Schlozman was questioned this month on Capitol Hill about his decision to obtain indictments of some former voter registration workers for the liberal Assn. of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, less than a week before the midterm election last fall.
Managed Subcontractors had been the target of an investigation in 2002 by federal immigration agents working for the Department of Homeland Security. But its attorneys believed the case had gone dormant in the ensuing years.
Then, in June 2006, three months after his arrival as U.S. attorney, Schlozman secured an indictment. The principal owner of the company, Robbyn Tumey, had recently filed as a Democratic candidate for the state House in neighboring Arkansas.
Hutchinson, who was then in a hotly contested race for governor of Arkansas, was interested in the case because he was running on a get-tough-on-immigration platform, the court filing contends.
After her company was indicted, Tumey resigned as chairwoman of her local Democratic Party and withdrew from the Arkansas House campaign.
Hutchinson, who lost his bid for governor, could not be reached for comment. In an interview with the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, he said there was "zippo" evidence linking him to the indictment decision.
Thomas Carver, Tumey's lawyer, conceded that seeking the court order "involves some degree of speculation on our part because we obviously are not privy to the inner workings of the U.S. attorney's office." But he said his client had a right to the information.
"One of the reasons to file the motion was to determine if there is any cause for alarm," he said. "We are not in a position to make accusations ... but we would certainly like to know."
rick.schmitt@latimes.com
