Hart Returns Potentially Illegal Contributions

BOONE, Iowa — Democratic presidential candidate Gary Hart, dogged by reports of improper campaign contributions, said on Friday that he has returned two potentially illegal contributions to his 1988 campaign.

Pledging that “there’s not going to be any illegal conduct in this campaign,” Hart said he has tried to set a high ethical tone throughout his political career.

“I have tried my very best for 12 or 15 years to run clean campaigns up to now,” he said during a campaign swing through Iowa. “I don’t know of any charge . . . of unethical or illegal conduct.”

Bernie Schneider, an attorney for the Hart campaign traveling with the candidate, acknowledged that the 1988 campaign received two contributions of $750 each in December, 1986, from two employees of video producer Stuart Karl, a Hart backer.

Ex-Employees Quoted

The Orange County Register reported Friday that three former Karl employees had told the newspaper Karl had masked contributions to Hart and to candidates for Congress by pressuring workers to make donations and then reimbursing them.

Hart said the contributions were “in violation of not only the restrictions placed upon campaigns by the Federal Election Commission but also my own standards for campaign practices, and we’re going to return that money.”

Schneider said the campaign learned of the allegations from published reports and had not independently confirmed the contribution came in fact from Karl.

“All we know is that there is a hint of impropriety,” he said. “So we went back and reviewed the records, found the two people and we’ve written the checks today.”

FEC reports list a December, 1986, contribution to Hart of $750 by Steven J. Bornstein of Venice, Calif., who was described on the report as an employee at Karl-Lorimar Video.

Rama Middell, a former executive assistant for Karl, said Friday she also wrote checks for candidates, including Hart, at Karl’s request and was reimbursed later.

“I was asked to do it and I felt if I didn’t that my job could be in jeopardy so I did it,” said Middell, who lives in Irvine. She said she also asked other employees on Karl’s behalf to do the same.

“I was the one who was directed by Stuart to collect the checks, go to the bank, get cash and pay them back,” Middell said.

From June, 1986, to November, 1986, Karl also paid the salary of Hart aide Dennis Walto, who was performing advance work for the candidate. Hart strongly defended Walto on Friday, calling him a “very, very good friend” and an “honorable, fine young man.” He said Walto worked for the campaign as a volunteer and maintained that it is not usual for corporate employees to devote free service to political campaigns.

‘Never Violated Law’

“This man, to my knowledge, has never violated the law or ever would,” Hart said.

Schneider said Walto, who continues to do advance work for Hart, probably will become a paid Hart campaign employee for first time next week. He said the campaign had previously planned to put Walto on staff after getting federal matching funds.

“It’s our understanding that he performed services for the (Karl) company,” Schneider said. “He also helped Gary out. He’s been helping Gary out since 1983, every chance he could get.”

Schneider also defended an agreement under which Hart settled a $96,000 debt with Karl by paying him 10 cents on the dollar. He said the campaign has settled other large debts at the same discount.

Although reporters dogged Hart and his aides with queries about the controversy, the crowds that showed up to meet the candidate at roadside diners and restaurants seemed hardly aware of the flap. Only one spectator at one of Hart’s many appearances asked about it.

Saleswoman Defends Him

“He hasn’t killed anybody,” said Connie Ryan, a vacuum cleaner saleswoman who went to the Bee Hive restaurant in Jefferson to see the candidate. “That’s about the only thing I’d oppose him for.”

At the Bee Hive, Hart wandered through the gold vinyl booths shaking hands while patrons munched on chicken sandwiches. Eldora Whiton, who stopped into the restaurant for coffee just before Hart arrived, said she didn’t know much about the funding controversy but what she did know she wasn’t too happy about.

“I don’t know why they (politicians) let things like that slide, because they know they are going to get caught,” the gray-haired farmer said. “Donna Rice was easier for me to understand,” she said, referring to Hart’s relationship with the Miami model last year.

Staff writer Claudia Luther in Orange County contributed to this story.