Lockyer Calls New Tan Nguyen Mailer Misleading

Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer is blasting a new mailer sent to voters by Tan Nguyen, the embattled Orange County congressional candidate linked to a "voter intimidation" letter sent to Latinos.

Lockyer's office has been investigating the source of the original letter, which warned "emigrado" not to vote Tuesday. Nguyen supporters said the word refers simply to an immigrant, without connoting legal status, while others said the mailer clearly was an attempt to suppress Latino voter turnout. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger called the mailer "racist" and a "hate crime."

The new Nguyen mailer, which just landed in the district, claims that Lockyer has returned Nguyen's computers because they were "wrongly seized" and described the original Spanish language letter as "merely a warning that it is illegal for noncitizens to vote."

In addition, Lockyer communications director Nathan Barankin said, "Mr. Nguyen's mailer claims that 'The whole thing (was) a 'dirty trick'. It's unclear what the mailer means by the 'whole thing,' but if it refers to the Latino voter intimidation letter, Atty. Gen. Bill Lockyer agrees. If it refers to the AG's investigation into the Latino voter intimidation letter, this mailer represents another effort to deceive the voters of Orange County."

Barankin said the computers have been returned, "as they routinely would be, just as soon as we had completed 'imaging' the hard drive of each computer.... The AG wanted to return Mr. Nguyen's campaign computers as quickly as possible to minimize any continuing impact on Mr. Nguyen's lawful campaign activities."

"Our investigation will not be complete until we determine exactly who was responsible for distributing the Latino voter intimidation letter in Orange County, and who should be prosecuted for that offense," Lockyer said in a statement.