Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, September 10, 1993 TAG: 9309100171
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-3 EDITION: NEW RIVER VALLEY
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: RICHMOND LENGTH: Medium
Dolan said Jim Gilmore should resign as Henrico County commonwealth's attorney.
Gilmore said he will do no such thing. He called Dolan's accusations "patently absurd."
Dolan's allegations were prompted by an Aug. 13 fund-raising letter from Gilmore to political action committees. Gilmore urged the potential donors to call him at his office or his campaign headquarters if they had any questions.
"This has to do with the use and misuse of public funds," Dolan said. "Has the commonwealth's attorney office been misused for political purposes?"
If taxpayer-funded telephones and employees of the prosecutor's office are being used in the campaign, Dolan said, the answer to that question is yes.
He stopped short of saying Gilmore had broken the law but said his actions show poor judgment.
Gilmore said his campaign is not disrupting the work of the prosecutor's office.
"I'm fulfilling my duties. The job is getting done, and it's getting done well," he said.
He said there is nothing wrong with people calling him at the prosecutor's office to talk about campaign matters.
A group of Henrico County residents, led by a lawyer who formerly served on Gov. Douglas Wilder's staff, publicly complained about Gilmore's letter Wednesday.
In the letter, Gilmore told the PACs: "Your early contribution to my campaign now, when it is most needed, will not be forgotten when I am attorney general."
Lynne Porfiri, the former Wilder aide, said that sounded like a promise of special favors.
Keywords:
POLITICS
by CNB