Angelides cleared in tape incident

0 Comments | Oakland Tribune, Feb 4, 2007 | by Kate Folmar

SACRAMENTO -- After a nearly five-month investigation, state investigators have concluded that aides to Democratic gubernatorial candidate Phil Angelides broke no laws when they downloaded audio files containing the private musings of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on race and politics.

In a 38-page redacted report, the California Highway Patrol "recommends that no charges be filed in this case" and advises Schwarzenegger administration staffers to tighten up the "overall security of their computer network."

Within four days of the taped comments coming to light, the Attorney General's Office advised the CHP that no crime had been committed. The highway patrol itself made that determination two months ago, but only made it public Friday.

The CHP is a branch of the governor's administration, responsible for protecting state property.

A CHP spokeswoman said the length of time was "not atypical" for such cases. That's the time it takes to conduct a "completely independent" investigation.

"Once the investigators conclude their report, there are various stages of review it goes through," said spokeswoman Janet Huston. "It goes through (the) protective services (division), headquarters, legal." Plus, she said, things wrapped up around the holiday season.

The release of a taped conversation between Schwarzenegger and his senior staffers during a speech-writing session created a brief furor in an otherwise ho-hum governor's race when the Los Angeles Times first reported it Sept. 8.

The candid chat captured an unguarded Schwarzenegger speculating about the "hot" temperament of Assemblywoman Bonnie Garcia, perhaps due to the mixture of "black blood" and "Latino blood." He also referred to Assembly Republicans as a "wild bunch." Schwarzenegger apologized for the comments.

The Angelides campaign later acknowledged that its staffers had used "backward browsing" to download the audio file, accidentally placed on a Web site of the governor's speeches.

Essentially, aides opened the Web address from one of Schwarzenegger's speeches and lopped a few characters from the end of the address. That yielded a directory of audio recordings.

Schwarzenegger's aides referred the matter to the CHP on Sept. 8, before the Angelides camp's involvement was known.

Later the governor's staffers accused the Angelides aides of illegally hacking into a password-protected area of the governor's computer system for political gain. At the very least, they contended, Angelides' aides had acted unethically.

The Angelides staffers maintained they were never prompted for a password. The CHP determined that they hadn't been prompted for one.

Former Angelides spokesman Dan Newman, one of the aides caught up in the investigation, said he is considering legal action.

He questioned why the investigation dragged on so long -- well past Election Day.

Schwarzenegger's own staff was "directly, 100 percent responsible for making these tapes public," Newman said.

"Did the governor's office misuse law enforcement to suppress information until after the election? Did the governor's office exert pressure to cause it to take five months to announce something they clearly knew in five minutes" of investigating? Newman asked. "Most importantly, did the governor's office withhold information from, or otherwise mislead, law enforcement to create an investigation for political purposes?"

A spokesman for Schwarzenegger said politics were not at play. "The timing of the investigation was determined by the CHP," said Press Secretary Aaron McLear. "The administration recused itself from the investigation."

The administration, he said, has taken "important additional steps to enhance our security, including measures to prevent further backward browsing. Obviously, these were private conversations not intended for public release. The people of California should be proud of the dignified manner in which this issue was resolved."

Cathy Calfo, Angelides' campaign manager, said in a statement that the governor had used the CHP to launch a "phony investigation" and "intimidate." She reiterated her demand that Schwarzenegger's office release the remainder of the tapes from the speech-writing session.

McLear declined to do so, saying the recordings are "private."

Contact Kate Folmar at kfolmar(at)mercurynews.com or (916) 441- 4602.