Consultant used others' names in letter-writing blitz to local newspaper
By Jeff Kearns
Capitol Weekly
(published October 6th, 2005)
Activist and political consultant Richard Salzman liked to sound off about his causes in letters to the editors of Eureka-area newspapers. Other local residents, like R. Trent Williams, Dick Wyatt, and R. Johnson, often backed him up, praising Salzman's points and echoing his jabs at political foes.
Salzman made a name for himself last year by helping Humboldt County District Attorney Paul Gallegos defeat a recall attempt backed by the timber industry. Salzman also worked on other successful campaigns in the area.
But his star quickly dimmed when a newspaper revealed that all of those like-minded letters penned over several months actually came from Salzman himself. Now, he's under investigation by local authorities and could face criminal charges for violating a state law that makes it a misdemeanor to send phony letters to newspapers.
Some of California's top experts in media law said they couldn't recall anyone being prosecuted under the obscure state statute, Penal Code section 538a.
"We've never heard of any prosecution under this code section," said Tom Newton, general counsel at the California Newspaper Publishers Association.
Police searched Salzman's home last week and seized his computer.
Salzman's short political career also appears to be over as former clients publicly distance themselves from him. Gallegos became close friends with Salzman, a volunteer on his first campaign in 2002, and asked him to run his campaign to beat the recall. But the two probably won't work together again.
"There's a good chance I probably will not be able to use him," said Gallegos, a Democrat who expects to run for a second term next year. He said he hasn't talked to Salzman since the news of the letters broke.
If police do recommend criminal charges, Gallegos said he'll recuse his office from handling the case because of his relationship with Salzman and instead forward it to state Attorney General Bill Lockyer to avoid a possible conflict of interest. Lockyer spokesman Nathan Barankin says that his office hadn't heard anything about the case.
The March recall attempt against Gallegos was prompted by a lawsuit he filed against Pacific Lumber Co. in 2003. The suit alleged that the timber giant defrauded the federal government in a recent land deal. But Humboldt County stood by Gallegos, with just 40 percent of voters in support of removing the district attorney.
Salzman's downfall came when one of his political adversaries tipped North Coast Journal Editor Hank Sims to one of the pseudonymous letters. Sims found old electronic copies of the letters and compared their server addresses with those on Salzman's letters. They matched. Sims ran a story Sept. 1, along with a selection of letters believed to have come from Salzman. The letters defended Gallegos and another former Salzman client, Eureka Councilman Chris Kerrigan.
Salzman, who did not return calls, sent the letters from Yahoo! mail accounts, which append a unique Internet Protocol number--such as 68.230.244.38, in Salzman's case--that identifies the electronic port that the sender used to connect to the Net.
Salzman denied using fake names when contacted by the Journal, an alternative weekly, but he later faxed a statement admitting that he sent the letters, Sims said.
Sims said the Journal "did in fact call the number provided and there was somebody who said, 'Yes, I'm R. Trent Williams,' so it was an elaborate scam it looks like." A Journal story about the letters said Salzman submitted names under as many as four names.
The real R. Trent Williams, a retired sheriff's deputy, didn't know his name was appearing on the letters pages of newspapers, nor did two of the other people whose names used, according to a Journal story. Dick Wyatt, who knows Salzman, did allow his name to be used once, but Salzman used it again without his permission to send another letter.
It was the second letter, attacking Gallegos foe and Fortuna Councilwoman Debi August, that led the Journal to identify Salzman. Wyatt apologized to August and told her the Salzman wrote the letter. August, in turn, told her sister, Rhonda Meehan, an activist who also opposes Gallegos. Meehan then passed the news to local papers, including the Journal.
One newspaper, the Eureka Reporter, filed a criminal complaint with Police Chief Ken Thrailkill in Trinidad, a city about 20 miles north of Eureka that's home to Salzman and about 300 other residents.
Thrailkill said he obtained a warrant last week and took Salzman's computer, which was sent to a forensic lab in the Bay Area. Results won't be available for a month or two, Thrailkill said. He wouldn't say whether he'd asked for or received any documents from area newspapers.
The Eureka Reporter's editor, Glenn Franco Simmons, did not return calls, but he wrote in a recent column that he had turned over unpublished material to Thrailkill. "I don't see a problem with turning over e-mailed letters to the editor to law enforcement if I believe a crime has been committed."
Charles Winkler, managing editor of the daily Eureka Times Standard, said his paper handed over published material that Thrailkill requested and nothing else. "He came over here and politely asked to have the raw emails from Salzman and R. Trent Williams, and we politely declined to release the unpublished material."
Sims said he's checking with the Journal's attorneys about whether the paper should turn over documents that could incriminate Salzman. "You don't want to be seen as an arm of law enforcement," said Sims, who became editor in May after three years as a reporter.
Humboldt County Supervisor Jill Geist, who used Salzman as a volunteer on her first campaign in 2002, said Salzman was an energitic worker who could make things happen but in a style that sometimes turned combative.
"He has the belief and the charisma to inspire people, and he crossed the line when he pushed himself out before the cause or the candidate."
Related:
the North Coast Journal - Web of Lies - Richard Salzman and other email phonies
From the Publisher: An apology
Rhonda Meehan's letter
http://www.northcoastjournal.com/090105/cover0901.html#Rhonda
Letters from "R. Trent Williams" printed by the Journal
Glossary of terms
Another Salzman alias?
Salzman exposed: Local newspapers reveal real names of letter writers
Supervisor Geist wants apology from Salzman
Police begin investigation into fake letters allegedly sent by Salzman
Editor files criminal complaint
Search warrant served in Salzman case
Salzman investigation forwarded on to state Office of the Attorney General
Trinidad police investigate Salzman
The final Salzman tally?
Consultant used others' names in letter-writing blitz to local newspaper
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