Bush Camp Subpoenaed in Tape Probe

— -- ABCNEWS has learned a grand jury has issued suboenas to George W. Bush’s campaign and an Austin media firm in the probe of debate materials mysteriously sent to an aide of Bush’s rival, Al Gore.

ABCNEWS.com

Oct. 8 — The FBI has made a case to a grand jury that federal laws may have been broken in the case of Republican presidential candidate George W. Bush’s debate preparation material, which was somehow mailed to an associate of his Democratic rival, Al Gore. Sources familiar with the investigation tell ABCNEWS that a sitting grand jury in Washington has issued subpoenas to the Bush campaign and its media consulting firm, Maverick Media, for documents and other materials sought by the FBI.

A Bush representative said today the campaign has received a subpoena asking for any Maverick contracts and confidentiality agreements. The subpoena also called for the campaign’s employee handbook and a list of those given access to the debate tape and briefing books that were mailed from Austin, Texas, to Gore friend Tom Downey, who immediately turned the material over to authorities.

The campaign pledges to comply with this subpoena by the deadline, at the end of next week. In fact, the representative said, the entire list of subpoenaed material was suggested by the Bush team in a conversation campaign manager Joe Allbaugh had with the FBI on Sept. 15. They are “pleased,” the spokesperson said, that the FBI is moving to solve the case.

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McKinnon Hires Lawyer

Mark McKinnon, head of Maverick, has hired Houston lawyer Rusty Hardin to represent him and his company in the case. Hardin told ABCNEWS today he is confident his client “is definitely not a target” of the FBI investigation.

“There was some reluctance from Mark to even hire a lawyer because he didn’t want it to look like things have changed,” Hardin said.

But complying with subpoenas and FBI interview requests has proved taxing for the small Austin-based firm, Hardin said, prompting McKinnon to bring him in to help “coordinate the cooperation.”