Riordan Backs Feinstein; Rival Doubts Impact

Entering the fierce, final stretch of the campaign, U.S. Sen. Dianne Feinstein picked up a major endorsement Sunday from Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan and accused her opponent of hiding behind his wife in the political uproar that followed disclosures that the couple had employed an illegal immigrant as a nanny.

Republican challenger Mike Huffington, interviewed on a nationally televised news show, downplayed the significance of the Riordan endorsement and defended his actions in the hiring of the illegal immigrant.

“When I found out about it--that she was illegal--I asked my wife to fire her,” Huffington said. “But my wife, unfortunately, has a heart of gold and our daughter (who) was 2 years old at the time, had fallen in love . . . with this lady and it tore my wife’s heart out to have to separate the two.”

Asked about his support for Proposition 187, Huffington said he hoped that illegal immigrant children barred from public schools by the measure would be sent to private schools or educated at home--a suggestion that Feinstein later dubbed “sheer nonsense.”

Feinstein, in sharply criticizing the Santa Barbara congressman, on Sunday for the first time raised the issue of Arianna Huffington’s role in what Feinstein called a religious “cult.” Arianna Huffington has said she was a member and minister in the Church of the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness in Los Angeles, but she has described it as a religious institute and says she no longer is active in the group.

Feinstein’s remarks drew an angry response from the Huffington campaign.

The back-and-forth of the day underscored the continuing nastiness of a close Senate race that long ago became the costliest congressional contest in U.S. history. As of last week, Republican Huffington reported spending $25.2 million, most of it from his personal fortune, with another $10.7 million spent by Democrat Feinstein.

At a morning news conference, Feinstein received the politically significant endorsement of Riordan, a wealthy Republican businessman who--like Huffington--had no government service before bankrolling a successful campaign for high political office.

“I am supporting Dianne Feinstein because she has shown an amazing ability to work with Republicans and Democrats to help solve the problems of Los Angeles and California,” Riordan said at the Studio City event, joined by Feinstein and scores of her supporters.

“Dianne is a proven person to me. She is a strong leader. She has come through for Los Angeles in many ways: the crime bill, the (federal emergency) economic package after the (Northridge) earthquake,” Riordan told reporters. “She has used her experience as a mayor to really be of tremendous assistance.”

Riordan’s action hearkened to last week’s endorsement of New York Democratic Gov. Mario M. Cuomo by New York City’s Republican Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani. And while California voters may not be as partisan as New York’s, the import of Riordan’s endorsement was clear.

William Schneider, political analyst at the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, said, “It is significant because it gives her a boost in Southern California, which is not where she is strong. It is not just the city of Los Angeles. It is the whole media market, where Mayor Riordan is not only well-known but popular.”

Throughout his speech and during subsequent remarks to reporters, Riordan had only good things to say about Feinstein but avoided any criticism of Huffington.

Told that Huffington called his endorsement inconsequential and the result of political pressure by Democratic aides to the mayor, Riordan quipped, “Words are cheap in politics.” He added, “This decision was based on what I think is best for the city of Los Angeles.”

Moments later, Feinstein did not hesitate to lay into her opponent for accusing her--so far without any substantiation--of employing illegal immigrants at her home in San Francisco.

That claim has been made by Huffington several times since he and his wife admitted last Thursday that they had employed an illegal immigrant for more than four years as a nanny to their children. The admission that he broke immigration and tax laws has broadsided Huffington’s campaign, all the more so because he vigorously supports Proposition 187, the ballot measure that seeks to end education and health services to illegal immigrants.

Noting that Huffington repeatedly has said his wife was responsible for running the household and hiring the nanny, Feinstein said Huffington has a history of blaming others for his problems and lying for political gain. An example, she said, was his claim that she has hired illegal immigrants.

“That’s false and it’s one of the the things he does,” an angry Feinstein told reporters. “He can’t accept responsibility and he doesn’t tell the truth.

“I mean, he got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. And now he’s trying to say, ‘Well, somebody else told me to do it,’ or ‘Somebody else put their hands in the cookie jar too.’ ”

Moments later, Feinstein raised the politically sensitive topic of Arianna Huffington’s involvement with the Movement of Spiritual Inner Awareness, contending that the candidate had denied that his wife was a member of a “cult.”

“Do you think the proof is she was?” a reporter asked.

“Oh, there is no question in my mind,” Feinstein replied.

Later, Feinstein’s campaign manager Kam Kuwata attempted to clarify Feinstein’s remarks. “The cult is not an issue. The lie is the issue,” Kuwata said.

Feinstein’s remarks were immediately derided by Ken Khachigian, a veteran GOP consultant and senior adviser to the Huffington campaign.

“I think Dianne has lost it,” Khachigian said. “The man held a press conference. If he wanted to hide behind his wife, he would have sent her out by herself.”

The reference to Arianna Huffington’s personal beliefs, he charged, was inappropriate. “It is totally irrelevant to whether Mike Huffington is qualified to be a U.S. senator.”

Earlier Sunday, the controversy over the illegal immigrant issue dominated Huffington’s interview on the nationally broadcast “This Week With David Brinkley.”

Asked several times about the hiring of the nanny and its seeming conflict with his support for Proposition 187, Huffington said there was no conflict. He said the real issue in the immigration debate is taxpayer-funded services, not hiring illegal workers.

“People don’t want to pay from their pocket into the state treasury and have the state treasury pay for welfare payments and other payments,” he said. “So that is a separate issue” from employing an illegal immigrant.

“Your campaign, of course, has been convulsed in recent days by the revelation that you, for a number of years, had in your employment an illegal immigrant . . . . how does someone get to late October of a Senate campaign without dealing with this issue?” asked the nationally syndicated and politically conservative columnist George F. Will.

In responding to that question and others, Huffington repeatedly referred to his wife and eldest daughter as the reason that the woman was hired and kept as an employee in violation of federal law. He said his reference to his wife was an explanation, not an excuse.

“My wife hired her, my wife paid for her and I asked my wife to let her go,” he said, adding later: “I disagreed with my wife. But I’m taking responsibility for my wife’s actions.”

When Will asked about the impact of Proposition 187 on illegal immigrant children who would be barred from schools, Huffington suggested that they could be sent to private schools.

“Well, I would hope . . . that in many cases the parents would still pay for some type of education for their children, even if it’s home schooling or teaching them themselves,” Huffington said.

“Mr. Huffington,” Will responded, “is it realistic to expect the parents of these children, who are themselves probably working at least one job, scraping to make ends meet, to invest in private education or to stay home and teach their children?”

“Well,” Huffington said, “hopefully some have grandparents, some have aunts or uncles, some have people that are retired who can help teach the kids. But the point is, the state should not be forced to tax taxpayers in California to pay for illegal immigrants’ education. It makes no sense whatsoever.”

Huffington said Riordan’s endorsement of Feinstein meant nothing to him.

“I don’t care about endorsements,” he said, reminding viewers that his congressional opponent two years ago was a veteran Republican supported by George Bush and Dan Quayle.

“I only want the votes of the people and I’m a populist,” he said. “And I don’t care about the liberal media either.”

After the show, Huffington appeared with several other candidates, including Gov. Wilson and state Atty. Gen. Dan Lungren, at a Republican Party steak-and-oyster feed in Elk Grove. But he did not speak to the crowd.

Reporters asked him about the nanny controversy as he mingled with the guests, and he said: “My wife did the hiring. I technically did not break the law.”

Afterward, asked what significance he thinks the matter will play in the campaign, he said:

“In the end . . . there will be a few people who may . . . but I’ll tell you what, most of them are concerned about their taxes going up.”

Contributing to this story were Times staff writer Daniel M. Weintraub and research librarian Paul J. Singleton.

Huffingtons’ Actions Could Have Breached 2 Statutes

Republican candidate Mike Huffington is expected to approach two federal agencies today to negotiate penalties for hiring an illegal immigrant and not paying the proper taxes for the employee. The two agencies are the Immigration and Naturalization Service and the Internal Revenue Service. Here are the two laws that Huffington and his wife Arianna may have broken:

Immigration Reform and Control Act--Signed by President Ronald Reagan in 1986, this law makes it a crime to hire illegal immigrants and requires employers to verify their workers’ citizenship status. The act provides civil penalties of as much as $10,000 for each illegal immigrant hired. Repeat offenders face up to six months’ imprisonment.

The Federal Insurance Contributions Act--Passed in 1954, this statute requires employers to pay Social Security taxes and sometimes other taxes for household workers earning more than $50 for each three-month period. In case of delinquency, employers are responsible for paying back taxes, plus interest, and may be subject to fines of up to 48% of the total tax.