Gov. Gray Davis letters ordered released

By The Associated Press

10.29.02

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SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A federal judge yesterday ordered the release of documents from a decade-old fraud and racketeering case in which a convicted felon implicated Gov. Gray Davis in a bribery scheme.

The release comes a week before voters go to the polls to choose between Davis and Republican Bill Simon, who has made attacks on the governor's fund-raising practices a centerpiece of his campaign.

The Sacramento Bee had sought full release of the documents for two years. Until now they have been released only in censored form. The U.S. Supreme Court cleared the way for the release three weeks ago when it refused to hear an appeal.

Former Coastal Commissioner Mark Nathanson named Davis, then state controller, in two letters he submitted to prosecutors in 1993 as part of an unsuccessful attempt to cut a more favorable deal after pleading guilty to racketeering, tax fraud and soliciting bribes.

He was sentenced to four years and nine months in prison and fined $200,000. Prosecutors said Nathanson solicited money from celebrities and others in exchange for help getting projects approved by the powerful commission.

Nathanson claimed he recalled "a number of instances where Gray Davis approached Mr. Nathanson, who was then a member of the California Coastal Commission, to assist various friends or supporters of Davis who had matters pending before the coastal commission," according to a 1999 letter that was unsealed yesterday by U.S. District Judge Lawrence Karlton.

Davis spokesman Roger Salazar said: "These are baseless charges made by a man who is a convicted felon, admitted perjurer ... in an attempt to get his sentence reduced."

Prosecutors rebuffed Nathanson's allegations at the time, calling him a liar.

Still, Simon kept up the attacks yesterday up at a Malibu press conference.

"These are very serious allegations and yes, of course, we need to consider the source, but one should also consider the well-documented record of Davis' pay-to-play politics," Simon said.

Simon has contended Davis is worried about the contents of Nathanson's letters, citing as evidence a letter Davis attorneys sent to all major TV stations in California last week warning them not to run any Simon ad based on Nathanson's allegations. Simon aides said there was no such ad.