Ah, remember that whacky election of 2000? http://foxnews.com/story/0,2933,25753,00.html # # May 25, 2001 # # Employee of Bush Adviser to Plead Guilty to Mail Fraud in Debate # Tape Incident # # DALLAS - A former aide to George W. Bush's media adviser has # agreed to plead guilty to mail fraud and perjury, admitting she # stole and mailed a Bush debate videotape to Al Gore's campaign # and lied about it to a grand jury. # # Under the deal she reached with federal prosecutors, Juanita # Yvette Lozano, 31, faces a $200 fine and prison sentence of # between six months and a year, The Dallas Morning News reported # on its Web site Friday. # # Lozano admitted guilt in a statement that she and her lawyer # signed and dated Wednesday, according to court documents. # # A current phone number for Lozano could not immediately be # obtained. Her attorney, Christopher Gunter, told The Associated # Press on Friday that he would not comment on the case. # # In exchange for her plea, the government is dropping one count # of the three-count indictment, the accusation that Lozano lied # to the FBI during the investigation. # # No date has been set for her to enter her plea. A judge has the # option of allowing her to serve her time at home or in a halfway # house. # # Lozano worked for Maverick Media, formed by a top Bush media # adviser, Mark McKinnon, to develop Bush's political ads. # # In September, a Bush videotape, strategy book and other papers # taken from Maverick Media were sent to former U.S. Rep. Tom # Downey, D-N.Y., who was advising Gore before the first # presidential debate with Bush. # # Downey gave the materials to the FBI, and agents later identified # Lozano as a suspect, based on surveillance videotape from an # Austin post office. # # Lozano, a Democratic county precinct chair, said she used her # home computer to look up Downey's address on the Internet before # sending him a package promising further help. # # FBI agents found a record of that address search on her hard # drive, and her subsequent denial of that to a grand jury was # the basis of the perjury charge. # # The Gore campaign has steadfastly denied any role in the mailing. # # McKinnon, whose lawyer says he is not under suspicion, said he # is at a loss to explain the betrayal. # # "It put the campaign at risk, and it put me through hell," he # said. "We're talking about a race that was won by fewer than # 500 votes. If Tom Downey had been any less honorable of a person, # we could have been talking about President Gore." WSJ MINOR MEMOS: Regarding Sen. Jeffords leaving the GOP: Comic Dave Werner says, "After his experience in the general election, Bush thought Republicans could hold their Senate majority with the second-highest vote total."
