NBC News: Feds Planted Bug In Street's Office, Philadelphia

NBC10.com ^ | October 8, 2003 | staff?

[Pan_Yans Wife]

NBC News has confirmed that it was federal investigators who placed an electronic device in Philadelphia mayor's John Street office.

NBC News correspondent Pete Williams said that several sources confirmed to him that the device was placed in the office by the U.S. government.

However, a law enforcement official cautioned that the presence of the bug there does not necessarily mean that the mayor, himself, is under investigation. Officials confirmed to NBC News it was put in place by federal investigators, though they won't say specifically whether it was the work of the FBI or another agency.

Williams said it was unclear if the surveillance was directly related to two ongoing federal investigations in Philadelphia.

One current investigation involves a no-bid, $1 million-a-year airport-services contract between the Street administration and a company owned by the mayor's brother, Milton Street.

The other investigation is related to an alleged parking-ticket fixing scandal involving more than 125,000 parking tickets between 1997 and March 2003. News of the federal parking-ticket probe first surfaced in March 2003.

The discovery of the hidden listening device in Street's City Hall office has touched off a political frenzy in Philadelphia as the Justice Department refused to say publicly whether FBI agents planted the contraption and Democrats suggested the bugging was politically motivated.

Earlier Wednesday, Street's office said it believed the device may have been planted by his Republican opponents.

"What the campaign does find incredibly curious is that the FBI could so quickly leap to the conclusion that this was not related to the mayoral campaign in any way, shape or form," said Street campaign spokesman Frank Keel. "The timing of the discovery of these listening devices seems incredibly strange, seeing that we are four weeks out of the election, and we have a Democratic mayor ahead in the polls, and we are on the eve of the first mayoral debate."

Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said that with a mayoral election looming on Nov. 4, the FBI had an "overwhelming duty" to tell the public what it knows about the surveillance equipment, found Tuesday morning during a routine sweep of Street's office by city police.

"I think given this extraordinary situation with four weeks to go in the campaign, it is incumbent upon the FBI to say why they planted the device," said Rendell, adding he had no firsthand knowledge of the FBI's involvement. "I think they've got an obligation to the people of Philadelphia to tell why they planted it."

FBI spokesman Linda Vizi said the equipment was not connected to campaign espionage, but she refused to say whether Street was being investigated or whether the FBI planted the device. She also wouldn't explain how the FBI could say so quickly that the device was not connected to the mayor's race.

A spokeswoman for Rendell, Kate Philips, said the governor had spoken to Street about the bugging, and the mayor said law enforcement sources had informed him that the bugs were planted as part of a federal probe. Street also told Rendell that he had been informed that he was not the investigation's "specific target," Philips said.

Street's campaign suggested the bugging could have been instigated by the Bush administration.

Asked directly whether he was suggesting that a Republican-controlled Justice Department had bugged Street's office for political reasons, Keel said:

"Do we believe that the Republican Party, both at the federal level and state level, is pulling out every stop to get Pennsylvania in 2004? Absolutely. Is the Republican Party capable of dirty tricks? I think that is well documented."

U.S. Attorney Patrick Meehan, the top federal prosecutor in Philadelphia, declined to say what federal agents knew about the bug, but said in a prepared statement that politics plays no role in his office's decisions.

"The U.S. Attorney's office in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania has a long and proud history of doing its work without regard to partisan politics. That was the practice of my predecessors, and it is my practice as well," Meehan said.

Philadelphia Police Commissioner Sylvester Johnson said he turned the matter over to the FBI, and declined to answer questions about it at a news conference Wednesday morning on an unrelated matter.

He said routine security sweeps of the mayor's office have been going on for decades. A sweep done in June did not turn up anything suspicious, Johnson said.

An aide to Street, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said more than one microphone was found and that all were within the mayor's office suite.

Tuesday's discovery comes near the end of a heated mayoral campaign. Street beat Republican challenger Sam Katz four years ago by less than 10,000 votes in this city of 1.5 million. Polls also show a neck-and-neck race in this year's campaign.

In August, someone tossed what might have been an unlit firebomb through the window of a Katz campaign office. An aide to Street and a former city employee were charged with making threats after getting into a confrontation the same day. Supporters of Street, who is black, have accused supporters of Katz, who is white, of race baiting.

Katz called the bugging discovery "breathtakingly shocking." His campaign denied having anything to do with it.

In a news conference Tuesday, Street called the discovery "a huge matter of concern."

"The question that ultimately will get raised in the minds of some people is who's investigating the mayor's office?" Street said. "Well, in response to that question, I want to assure the people of this city that this mayor is not being investigated. I have done nothing wrong."

Officials would not say where in the office the device had been found or how long it was believed to have been in place.

Philadelphia city prosecutors had nothing to do with the bugging, said Cathie Abookire, a spokeswoman for District Attorney Lynne Abraham.

[martin_fierro]

Joe Wilson's old lady did it!

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[rs79bm]

Their reasoning sounds obvious to me.

[dandelion]

This is a leak that blew an undercover investigation! It's a crime!! Find the LEAKER!!! WAAAAAAAA....

[OldFriend]

Well NO DUH!

[Williams]

If you've ever heard how loudly Street yells, they could have planted the bug acros the street. Now they say this doesn't involve the mayor, although they are investigating his brother .....

[Callahan]

Now we know the super-secret mission that Valerie Plame was on.

[Callahan]

A kid I know from class is best pals with Street's son. Can't wait to ask him about this.

[evets]

“I have done nothing wrong”

[Callahan]

Also, anybody around Philly seen the Street commercial with Bill Cosby. I think the the Cos is off his meds.

[Callahan]

That's an o.xymoron coming from a 'crat

[alpowolf]

The feds may as well come clean; it's not as if they're likely to get any more data from bugs in this case, now that the cat's out of the bag.

[sandydipper]

Them Feds are soooo sharp - I bet they ask for more money so they can use a real flower pot.