Now that most of the votes have been counted and Carl DeMaio has conceded to incumbent San Diego-area Congressman Scott Peters (D-CA) in what was one of the most contentious and highly targeted congressional races in the country, newly released court records have revealed that the Peters campaign had more communication with DeMaio’s sexual harassment accuser and former staff member than was originally known.
Information released at the request of U-T Watchdog reportedly exposes a June 5 coffeehouse meeting between Peters campaign manager, MaryAnne Pintar, and DeMaio sexual harassment accuser Todd Bosnich, the San Diego Union-Tribune reported. In an interview with Pintar, the paper was told the meeting was at Bosnich’s request.
NBC 7 reported that among the materials provided to Pintar were printed proofs of DeMaio mailers and a CD of an interview radio host Mike Slater had conducted with Bosnich on June 2, but never aired.
Pintar told the Union-Tribune that she gave the materials to Peters on June 6. Records indicate Peters gave them to his wife, who consequently contacted police on June 9. Police reportedly picked up the information on June 11.
Bosnich raised allegations of harassment publicly, but the Union-Tribune reported that court documents recorded a police inquiry as to whether Bosnich would bring criminal charges, after which he declined to take criminal legal action. The claims included not only sexual harassment, but also attempted bribery.
DeMaio publicly denied all allegations against him and implicated Bosnich among possible suspects in a break-in to the campaign office in the days before the June primary election. DeMaio raised more counter allegations against Bosnich for his alleged part in plagiarism, which also occurred shortly before the primary.
Both DeMaio and Bosnich took polygraphs that purportedly indicated no deception. Separate proctors reportedly administered the tests, and both sides indicated reliable results.
The U-T further reported, “Police searched Bosnich’s home on June 24. At that time, about a month into the investigation into the break-in, detectives believed Bosnich had committed the burglary.” Confiscated in the search were, “No gas cards. No black binder. No modem. They took a computer, a phone and 2 copies of campaign mailers,” reported the U-T.
San Diego’s District Attorney, Bonnie Dumanis, a supporter of DeMaio’s mayoral campaign, announced October 20 that no charges would be filed in either the sexual harassment or break-in allegations.
In the wake of an ugly battle between liberal Democrat Peters and “new generation” Republican DeMaio, resulting in the re-election the freshman Democrat Congressman, DeMaio has called the experience “incredibly painful.” The night of the election, while DeMaio led in votes, he declared, “It has certainly not been an easy race for our campaign team that has had to endure so much that potentially, if I were a Democrat, there would be people in the streets rioting over what we’ve had to endure.”
The Peters-DeMaio race saw no shortage of nasty campaign ads seeking to alienate one or the other from coveted moderate voters in a district comprised of a fairly even balance of Republicans and Democrats. Even Karl Rove’s Crossroads got in on the action early in a highly targeted race that garnered significant influx of monetary influence.
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