Denham campaign files criminal complaint against Perata

Action centers on letter, e-mail pressuring Senate aides to work on recall

By AURELIO ROJAS
BEE CAPITOL BUREAU

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SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Jeff Denham's campaign filed criminal complaints Thursday with state and local prosecutors, accusing Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata of illegally pressuring Senate aides into working to recall Denham.

Perata, D-Alameda, is trying to unseat Denham, R-Atwater, who angered Perata during last year's 53-day state budget stalemate when he joined his GOP colleagues in voting against the spending plan.

Thursday's complaints, filed with the California attorney general's office and Sacramento County district attorney's office, stem from a letter and e-mail sent to Senate aides last week by Perata and a firm owned by his political consultant.

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In the letter, sent by Perata to a handful of Democratic senators whose chiefs of staff did not attend a planning meeting for the June 3 legislative races, Perata made it clear he expected the Senate aides to work on political campaigns.

In the e-mail, sent a day later, an employee of Polka Consulting, owned by Sandi Polka, asked an interpreter for the Senate to translate into Spanish an anti-Denham political message.

Legislative aides routinely work on political campaigns on their own time, but state law bars government workers from doing so while on the job or using state resources.

"This is the latest abuse of office — and power — by Don Perata," John Franklin, campaign manager for Friends of Jeff Denham Against the Recall, said in a prepared statement.

The complaints were also being forwarded to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, according to the Denham campaign, "in case it is relevant to their ongoing probe of Sen. Perata."

Perata has been the target of a three-year-long FBI probe for allegedly receiving kickbacks from associates and donors.

Perata spokesman Jason Kinney called the Denham campaign's complaints "unsubstantiated and a waste of taxpayer resources."

"This is further evidence that Sen. Denham cares more about saving his political hide than doing the right thing," Kinney said.

If Denham is recalled, Democrats, who hold a 25-15 advantage in the Senate, would move to within one member of being able to pass a budget and raise taxes without needing a vote from a Republican.