In the last few weeks, federal and local authorities investigating Los Angeles city contracting have asked for information about a trip Mayor James K. Hahn took to Asia in 2002 that led to a controversial agreement with a Taiwanese air carrier.
In a detailed letter sent to the airport, the Los Angeles County district attorney's office on March 21 asked for contracting documents and communications between airport officials and EVA Airways, a Taiwanese carrier that Hahn wants to relocate from Los Angeles International Airport.
The district attorney's office and the city Ethics Commission also requested information on travel expenses for Hahn, his deputies and Leland Wong, who served on the Airport and Department of Water and Power commissions under Hahn. Federal investigators have also asked for documents related to Wong's tenure on the Airport Commission , which ended in 2003 when Hahn moved Wong to the DWP Commission. Wong resigned the next year amid controversy over alleged misuse of his employer's funds for political purposes.
The requests, which were obtained by The Times on Monday, were made just two months before the May 17 mayoral election and could complicate Hahn's bid for another term. Challenger Antonio Villaraigosa has made a top campaign issue of the year-plus investigations into Hahn administration contracting.
"It's the last thing he needs," said Republican strategist Allan Hoffenblum. "It's the corruption issue that has put Hahn in the position he is in ... and it is the single issue that could cost him the race."
Hoffenblum, who backed Hahn in 2001, said the news could put the mayor on the defensive after several weeks in which Hahn has aggressively attacked Villaraigosa.
The investigators appear to be focusing on a controversial arrangement spearheaded by the mayor's office that would have awarded space at the Los Angeles port to Evergreen Marine, a shipping company, and also moved EVA, an affiliate, to Ontario International Airport from LAX.
The latest demands began March 18, when the city Ethics Commission asked the airports department, known as Los Angeles World Airports, for Airport Commission resolutions approving the payment of travel expenses for a 2002 Asian trip by Wong, Hahn and several of Hahn's top aides.
In November 2002 Hahn led the 10-day trip to East Asia, which he trumpeted as an important campaign to boost tourism and strengthen business ties to the Pacific Rim.
