Cite source references to lying.
>>she got caught lying about whether or not they had been subpoenaed.
>Cite source references to lying.
The truth is "The Truth, The Whole Truth and nothing but the Truth."
Citation follows:
Ex-Aide: Harris Hid Subpoena
By KEITH EPSTEIN The Tampa Tribune
Published: Aug 2, 2006
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senate candidate Katherine Harris received a grand jury subpoena from federal investigators and concealed the fact from top campaign advisers hired to help her deflect negative publicity, her former campaign manager has disclosed.
"Yes, there was a subpoena. She didn't tell us," said Glenn Hodas, Harris' third and most recent campaign manager. He said he learned of it in June while reviewing invoices from powerhouse Washington lawyer Benjamin J. Ginsberg and confronted his boss.
The invoices, Hodas said, were for work relating to a "DOJ subpoena," referring to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The discovery culminated in the latest round of staff departures, in mid-July, Hodas said. Those resignations included Hodas and a campaign spokesman.
"Finding out about the subpoena caused me to wonder about what was going on and what else I didn't know, but I don't want to comment any further on what appears to be a pending investigation," said Hodas, reached by telephone Tuesday.
His remarks echo those of another former top Harris strategist, Ed Rollins, who said in several interviews after quitting in the spring that he was worried "about [Harris'] stories changing, about what I didn't know."
The subpoena apparently was issued for campaign records as part of a Justice Department investigation of Harris' dealings with defense contractor Mitchell J. Wade.
The escalating inquiry by the Justice Department's Public Integrity Section already has involved interviews with Rollins, who conducted an internal inquiry for the campaign and said he spent two hours talking to investigators here, and Fred Asbell, who quit in June as Harris' chief of staff in Congress, Harris' fourth.
Existence of a grand jury subpoena doesn't imply wrongdoing; it could be part of a broader investigation focusing on other targets.
Harris has said she is cooperating with authorities and has been informed she is "not a target."
Her campaign has for two weeks refused to address the question of whether it received a subpoena .
On July 18, after being asked about the subpoena, Harris' campaign issued a statement noting only that "the DOJ requested information in May that we were more than willing to give."
In the statement, Harris also suggested the investigation was a conspiracy to derail her candidacy.
On July 19, the campaign again issued a statement stressing that the Republican congresswoman from Longboat Key and her campaign "have fully cooperated with the DOJ."
Tuesday night, Harris spokeswoman Jennifer Marks declined to answer the question once more. "I'm going to refer you to our previous statements addressing this matter," she said.
The Justice Department doesn't comment on pending investigations.
Stanley M. Brand, a former congressional ethics counsel who defends public officials accused of wrongdoing - often in high-profile cases - noted that the Public Integrity Section generally issues subpoenas through a grand jury.
"Subpoenas mean, generally, that the government believes someone has relevant information for an investigation. It doesn't necessarily mean those people are targets themselves," Brand said. "But there's certainly an interest in their activities, or transactions they were involved in."
Although hardly unusual for investigators to subpoena a candidate's records, politicians usually share the existence of a subpoena with the people who work for them, he added.
"It's almost inevitable that the information will come out," he said. "Also, people will have to be instructed to gather the evidence required by the subpoena."
Hodas said that before learning about the subpoena and confronting Harris about it, she had given him a seemingly routine task of assembling references in campaign computers to Wade, Wade's defense contracting company, known as MZM and "two or three" other names, Hodas said.
Once learning of the subpoena, the seemingly low-priority survey for news clips, e-mail and other information about MZM made sense.
Harris' ties to Wade and MZM have drawn considerable attention and cost her campaign at least $35,000 in legal fees, according to finance records publicly filed by her campaign.
Hodas said Ginsberg is no longer her lawyer.
Wade pleaded guilty to bribing a California congressman and funneling $32,000 in illegal campaign contributions to Harris in 2004. After dining with Wade, who promised to hold a fundraiser for her, Harris tried to secure a special spending "earmark" that would have benefited MZM. Wade, as he awaits sentencing, is cooperating with federal prosecutors.
PS, NautyNurse, if you want to make the argument that KH was never asked by any mmember of campaign staff about the subpoena, be my guest.