Political Aides

Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) continued to maintain Monday that his campaign director played only a "peripheral role" in a GOP scheme last year to help elect Assemblyman Scott Baugh, despite a court confession by a Baugh campaign worker that suggests much deeper involvement by the aide. The sworn declaration implicating Rohrabacher's campaign director, Rhonda Carmony, and other Republican legislative aides, was made in court last week by Richard Martin.

Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) did not comply with House rules when he let a Wisconsin businessman use his congressional office, but no further investigation is necessary, the House Ethics Committee ruled Friday. The finding, in a letter to Gingrich, ends the inquiry into the work of Donald Jones, who was an unpaid volunteer last year trying to influence telecommunications legislation.

Rhonda Carmony, campaign manager for Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach), is scheduled to face trial in May on allegations she violated the state Political Reform Act in 1991. A pretrial hearing in the case was held Wednesday in Municipal Court in Santa Ana, where Court Commissioner Cheryl L. Leininger set a follow-up hearing for April 17 and trial for May 13, according to court officials.

One of the political aides implicated in alleged wrongdoing in last year's special election in the 67th Assembly District will not entertain an offer from the district attorney's office to plead guilty, her attorney said Wednesday. Rhonda Carmony, a political worker for Assemblyman Scott Baugh (R-Huntington Beach), who won the special election last November, has "committed no crime," attorney Creighton Laz said.

At the center of last year's Republican scheme to manipulate a critical California Assembly race, court documents allege, was a shrewd 26-year-old political operative with a penchant for surfing and a zeal for winning elections. Since graduating from Fullerton High School in 1988, Rhonda J. Carmony has rocketed up from the lowest rungs of Orange County politics to managing the reelection of one of the county's top lawmakers, Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach).

Now that Sen. Bob Dole has locked down his party's presidential nomination, an expanding whirlwind of personalities will surround the Kansas Republican's run for the White House. By election day in November, an assortment of friends, colleagues and wannabes will climb aboard the Dole bandwagon, all offering ideas on how he can beat Bill Clinton. If he wins, many hope to be remembered for their sage advice once he begins to build his Cabinet and administration.

An aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher who faces three felony charges alleging campaign fraud will be allowed to travel to New Zealand with her boss, a judge ruled Wednesday. "The congressman cannot run his office without staff," Superior Court Judge David O. Carter said during a brief hearing. The aide, Rhonda J. Carmony, 25, "won't be too hard to find anyplace in the world. Neither will Congressman Rohrabacher," Carter said. Deputy Dist. Atty.

The campaign treasurer to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (R-Huntington Beach) has abruptly quit, saying he could not perform his duties because the campaign's financial records had been removed from his office.

A former staff aide to Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in a Republican scheme to manipulate the ballot in last year's 67th Assembly District election, becoming the third GOP worker in less than a week to be convicted in the election fraud case. Mark Richard Denny, 27, a paid employee of the speaker's until Tuesday, admitted that he illegally circulated nominating petitions on Sept.

A former staff aide to Assembly Speaker Curt Pringle pleaded guilty Wednesday to participating in a Republican scheme to manipulate the ballot in last year's 67th Assembly District election, becoming the third GOP worker in less than a week to be convicted in the election fraud case. Mark Richard Denny, 27, a paid employee of the speaker until Tuesday, admitted that he illegally circulated nominating petitions on Sept. 21 for decoy Democrat Laurie Campbell.