FBI joins investigation in guv race

Beauprez, staff expect to be queried on database access

Stuart Steers, Alan Gathright and Marilyn Robinson, Rocky Mountain News

Published October 19, 2006 at midnight

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A criminal investigation that now involves the FBI sent shock waves through the race for Colorado governor Wednesday.

The Colorado Bureau of Investigation announced that it had determined that someone accessed information in an FBI database on Carlos Estrada Medina, who has been the star of a TV attack ad against Democrat Bill Ritter.

That ad was sponsored by Republican Congressman Bob Beauprez, and he and his campaign staff will now be interviewed by FBI agents.

The CBI said it has asked the FBI to join in an investigation of the circumstances surrounding the use of the database. It is illegal to use federal databases for anything other than law enforcement purposes and violators can be sentenced to prison and fined.

Beauprez has insisted that neither he nor anyone on his staff broke the law.

The CBI has determined that the person who tapped into the database works for a federal law enforcement agency in Denver, CBS 4 News reported Wednesday night. The computer system revealed the date the file was opened and the time it was open down to the second.

The TV ad alleges that Ritter inappropriately plea-bargained with Medina on drug charges, and that Medina went on to be arrested for lewd conduct with a child in San Francisco. But the defendant in the Denver and San Francisco court cases went by a name other than "Medina," and Ritter said the various aliases could be confirmed only by someone using the restricted FBI database.

Ritter, who said those circumstances made it impossible for him to respond to the allegations, charged that the Beauprez campaign had obtained the information illegally and called for an investigation.

Evan Dreyer, Ritter’s spokesman, said he welcomed the news that the FBI is getting involved.

"I think it’s confirmation of what Bill suspected all along — that somebody accessed that database for illegal purposes," said Dreyer.

A spokesman for Beauprez denied any wrongdoing by the campaign.

"The system was not accessed by any employee, staff or consultant associated with the campaign," said John Marshall, campaign manager for Beauprez. "All the information we received, we believed to be from a lawful source."

Beauprez has said he knows who the source of the information is, but he’s refused to disclose the source’s identity. He has said the information was given to the campaign in confidence.

"We got the information from a credible source," Beauprez said Wednesday. "I know the information is indisputably true."

Dreyer criticized Beauprez for refusing to reveal the source.

"He has had the ability over the last six days to defuse this, but he refuses to come clean with the public," said Dreyer.

CBI division director Karl Wilmes is leading the investigation for the agency.

"We did meet with federal and state law enforcement agencies today at CBI," said Wilmes. "I can’t discuss the details of the investigation."

Marshall said Beauprez and his staff expect to be interviewed soon by investigators.

"We’re going to cooperate fully," he said. "The FBI is involved. They have to have an opportunity to complete their work without political influence."

With less than three weeks until Election Day, the criminal investigation may have ominous implications for the Beauprez campaign, which has been trailing in the polls.

"This is significantly bad news for Bob Beauprez," said Eric Sondermann, a Denver political analyst. "It won’t bring any swing voters or wavering Republicans to his camp."

Sondermann added that the involvement of the FBI makes things even more difficult for Beauprez.

"That ratchets up the pressure," he said.

The Beauprez campaign has been bedeviled by a difficult primary against Marc Holtzman, controversies over comments Beauprez made about blacks and abortion, and anti-gay statements from his running mate, Janet Rowland.

"If there was ever a campaign that had a jinx on them, it’s that campaign," said Katy Atkinson, a Republican political consultant. "It’s been one thing after another."

Last week, Gov. Bill Owens asked the CBI to launch an investigation of the allegations about accessing the database.

A liberal group, ProgressNow, called for the FBI to get involved earlier this week so there would be no appearance of "conflict of interest" with a state agency overseen by Owens, who has endorsed Beauprez.

Harsh words

Bill Ritter and Bob Beauprez met Wednesday morning to debate on Mike Rosen’s talk show on KOA-AM (850) radio. They exchanged several sharp remarks.

• Bill Ritter: "This is about somebody committing a federal offense to help the congressman with a political ad. I challenge you to tell us who your source was."

• Bob Beauprez: "Bill, shame on you, you just accused me of doing something illegal without a shred of evidence."

• Bill Ritter: "The congressman is utilizing this (information) for political gain; they’re utilizing information that can only be accessed illegally."

• Bob Beauprez: "We got the information from a credible source. We are cooperating fully with the CBI. I know the information is indisputably true."

• Bill Ritter: "It’s a serious trust issue by a congressman who says, ‘Hold me accountable.’ "

• Bob Beauprez: "I understand why Bill wants to change the subject. He put a heroin trafficker back on the street."

Beauprez insists no laws broken

• Oct. 13

"We’ll go through the file. We’ll demonstrate we got our information legally."

- Bob Beauprez

• Tuesday

"That’s as far as I’m going to say, because . . . it would be very improper for us to start getting any more public than we’ve already been during an investigation."

— Beauprez

• Tuesday

"We had an extremely credible informant, who said: ‘I’ve had enough. Look here.’ We verified . . . the information he gave us was accurate."

— Beauprez

• Wednesday

"(The informant) said, ‘Go and look under these rocks,’ and we found exactly what he said would be there."

- John Marshall, Beauprez’s campaign manager

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