Posted on 10/30/2002 8:16:50 PM PST by Tumbleweed_Connection
California Governor Gray Davis has been stung by the Bee – the Sacramento Bee that is.
Explosive accusations that California’s Governor Gray Davis tried to collect contributions from developers in return for official help have emerged less than a week before next Tuesday’s election thanks to a two-year long battle by the Bee to get documents containing the allegations made public .
While Davis’s campaign vigorously denies the charges, and Davis demands that his opponent Bill Simon get out of the race for jumping on the story, release of two letters and media probing has revealed that there is at least some basis for the accusations.
The charges are contained in documents long sealed by court order, and involve letters sent by lawyers for a convicted felon Mark L. Nathanson, seeking to reduce his sentence by giving federal prosecutors damaging information about Davis.
In the letters, Nathanson alleges what the San Francisco, Chronicle dismissively describes as "somewhat vague shakedown schemes that the duo hatched at Nate 'n' Al's restaurant in Beverly Hills, Nathanson, then a member of the state’s Coastal Commission , and Davis, then the state controller, allegedly made lists of potential donors. Davis would then contact those people and imply that he had helped secure Nathanson's help on the Coastal Commission, the letters contend.
One allegation appears to back up Nathanson’s charges. He alleged that Davis sent Santa Ana businessman Bruce Nordlund to him for help on a new home Nordlund wanted to build in Newport Beach. That was confirmed to the Chronicle Monday by Nordlund, providing at least one instance where Davis and Nathanson were working hand-in-hand.
"He [Davis] referred me to Nathanson," Nordlund told the Chronicle. "He said he doesn't get involved in that kind of stuff but to see this other guy Nathanson. "
According to the Chronicle, the first charge in Nathanson's 1993 corruption case arose from an attempt by Nathanson to extract a $40,000 "contribution" from Nordlund in return for speeding up Coastal Commission approval of his project.
Nordlund, who the Chronicle revealed cooperated with prosecutors, said he was insulted by Nathanson's request. Nordlund, said a friend suggested he go to Davis for assistance on the building approval.
"Man, it was like I had to take a shower after all that stuff," he said.
But another figure named in the letters flatly denied the charges that he was involved. Sheldon Gordon, told the Chronicle that he met Davis only a few times in his life and never asked him for help on his building projects. Nathanson alleged in the letters that Davis was persistent in asking for help for Gordon on the commission.
"I don't know a damn thing about a quarter-million dollar bribery request," Gordon, who now lives in Connecticut, told the Chronicle, noting that he was forced by the Coastal Commission to give up 60 acres of land for free and pay $1.5 million in fines.
In his 1994 letter, Nathanson explained how Davis allegedly paid Nathanson back for his help on the commission. He recalled that Davis agreed to appoint four persons of Nathanson's choice as probate referees, which are appointed by the state controller and help courts appraise estates. They are considered political plums.
The Chronicle says that Nathanson's first two choices were his father, who flunked the qualifying exam, and Elwin "Ted" Cooke, the police chief of Culver City since 1976. Cooke was appointed by Davis in 1987 as a referee for Los Angeles County.
State Controller's office records show among recommendations for Cooke's appointment, is a June 12, 1987, letter on Coastal Commission stationery from Nathanson to Davis, describing Cooke as "hardworking, reliable and diligent." Davis reappointed Cooke to another four years as referee in 1991.
``It is fair to say that the information provided to the government . . . cast the current governor of California and other people of prominence in a bad light by accusing them of improper or criminal conduct,'' Clyde Blackmon, Nathanson's attorney, said in a secret 1999 letter urging U.S. District Judge Lawrence K. Karlton to keep the documents under wraps, according to the San Jose Mercury News.
A federal judge has said "there is absolutely no reason to believe the accusations are true" and tried to block their release to shield the parties from the "hearsay accusations" from Nathanson, a convicted felon.
The Sacramento Bee didn’t agree. The newspaper spent two years trying to get the documents released and their victory came a mere week before the election. The U.S. Supreme Court two weeks ago refused to hear an appeal, and U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton on Monday handed out copies of the letters he had previously censored.
Federal authorities chose not to investigate the allegations, in part because of concerns about Nathanson's credibility, and Davis on Monday called them ``totally concocted,'' according to the Mercury News. "But at this late date in the campaign, their release is likely to inflame persistent and well founded allegations of ‘pay to play’ fundraising by Davis.
The Mercury News reported that Davis Campaign fought tooth and nail to prevent release of the damaging documents when they realized that the documents' release was imminent. Moreover, the Davis campaign threatened legal action against TV stations that air campaign ads based on the Nathanson charges.
They has good reason to fear the release of the documents. The allegations in the letters have given new ammunition to hard-pressed Republican challenger Bill Simon.
In an interview on radio station KCRW in Santa Monica on Monday, Davis said: ``The FBI looked at it and concluded [Nathanson] was a liar. Prosecutors looked at it and concluded he was a liar. And the federal district court looked at it and said these are libelous accusations and said they have no basis in fact.''
Campaigning in Malibu on Monday, Simon, however, demanded that Davis address Nathanson's allegations. Though Simon said people had to ``consider the source,'' he called on Davis to refute the specific allegations by releasing any calendars and notes from his meetings with Nathanson and by revealing information about any discussions he had with the donors and applicants named in the letters.
``The governor owes more to the people of California than just dismissive denials,'' Simon said. ``He should answer the very serious and specific questions raised by these letters.''
Nathanson ... alleged that Davis sent Santa Ana businessman Bruce Nordlund to him for help on a new home Nordlund wanted to build in Newport Beach. That was confirmed to the Chronicle Monday by Nordlund, providing at least one instance where Davis and Nathanson were working hand-in-hand.
And the SF Chronicle thinks the letters are "vague?" Maybe they just didn't bother to read the letters. Dump Davis!
Memories:
California Power Crisis animations featuring Governor Gray Davis
AND......................
...to see what bad, bad things Davis has done... - CLICK HERE
calgov2002:
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It's a .pdf file, so you'll need Acrobat Reader... it's free, and chances are good you already have it on your computer. Try the link and see.
Print it using the printer-icon button in the Acrobat toolbar in your browser (not File|Print in your browser's menu). It's intended for double-sided printing using single pieces of paper-- no stapling needed if you do it that way, and saves trees! ;-) Print one side, then invert the paper and feed it through a second time for the second side. Fold, and sally forth to get out the vote!
Give this to friends, walk your neighborhood, take it to stores, give a wad of 'em to your school, hand some out at your house of worship, at clubs, at stores and small businesses...
Let's retire Gray Davis!
Let's show the media and RINOs that "It's the base, stupid!"
Let's show Gray Davis that money can't buy him love ...or re-election!
Freepers and RLC activists can claim considerable credit for nominating Bill Simon, so now let's elect him!
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