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Sacramento Bee Columnist Daniel Weintraub

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November 07, 2003

Groping for an explanation

Yesterday I said it wasn't clear to me how Schwarzenegger could consider Lockyer to be his lawyer on matters involving the groping charges. Now, having read the takes of a number of legal experts, it's less clear still. In fact, it's quite clear no attorney-client privilege exists in this matter between the two of them. Again, I understand why Schwarzenegger is ticked, and I think Lockyer was stupid to blab about his private conversations with the governor elect. And I believe the Schwarzenegger people when they say Lockyer led him to believe that he was acting as his legal counsel. But I don't see what the new guv accomplishes by airing this laundry in public. Were I in his shoes, I would have just picked up the phone, called Lockyer, reamed him for violating the confidence and made it clear that our relationship had just taken a giant step backward. Perhaps a well-placed leak to a journalist or two about the governor-elect's disappointment. End of story. As it is, Schwarzenegger is left looking foolish and in the process has dredged up all the allegations one more time.

Meanwhile, the quote of the day on this topic can be found in the last line of the LA Times piece here:

"Unbelievable," said Democratic campaign consultant Richie Ross. "How ironic that California's strangest political bedfellows would find themselves in an argument about groping."

UPDATE: The New York Times story today says that Lockyer himself mentioned the attorney-client relationship:

In speaking with reporters, Mr. Lockyer at one point said that he and Mr. Schwarzenegger "have that client-attorney relationship in many respects." But a spokeswoman for Mr. Lockyer said later that there was no such relationship because Mr. Schwarzenegger is not yet governor.

The story is here.