Sanchez Will Not Provide Election Documents

WASHINGTON — Rep. Loretta Sanchez refused Thursday to turn over election documents demanded by former Congressman Robert K. Dornan, inviting a possible showdown on whether to hold Sanchez in contempt of Congress.

Sanchez (D-Garden Grove) ignored wide-ranging subpoenas for records relating to her 1996 campaign that unseated Dornan by 984 votes.

Dornan, who claims the election was tainted by voter fraud, is seeking the Sanchez campaign’s financial records, volunteer rosters, phone records and other documents.

The subpoenas, backed by the congressional committee handling Dornan’s protest, set today as the deadline for Sanchez to turn over the documents.

Instead, a team of lawyers sent a 20-page legal brief to the House Oversight Committee, arguing that the Dornan subpoenas are unconstitutional.

In papers filed Thursday, Sanchez’s lawyers argued that Congress intruded upon the power of the judiciary by giving Dornan subpoena power. They also argued that Dornan has failed to demonstrate why he needs the documents at all. “Nowhere has Mr. Dornan alleged or demonstrated--nor can he allege or demonstrate--that Congresswoman Sanchez . . . was party to or even knew about any such alleged improper voting,” the attorneys wrote.

Sanchez’s refusal to turn over the documents sets the stage for a possible move to hold Sanchez in contempt of Congress. That could be done only by a vote of the full House of Representatives.

Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Bakersfield), the committee chairman, declined to comment. The House Oversight Committee, dominated by Republicans, approved Dornan’s subpoenas last month.

Michael Schroeder, Dornan’s lawyer, said Thursday he may seek a contempt vote against Sanchez.

“The stonewalling by Loretta Sanchez and Nativo V. Lopez apparently is continuing,” Schroeder said. “We will look to pursue our remedies with Congress for contempt after we see who complies.”

Lopez is a director of Hermandad Mexicana Nacional, the Santa Ana Latino rights organization from whom Dornan is also seeking records. Hermandad is under criminal investigation amid allegations of voter fraud.

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Steve Jost, Sanchez’s chief of staff, declined to discuss what might happen next.

“We have fully studied our options,” he said.

Dornan blames his 984-vote loss on what he describes as widespread voting by noncitizens and illegal immigrants.

Secretary of State Bill Jones has determined that at least 303 noncitizens registered to vote through Hermandad cast ballots in the 46th Congressional District. The citizenship status of another 69 was of “unknown legality,” meaning they were born outside the United States and have never had contact with the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

The House Oversight Committee has asked the INS to check the citizenship of all of Orange County’s 1.3 million voters.

In a letter sent Thursday, Justice Department lawyers asked Thomas to consider refining the unprecedented request to make it easier for INS to handle.

“As you may know, INS databases are not organized for this purpose and there are inherent limitations on their use to match against lists of registered voters,” Assistant Attorney General Andrew Fois wrote. Fois told Thomas that the INS hoped to give a firm answer in two weeks.

Also on Thursday, the League of United Latin American Citizens asked Atty. Gen. Janet Reno to refuse to run the citizenship check. Arturo Montez, president of the league’s Santa Ana chapter, said the check would violate voters’ privacy rights.

Times political writer Peter M. Warren also contributed to this report