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The man running Republican Jerry Kilgore's gubernatorial campaign acknowledged yesterday that he knew that a state GOP operative had eavesdropped on a Democratic teleconference within 24 hours of the call.
Ken Hutcheson said in an interview that he discussed the March 22, 2002, call with Edmund A. Matricardi III, a Spotsylvania County resident who was then the executive director of the Republican Party of Virginia.
Documents filed as part of a pending Democratic civil suit also reveal that Anne P. Petera, Attorney General Kilgore's chief of staff, listened to a tape Matricardi made of the call.
The 30-plus Democratic plaintiffs have asked a judge for permission to question Hutcheson, Petera and others in preparation for a December trial.
Hutcheson said that on March 23 Matricardi showed him notes of the conference call, in which Democrats were talking about overturning a GOP redistricting effort. Sen. Dick Saslaw was complaining that Gov. Mark Warner needed to show more spine in fighting Republicans.
"You know, the whole 2-x-4 backbone thing," Hutcheson said.
Hutcheson said he requested a copy of Matricardi's notes from the call because he didn't know the eavesdropping was illegal.
In an e-mail to The Free Lance-Star later, Hutcheson said that "as a partisan, I was admittedly intrigued but did not read the transcripts or receive copies of them."
Hutcheson apparently had a change of heart and decided to warn Kilgore later that day. "He immediately stopped me and said that Bernie McNamee, his chief counsel, was handling the matter," he wrote in the e-mail.
In a second e-mail, Hutcheson further condemned Matricardi. "When I called the A.G., I still had no idea what Ed did was illegal, just that it was wrong," he wrote.
The Democratic motion to allow more witnesses accuses Petera of listening to the call tape, encouraging Matricardi and seeking copies of his notes.
Petera refused to discuss her actions. "I'll do it in court, and I'll do it under oath," she said.
Other Kilgore associates that Democrats want to question include McNamee and state Appeals Court Judge Elizabeth McClanahan, who was a deputy attorney general in March 2002. A member of McClanahan's staff said she couldn't discuss pending litigation.
Kilgore's office fielded inquiries via e-mail.
"But for the actions of this office this matter would never have come to light and successful prosecutions never would have been obtained," wrote Kilgore spokesman J. Tucker Martin.
Matricardi pleaded guilty last year to a single count of violating federal wiretap law, as did Claudia D. Tucker, once a top aide to former House of Delegates Speaker S. Vance Wilkins Jr.
The Democratic lawsuit targets the Republican Party of Virginia, Matricardi, Wilkins, Tucker and former RPV Chairman Gary Thomson. The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.
Of the defendants, only the RPV opposes expanding the number of witnesses.
Ken Smurzynski, the Democrats' lead attorney, suggested the RPV has something to hide. "This motion is a step to continue to obtain discovery about these events, and to see where the truth leads us," he said.
RPV attorney Ed Fuhr retorted that the Democrats' motive is money. "Maybe if they were not requesting an award of attorneys' fees, they would take a more balanced approach," he said.
To reach GEORGE WHITEHURST: 540/374-5438 gwhitehurst@freelancestar.com