Is California AG required to obey laws he enforces?
| Thursday, Nov 05 2009 01:05 PM
Last Updated Thursday, Nov 05 2009 01:05 PM
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Two Republican lawmakers may be savoring a political "gotcha moment," but they also are raising legitimate questions: Is the state Attorney General's Office above the law? Is California's top law enforcement officer also bound by the laws he enforces?
California Attorney General Jerry Brown must appoint a special prosecutor to look into confirmed reports that his communications director routinely and secretly tape recorded conversations with news reporters. California is one of 12 states that prohibit phone calls from being recorded without the knowledge of all parties.
Ironically, Kern County AT&T customers received a reminder of that prohibition in their telephone bills this month. So, if it's the law for "Joe Six-Pack" in Kern County, it should be the law for AG Brown and his staff in Sacramento.
Communications Director Scott Gerber resigned this week after admitting he tape recorded his conversation with a San Francisco Chronicle reporter during an interview about Brown's role in writing a title and summary for an insurance industry-friendly ballot measure.
The newspaper learned of the secret tape recording when Gerber had a follow-up discussion with a reporter and revealed he had a transcript of the earlier interview.
In his resignation letter, Gerber admitted regularly tape recording his conversations with reporters. But he said his superiors, including AG Brown, did not know about the practice.
The AG's Office issued a statement Tuesday denying a crime had been committed. The statement noted the highest-ranking criminal lawyer in the office had concluded the law only prohibits the recording of a "confidential" communication without consent. Since Gerber was having an "on the record" interview, the communication was not "confidential."
Yeah, right! So are we to assume the AG's Office would let news reporters slide by with that flimsy argument? An on-the-record conversation with a reporter is not "confidential" and therefore can be secretly tape recorded? Hardly!
And then you have Gerber's own words that hypocritically resonate through this mess.
Remember the ACORN investigation? The very same Scott Gerber recently disclosed that AG Brown was investigating the case of a fake pimp and prostitute who secretly tape recorded ACORN workers in an attempt to incriminate employees of the left-leaning, non-profit organization. Gerber justified the investigation by noting that it is illegal in California to tape record someone's conversation without their knowledge.
Well, no kidding. So, what has Gerber been doing all these many weeks and months?
And that's what Republican Assemblyman Ted Gaines of Roseville and Republican Sen. George Runner of Lancaster want to know. In fact, that's also what the Bay Area News Group is asking in the two Public Records Act requests it has filed.
The newspaper group wants copies of all tape recorded conversations with reporters and copies of all e-mail communications between AG Brown, Chief Deputy Attorney General James Humes and Gerber about related media inquiries. Runner and Gaines want to know who knew about the tape recordings, how they were recorded and where they were stored.
All Californians deserve to know: Is Attorney General Brown obeying the laws he was elected to enforce? That answer can only come from an independent investigation by a special prosecutor.
