officials promises to resurrect the allegations of sexual impropriety that arose in the final days of Schwarzenegger’s campaign to unseat Gov. Gray Davis. It also appears to sour what had been a budding relationship between the incoming Republican governor and a key Democratic official who acknowledged breaking party ranks to vote for the Republican.

In a day of give-and-take, Stutzman said the investigative firm would look into the allegations of at least 16 women that Schwarzenegger improperly touched or humiliated them. The reports were contained in a series of Los Angeles Times articles. Schwarzenegger has refused to address specifics, but has acknowledged having behaved badly at times.

Schwarzenegger had said in an Oct. 5 interview with NBC-TV’s Tom Brokaw that he would address the allegations after the election. But in one of his first news conferences shortly after his victory, Schwarzenegger dismissed them as “old news.”

In a decision made over the last few weeks, Stutzman said, the governor-elect is prepared to hire a “well-respected” firm to investigate the allegations. The firm’s name will be revealed after a contract is signed.

The announcement was moved up, Stutzman said, because the governor-elect’s aides anticipated that after they complained about Lockyer’s actions, reporters would ask if Schwarzenegger was looking into the allegations himself, as he had promised.

The comments by Lockyer came almost as an aside during a news conference in which he announced the filing of an unrelated lawsuit. When questioned by reporters, he volunteered that he believed Schwarzenegger should deal with the allegations through an independent fact-finder.

“He obviously thinks that there’s not a legitimate basis for the complaints, that a review of some sort would demonstrate his innocence or nonculpability. Well, OK, then do it,” Lockyer said.

Asked if he gave Schwarzenegger any advice about the sexual-misconduct allegations, Lockyer said: “I don’t think the issue is going to go away until he is willing to have some form of independent, third-party review of those complaints to see if there is any criminal liability attached.”

“I urged him to consider doing that,” said Lockyer. “I think that’s the right way to deal with these matters.... I’ve offered to try to assist with that process.”

Asked about Schwarzenegger’s reaction to that advice, Lockyer said, “He wants to talk to people and think about it. He’s very concerned, I think, about these matters. And it’s better that he speak for himself rather than me try to paraphrase or try to remember his exact words.”

After Lockyer was asked about his motive for giving such advice to Schwarzenegger, he said, “I think it’s a stain on his reputation and administration to have lingering doubts, and I think he should deal with them forthrightly.”

The attorney general’s office would not typically launch its own investigation of sexual abuse claims, Lockyer said. “Almost always, we refer to local district attorneys to do the actual interviews and investigations.”

In October, Los Angeles County Dist. Atty. Steve Cooley turned down a request to investigate some of the accusations against Schwarzenegger, noting, among other things, that the one-year statue of limitations had expired.

Tamee Smith, a film producer’s assistant whose story of being groped by Schwarzenegger was recounted in The Times, said she would be willing to talk to any investigators, including Schwarzenegger’s.

Smith, who said Schwarzenegger followed her into a bathroom on a studio lot in 1986 and grabbed her breast, did express some worry about the fact that they would be his investigators. “It scares me because he’s denied everything,” she said. “With anything like this, how’s the woman going to get treated?”

Lockyer first suggested that Schwarzenegger request an investigation during the final days of the recall campaign. After a rally in Alameda County two days before the Oct. 7 recall election, Lockyer said that Schwarzenegger should ask either state or local authorities to investigate the allegations.

The attorney general pointed to Davis as an example for Schwarzenegger to follow, saying that the Democratic governor had come forward during a 2002 scandal over state computer software contracts and voluntarily requested an investigation.

“I spent well over $1 million investigating the Davis administration and the claims over the Oracle contracts,” said Lockyer after the Oct. 5 rally. “They were forthcoming. We have so far not found any illegality that reached the governor. Arnold should volunteer for a similar investigation to clear up these charges.”

On Oct. 18, at a conference at UC Berkeley on the recall election, Lockyer told a group of political scientists, consultants and journalists he was convinced that “Arnold didn’t really understand that he was caught up in frat-boy behavior.”

At Thursday’s news conference, Lockyer said he was eager to elaborate on that comment.

“Some thought that was trivializing the behavior,” he said. “I guess that depends on what subjective connotation you bring to that language. In my mind, frat-boy behavior runs from rowdy drunkenness to rape.”

“I have no personal knowledge or evidence of crime,” said Lockyer of the allegations against Schwarzenegger. “I’ve read the newspaper accounts. I’m concerned. I think there’s reason to worry about the acts that may have occurred and the courage of women that came forward to report.”

Stutzman’s version of the conversation between Schwarzenegger and Lockyer focused on the legal relationship, saying Lockyer violated the governor-elect’s right to get private advice from his attorney. He said Lockyer breached the privacy of a conversation the two men had Wednesday about the allegations of sexual misconduct.

After last month’s election, Stutzman said, Lockyer presented himself to the governor-elect as his lawyer.

“Having done so,” said Stutzman, “the governor-elect had a rightful expectation that his communication with the attorney general would be covered by privilege. The governor-elect has not waived this privilege.”

A spokeswoman for Lockyer said the attorney general does not believe any privilege exists because Schwarzenegger has yet to be sworn in. That will occur on Nov. 17.

“As you know,” said spokeswoman Hallye Jordan, “we only have one governor.”

“The attorney general was giving advice to a friend,” she said. “He has given this advice to Schwarzenegger since before the election. He has said this privately to Gov.-elect Schwarzenegger numerous times. He said it publicly numerous times.”

Several legal experts said no governor enjoys a protected relationship with the attorney general, who represents the state, not the governor individually.

USC law professor Erwin Chemerinsky called Schwarzenegger’s claim of attorney-client privilege “preposterous.”

“It’s clear under the law that what Lockyer, as attorney general, says to Arnold Schwarzenegger as governor-elect about his personal potential liability is not protected by the attorney privilege,” Chemerinsky said.

Laurie Levenson, a former federal prosecutor who teaches at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, said that while the elected attorney general represents the governor’s office, he is not a private counsel to the governor. Politicians must hire private attorneys when they are the subject of a potential criminal investigation, she said.

“I don’t think it’s accurate to say somehow Bill Lockyer is Schwarzenegger’s private lawyer,” she said. “And I must point out that Schwarzenegger is not the governor yet.”

Stutzman described the governor-elect as “extremely disappointed” with Lockyer. Until Thursday, the two men had appeared to be getting along well.

Lockyer, a Democrat who is widely expected to run for governor in 2006, has called Schwarzenegger “a good friend.”

The governor-elect this week named as his legal secretary Lockyer’s chief deputy. Schwarzenegger and Lockyer, who have known each another for many years, had dinner together last month and on Wednesday Schwarzenegger had dropped by to see the attorney general, his wife and their newborn son at Lockyer’s Sacramento office.

The specter of Lockyer and Schwarzenegger in a tiff left several Sacramento politicos shaking their heads and smiling.

“Adds a little spice,” said Senate President Pro Tem John Burton (D-San Francisco).

“Unbelievable,” said Democratic campaign consultant Richie Ross. “How ironic that California’s strangest political bedfellows would find themselves in an argument about groping.”

*

Times staff writers Dan Morain, Carla Hall and Gregg Jones contributed to this report.