(Jerry) Brown spokesman resigns over secret phone recordings

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

Scott Gerber, the communications director for Attorney General Jerry Brown who admitted recording phone conversations with reporters without their permission --- including Chronicle senior political writer Carla Marinucci -- resigned Monday.

Gerber had been on administrative leave.

"I write this letter with a heavy heart," Gerber wrote Monday to chief deputy attorney general James Humes. "I have let you down and let myself down as well."

... "The errors were mine alone -- neither the Attorney General nor any other attorneys from our office were aware that I was recording interviews without permission.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/nov05election/detail?entry_id=50812&tsp=1

[Ken Burch]

1. Does this knock Linda Rondstadt's old boyfriend out of the governor's race, then?

I never really had that many warm and fuzzies about ol' Moonbeam in the first place. He was a poorbasher when he was governor and his Mayor Daley streak on crime issues is not attractive.

[kestrel91316]

3. I doubt it. Gerber is taking all the blame, and I doubt anybody has any

facts to dispute him.

[EFerrari]

4. If Brown was into this stuff, I imagine we'd have known about it

long before now.

[kestrel91316]

8. I think Brown is far too smart to try a boneheaded thing like illegal wiretapping.

[JDPriestly]

5. Highly unlikely that Jerry Brown had anything to do with this.

Brown is a savvy lawyer and knows the law well enough to avoid making the mistake of taping someone without permission. This is the kind of thing that ignorant amateurs do. Brown would have no reason to do this since he would know that all he had to do was ask the party being taped for permission. If the other party is a news reporter who probably tapes lots of conversations him- or herself, getting permission would probably be no problem.

[Bette Noir]

6. No. Gavin Newsome is already out; Villaraigosa can't win even in LA

(only got 5,000 votes in the last election). Who else is there?

[democrat2thecore]

12. Jerry has a BIG head start - money, name ID, high approval ratings

He's one liberal Democrat who believes that we must get tough on crime (excepting drug crimes that fill our prisons). This is one issue Democrats roll over on. There's nothing to defend about the thugs that run the streets and then threaten citizens for "ratting". That is a culture that MUST be crushed. I don't want to be identified with those hoods and nobody else here should either.

[democrat2thecore]

11. Jerry's GOT to get tough on crime! What's wrong with that? -nt

[Ian David]

2. Hasta la vista, Gerber. n/t

[bemildred]

7. The noble minion falls on his sword. nt

[No Elephants]

16. That would mean Brown told Gerber to tape secretly, in violation of law, and Gerber

not only did knowingly tape in violation of law, but readily said he had taped when he did not need to admit it.

[bemildred]

17. No, it would not.

It means he resigned to end the "controversy".

[No Elephants]

18. Ah, now I got your drift. Thanks. I thought you were implying Gerber had resigned

to take the blame for Brown.

[bemildred]

19. No problem.

In politics, facts and the law don't mean all that much, public relations rules. Any good minion knows that.

[No Elephants]

20. And if he or she doesn't, I imagine the boss or another minion will fill them in.

[naaman fletcher]

9. What's the problem?

In Oklahoma it is perfectly legal to record a call that just you and one other person are on, even if you don't inform them. I am not sure of the law in California, but the point is this is only a problem because reporters want to be able to twist what people say without there being any recourse.

[Peace Patriot]

10. I think you're right about the reason that Gerber did it--to protect his boss from

being misquoted--but the law is very clear in California. You cannot tape phone calls without permission. Gerber really goofed. And I agree with those above who say that they can't believe that Brown knew about it. That's my judgment as well. Brown simply wouldn't do this. He knows the law. He would never take such a risk--especially for such a flimsy, speculative reason (that he might be misquoted). (And I can't think of any other reason that Gerber would do it. I wonder how he expected to use it, if a misquote came up. Maybe he wasn't even aware of the law.)

[No Elephants]

14. Disagree. The law has wiggle room: did all parties to the conversation

reasonably expect the conversation to be private? If so, Gerber broke the law. If not, Gerber committed no crime whatever.

See, for example, this article about whether Amber Frey violated the law by taping her conversations with Scott Peterson while he was in prison. http://home.earthlink.net/~bdega/criminaldefenselawyerdanielhorowitz/id11.html

So, let's say Gerber and the reporter were the only parties to the call. Gerber knew it was being recorded, so he doesn't count. If the reporter thought the conversation would be private, there would hardly have been a reason for the reporter to interview Gerber. The whole point was to make the interview public by publishing it.

That said, it MAY possibly be that, if we listen to the tape, we would find some indication that the reporter expected privacy. However, we don't know that unless we listen to the tape--and that would also break the law.

Would it have been better for Gerber to have said "Just so you know, I record all my conversations with reporters?" Sure.

Did he create a totally unnecessary and potentially negative distraction in his bosses' campaign? Yes. His job is to enhance and protect the candidacy, not harm it gratuitously. So, he most definitely should have resigned (or "resigned"). Not to "take one for the team but because he fucked up his job big time. (And, he has no business hiring himself out as "Director of Communications" to a political campaign without knowing the law about taping. Haven't we all heard about Linda Tripp, fff?)

Did he commit a crime? Not at all clear based on what we know so far, IMO. As I said, probably not, but we'd have to hear the tape to know for sure.

And let's not forget how this info came out. The reporter misquoted Gerber, maybe innocently, maybe intentionally; and Gerber admitting the taping to show that his correction was accurate.

[Garbo 2004]

21. Gerber was director of communications to the state AG's office, not to a campaign.

Director of Communications to the AG in the state Dept of Justice is not a position in which to be cavalier about the law. It's not a position where ignorance about the law or talk about "wiggle room" in the law is going to fly.

[Garbo 2004]

13. It's illegal in CA to tape phone conversations without knowledge & permission of other party.

That's the problem. Moreso when it's an illegal act by the spokesman for CA's Attorney General.

[No Elephants]

15. Not necessarily. Please see Reply 14.