Los Angeles – Congressional candidate Tan Nguyen personally bought the list of voters to whom a racially charged letter was mailed, warning that immigrants could be jailed or deported for voting, according to the president of the company that sold the list and sources familiar with the still-unfolding investigation.
Nguyen requested information on registered Democrats in the central Orange County, Calif., congressional district with Spanish surnames who were born outside of the United States, according to people familiar with a state investigation into the letter. Nguyen, a Republican, is running an underdog campaign against Democratic incumbent Loretta Sanchez.
“The only thing I can really say is, the candidate purchased the data, which he had a legal right to do, and if he went and did something illegal with it, he’s going to have to answer for it,” said Jim Hayes, president of Political Data Inc., the state’s largest voter information broker. Hayes met with investigators and provided them with the same information last week, sources said.
Nguyen, who has drawn national scorn for his campaign’s role in the mailing, maintains that he had nothing to do with the letter’s production or distribution, saying a campaign office manager misappropriated the list. Nguyen fired the worker last week but said Sunday that he had offered to rehire her because he came to believe that the letter was accurate and did not violate the law.
Separately, sources said a Los Angeles Police Department officer who is close to Nguyen used an alias to order the letter produced and then paid $4,000 for it on his credit card.
Appearing at a news conference Sunday, Nguyen defended the letter and rejected his party’s calls for him to quit the race.
On Monday, Nguyen’s lawyer, William Braniff, said Nguyen bought the list for legitimate purposes.
