Thread: Calif. candidate's office, home raided

Calif. candidate's office, home raided
By PETER PRENGAMAN, Associated Press Writer
2 minutes ago



GARDEN GROVE, Calif. - For two days, a Republican congressional candidate had promised to explain how a threatening letter was sent by his campaign without his knowledge to thousands of Hispanic immigrant voters. As about 200 people gathered Friday in front of his campaign headquarters seeking answers, Tan D. Nguyen was a no-show at his own news conference. Instead, 10 uniformed California Department of Justice police officers arrived with a search warrant and pounded on the glass of Nguyen's storefront headquarters.

Agents spent two hours sifting through cabinets, boxes and computers. They left carrying several boxes and plastic bags of evidence.

Hours later, they searched a home in nearby Anaheim listed as belonging to one of Nguyen's staffers, emerging with a computer hard drive and a small box. Nguyen's neighbors in a gated community in Santa Ana said law enforcement officers also spent several hours searching his home.

Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant trying to unseat a popular Democratic incumbent, has acknowledged his campaign sent the letter, which wrongly said immigrants could be jailed if they voted. He blamed an unidentified staffer whom he said he has fired.

Nguyen has resisted calls from leaders in his own party to quit the race, saying he did not approve the letter and did not know about it.

Many mulling around his office Friday were supporters.

"He's the No. 1 man because his No. 1 issue is kicking out all the illegals," said Ernie Sqarlata, 86.

State and federal officials have been investigating the mailing for possible violations of election or civil rights law. It is illegal to use threats to try to dissuade anyone from voting.

The letter, written in Spanish, was mailed to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in Orange County. It warns, "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

In fact, immigrants who are adult naturalized citizens are eligible to vote. Secretary of State Bruce McPherson said Friday his office will send letters to homes that received the mailing to clarify voters' rights.

Nguyen's attorney, David Wiechert, cautioned against jumping to conclusions.

"A search doesn't mean the person whose office is being searched is guilty," said Wiechert, standing outside Nguyen's office. "This is a political firestorm of high-ranking Republicans and Democrats speculating about an investigation they have no knowledge of."

Orange County Republican Chairman Scott Baugh has said that after speaking with state investigators and the company that distributed the mailing, he believes Nguyen expedited the "obnoxious and reprehensible" letter. The party's executive committee voted unanimously to urge Nguyen to drop out, he said.

State Democratic Chairman Art Torres said party leaders were planning a rally for Orange County on Tuesday. "It's a hate crime as far as we are concerned," Torres said.

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said he planned to visit the country and meet with Hispanic leaders Saturday.

Phil Angelides, the Democratic candidate for governor, said: "They've got a real problem. They've got to clean it up because it's not good for California."

Illegal immigration has been a centerpiece of Nguyen's campaign to oust Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez (news, bio, voting record), a five-term congresswoman.

Nguyen was born in 1973 in Vietnam, where his family fled the communist regime. In 2004, he unsuccessfully ran in the Democratic primary to challenge GOP Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (news, bio, voting record). He later changed his party affiliation and declared his bid to upset Sanchez.

On Friday, Hispanic and Vietnamese leaders joined the chorus condemning the letter, saying it should not become a wedge that drives their communities apart.

"This letter reminds us of what we were running away from in Vietnam, where people can't vote the way they want," said Xuyen Dong, who heads the Orange County chapter of the Vietnamese Professional Society.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061021/ap_ ... ing_threat

" It is illegal to use threats to try to dissuade anyone from voting."

Does this apply to threats to people who have no legal right to vote?

It does not make sense that it would. I'm getting a wee bit tired of those who are assigning "rights" to illegals.

"You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

This letter says that of you are an illegal OR an immigrant you can't vote. this is wrong, because it implies that even legal immigrants can't vote. I would be surprised that this man wrote this because he is himself a legal immigrant and now running for office.

So this justifies a raid by ten uniformed officers on his home and office?

The article is wrong. AP needs to issue a correction. The letter does not use the word "inmegrante"; It uses the word "emigranto".

It's a total frame job by the Republocrat Party (that's right, we now only have one party). Even if Tan was totally responsible (which he isn't), this letter is not "voter intimidation". So why the the Nazi Gestapo tactics?
It's to intimidate pro-borders candidates.

Personally I hope whoever did produce this letter in now in Canada asking for political asylum, because they won't get a fair trial in our new LaRaza Police State.

Originally Posted by artclam

The article is wrong. AP needs to issue a correction.

HAHAHA. They are the "Ministry of Truth". They never make mistakes. Try to contact them and tell them that, they will ignore you and never reply.

Originally Posted by TimBinh

Originally Posted by artclam

The article is wrong. AP needs to issue a correction.

HAHAHA. They are the "Ministry of Truth". They never make mistakes. Try to contact them and tell them that, they will ignore you and never reply.

We're aware that AP puts out propaganda which then gets hashed out here in the world into the facts. We really need to see the texts of this message. This may be only a mistake in translation. On the other hand La Raza and official government representatives refer to "illegal aliens" as "immigrants." We here know better than to fall for this inaccuracy, but a person of English as a second language must be forgiven some confusion on the definitions. This seems to be validating a reason Tim is here. And the "preferred ethnicity" receives the benefit of the bias, and the benefit of the doubt.

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercu...s/15824242.htm

Posted on Sun, Oct. 22, 2006
GOP candidate linked to intimidating letter vows to stay in race
GILLIAN FLACCUS
Associated Press

GARDEN GROVE, Calif. - A Republican congressional candidate whose campaign was linked to an intimidating letter to Hispanic voters vowed Sunday to stay in the race and lashed out at his critics.

"I'm innocent. There's no way in hell I'm going to withdraw," Tan Nguyen told reporters at his campaign headquarters. "I'm not going to quit this race; I'm going to win this race."

Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant trying to unseat popular Democratic Rep. Loretta Sanchez, last week blamed an unidentified female staffer for sending out 14,000 letters warning immigrants they could be deported or jailed for voting in next month's election. The mailings have sparked state and federal probes.

Nguyen said Sunday he did not authorize or approve the letter, and implied that Sanchez was behind the investigations. He declined to say whether he agreed with the letter's contents.

"I don't speak Spanish, but Ms. Sanchez does," Nguyen said. "There has been no crime committed so why is there a criminal investigation three weeks prior to a very important election? What is going on? Who is fueling this investigation?"

Nguyen blamed Sanchez for "fueling this hysteria" and investigators for "terrorizing my family and volunteers" and violating his right to free speech.

A voicemail message left at Sanchez's office was not immediately returned.

The Orange County Republican Party has called for Nguyen's resignation and he has received a chorus of criticism from Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on down.

On Friday, after California Department of Justice investigators searched Nguyen's campaign headquarters, a handful of local candidates condemned the letter and implied that Nguyen might not be the only Republican involved. Investigators also searched Nguyen's residence Friday and a home listed as belonging to one of his staffers.

The letter, written in Spanish, was mailed to Democratic voters in Orange County. It warned: "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

Immigrants who have become naturalized U.S. citizens are eligible to vote.

William Braniff, a spokesman for the Nguyen campaign and a former U.S. Attorney, blamed the controversy on the media, whom he said had mistranslated the word "emigrado," which appeared in the Spanish-language letter.

The word "emigrado" refers to someone who has emigrated and has no specific legal connotation.

Braniff said, however, the word refers specifically to legal residents - but not naturalized citizens. He said when the letter was translated into English, the word "emigrado" became "immigrant" and didn't distinguish between those immigrants who were U.S. citizens and U.S. residents.

Braniff did acknowledge that the letter originated in Nguyen's office. He declined to give further details, citing the ongoing state and federal probes.