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Pastimes : MOLEGATE! -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (525)	9/30/2000 3:27:16 PM
From: Cisco	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1719

FBI expands its inquiry into mailing of Bush materials to Gore campaign By Ken Herman American-Statesman Capitol Bureau Chief Saturday, September 30, 2000 The FBI, believing it has evidence a crime may have been committed, has expanded its investigation into who mailed George W. Bush's debate preparation materials to the opposition camp, law enforcement officials said Friday. Austin FBI agents were called into the case Thursday afternoon and by 10:30 p.m. began taking computers from Maverick Media, Bush's Austin-based media firm, and from the home of Yvette Lozano, the company employee who has become a target of the investigation, according to law enforcement sources. By 2 a.m., agents had completed their search for evidence. Early Friday, an agent was taking the evidence, including at least two computers, to the FBI crime lab in Washington, D.C. Before Thursday, the FBI was conducting only a preliminary inquiry from its Washington offices into whether a crime had been committed when Bush's presidential debate preparation materials, including a videotape, were mailed to former U.S. Rep. Tom Downey of New York. Downey, who had been playing Bush's role in debate practice sessions with Democratic nominee Al Gore, gave the material to the FBI, triggering the initial inquiry. While Thursday's action focused on Lozano, a law enforcement source said that should not suggest that the FBI's investigation ends with her. Officials are still investigating which camp -- and at what level -- instigated the transfer of the debate materials. The Bush campaign has pointed to the Gore camp, which has suspended one staff member, while the Democrats claim it's a GOP trick to short-circuit the debates. The mailing of a stolen item could form the basis for federal prosecution. Agents took the computers to look for transcripts of the debate materials and e-mails, sources said. "This probably didn't happen in a vacuum," said a law enforcement source, requesting anonymity. "There probably was some conspiratorial strategizing." FBI agents interviewed Lozano last week and left her with a clear impression that they believe she was involved in the clandestine mailing, she said recently. The agents returned Thursday to take her computer as well as a second set of fingerprints. Agents also wanted to see the shirt she wore when she was videotaped mailing a package two days before the debate materials showed up at Downey's office. Bush campaign spokesman Dan Bartlett said Maverick Media voluntarily submitted the materials without requiring a search warrant. "We have said all along we want a full and complete investigation, and we hope this helps bring it to a quick conclusion," said Bartlett. Mark McKinnon, an owner of Maverick Media, has said he is confident nobody involved with his company had anything to do with sending the materials to Downey. Lozano also has denied any role in mailing the materials and told the FBI that the package she mailed on Sept. 11 contained pants being returned to The Gap by McKinnon. Lozano said the FBI agents challenged her alibi. McKinnon said the FBI's questioning made it clear that the agents believe someone within the Bush campaign mailed the debate materials to Downey as part of a plot to have the upcoming debates postponed or canceled. The Bush campaign has dismissed that theory as ridiculous. Rather, it has pointed at Gore's team after it suspended a 28-year-old staffer, Michael Doyne, for boasting -- and later denying -- that there was a "mole" inside the Bush campaign. Besides the videotape, The Boston Globe reported, Downey was sent a half-inch stack of documents with advice: During the debate, take a new tack on Mark Twain's adage about the weather in New England. Try something about how if you don't like Al Gore now, just wait a minute. He'll change. On a cover sheet, an unsigned message on plain paper read to the effect of: "Here's some material that might be helpful to you. I'll call in a few days to see if you need anything else." The package of materials included no letterhead or identifying features anywhere. On the videotape, Downey saw what looked like Bush practicing for a debate. Downey called his lawyer, Marc Miller, and began the steps to turn the tape over to the FBI. The case has become Washington's new parlor game, as well as a point of contention between the campaigns. Its outcome could provide an October Surprise, the oft-anticipated but rarely realized last-minute development that can change the course of an election. "Somebody knows, and the person who finds that person is going to be the hero in this," Miller said. The first debate is set for Tuesday in Boston. You may contact Ken Herman at kherman@statesman.com or 445-1718. austin360.com