Porter releases phone records, schedules

Saturday, Oct. 28, 2006 | 7:46 a.m.

U.S. Rep. Jon Porter released phone records and copies of his daily schedule Friday that he claims disprove a former staffer's allegations that the congressman made illegal fundraising phone calls from his government offices in Henderson and Washington, D.C.

While the records - which in some cases had names and phone numbers blacked out - do not prove that the allegations are false, they appear to conflict with some of the charges leveled by Porter's one-time executive assistant and scheduler, Jim Shepard.

The records show, for example, that Porter made fundraising and other phone calls from a campaign cell phone on April 18, a day when his schedule shows that he was at his district office.

But his chief of staff, Mike Hesse, said he and Porter were out to lunch when the calls were made, and offered a receipt from about 11:45 a.m. at Sweet Tomatoes to prove it.

Federal law and House ethics rules prohibit lawmakers from making fundraising calls from federal buildings, even if the calls are paid for by a campaign.

Similarly, on April 21, when Shepard claims he witnessed Porter make fundraising calls between 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. at his Henderson office, Porter's schedule shows that the congressman left for a meeting with Clark County School District officials at 1:15 p.m. and remained out of the office the rest of the day.

Shepard said he remembers the meeting with school officials being delayed and that the schedule - which he kept while he was on Porter's staff - does not match e-mails and call logs he retained. He said he could not share the call logs on the advice of his attorney.

The documents from Porter came on the same day that the U.S. attorney's office turned over a complaint about the calls to the FBI.

"We did receive a referral," said FBI spokesman Dave Staretz. "I can't go into any particulars. We will evaluate the case and determine whether we will open a preliminary inquiry."

In a statement, Las Vegas-based U.S. Attorney Daniel Bogden emphasized that no decision has been made on whether to proceed on the request for an investigation from Nevada Democratic Party Chairman Tom Collins.

"There is a distinction between reviewing a request for an investigation and opening an investigation," Bogden said. "We are not stating that Mr. Porter is under investigation, only that the matter will be referred for review."

Shepard told the Sun last week that he witnessed Porter making fundraising calls on a campaign cell phone from his district office on April 17, 18 and 21, and from his Washington office on June 15 and 16.

The records released Friday by Porter also show that on April 17 Porter made several fundraising phone calls during "call time" allotted in his schedule.

The schedule does not specify a location where the calls were made, but Shepard contends they occurred at Porter's district office.

"I can tell you he was not at the district office," Hesse said. He said he wasn't sure, however, where the calls were made.

On June 15, Porter's schedule shows that no call time was allotted, although Shepard insists Porter made fundraising calls from his Washington office that day.

In phone records provided by Porter for June 15, the names and phone numbers of those he called are blacked out.

Hesse said Porter blacked out the names and numbers of any phone calls that did not occur during a scheduled "call time," a period set aside for the congressman to make calls - professional, personal or political.

The information was blacked out, Hesse said, for privacy reasons.

"We are taking an extraordinary step to prove this is false," Hesse said.

Shepard on Friday stuck by his allegations.

"It is not a complete picture," he said of the records released.

E-mails among Shepard, Hesse and Porter's campaign staff back up his account, Shepard said. Asked about the e-mails, Hesse said he does not remember them and that a search of House computer archives did not turn up any e-mails that Shepard contends he sent to Hesse, including one in which Shepard tells Hesse, "We can NOT let him do this anymore."

Hesse admitted Friday that he did not search for e-mails except those listing him as a recipient. Many e-mails that Shepard points to as proof of his claims were not sent to Hesse.

Hesse also noted that if e-mails were deleted before they were archived, there would be no record of them.

Both Hesse and Shepard agree on at least one thing: Both said they welcome an investigation of the allegations.