Sanchez Opponent's Campaign Tied to Letter Threatening Latino Voters

[BurtWorm]

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/news/local/states/california/northern_california/15791512.htm

OC candidate denies sending threatening letter to Hispanic voters
PETER PRENGAMAN
Associated Press

LOS ANGELES - A Republican congressional candidate said in an interview Thursday he was not personally involved in sending a letter threatening Hispanic immigrant voters in Orange County, a mailing that has prompted a state investigation.

"I did not do this. I did not approve of any letter," Tan D. Nguyen, the GOP challenger to Democratic U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, told The Associated Press.

The investigation is focused on Nguyen's campaign, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to publicly discuss it.

Nguyen, a Vietnamese immigrant who has made halting illegal immigration a main plank of his platform, said he believed an employee in his office might have used his campaign's voter data base to send the letter without his knowledge. He said that employee has been "discharged."

The letter, written in Spanish and mailed last week to an estimated 14,000 Democratic voters in central Orange County, tells recipients: "You are advised that if your residence in this country is illegal or you are an immigrant, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time."

It is a federal and state crime to threaten or intimidate voters. Under state law, threatening voters is a felony punishable by 16 months to 3 years in prison. The same penalty applies to anyone who "who hires or arranges for any other person" to make such threats.

Nguyen said he was cooperating with authorities and planned to continue his underdog campaign.

[Howardx]

1. underdog campaign is right!

this guy is running against my rep, sanchez, and until today i had never heard of him, no mailers, no calls no commercials.