Politics

Woman Indicted In 'Debate-Gate'

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 6, 2001 / 5:55 PM EST / CBS

A former employee of a company that produced ads for George W. Bush's presidential campaign was indicted by a federal grand jury Tuesday in connection with the release of a Bush debate videotape and briefing books to the Al Gore campaign.

Juanita Yvette Lozano, who worked for Maverick Media of Austin, Texas, was charged on three counts: mail fraud, perjury and making false statements to the FBI. She faces 15 years in prison and a $750,000 fine. The case is being prosecuted by the Justice Department's public integrity section.

A Bush campaign media consultant who knows Lozano told CBSNews.com, "I guess the FBI knows what it’s doing, but we all are still hoping it's not her."

The tale of the tape had its beginnings last September 13, when former New York Congressman Tom Downey, who was helping Gore with debate preparations, received a package with an Austin postmark, containing the videotape, other Bush debate preparation materials and a note from an "Amy Smith."

The note said "I will call you soon to find out what other materials can be useful to the VP," and ended with the words, "Good luck." Downey immediately turned the package over to the FBI.

The FBI grilled Lozano after discovering a surveillance tape showing her mailing a parcel at an Austin post office on the same date as the videotape package was shipped. She insisted that she was mailing a pair of pants back to the Gap for her boss, Mark McKinnon, who was an adviser to the Bush campaign.

McKinnon and Lozano have both worked for Democrats in the past including former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, who Mr. Bush defeated in 1994.

Because of those facts, the focus of the investigation turned to McKinnon’s company, Maverick Media, where the master copy of the videotape and briefing books were stored.

Tuesday’s indictment said Lozano made false statements to FBI agents regarding her post office trip. She committed perjury, according to the indictment, when she testified to a grand jury that she didn’t mail the package.

The indictment said she used "her position as a trusted employee of Maverick Media ...to obtain access to the Bush Campaign's confidential and sensitive debate preparation materials ... to assist Gore in his preparation for the presidential debates."

On the mail fraud charge, the indictment said she defrauded the Bush campaign of its campaign materials and defrauded Maverick Media of her "honest services."

In a statement to CBS News regarding the indictment, McKinnon said the news was "devastating for me and for my family."

"The particulars of the indictment, if true, raise very serious questions about her activities and statements not only to the prosecutors but to me," the statement continued. "To say that I am disappointed would be an understatement."

Rusty Hardin, McKinnon's lawyer, said the prosecutors have made it clear from the beginning that neiher McKinnon nor anyone else at Maverick is under investigation.