Rep. Punished for Planned Playboy Fund-Raiser

Aug. 11, 2000 -- The California congresswoman who is planning to give a speech at a fund-raiser at the Playboy Mansion has been removed from her speaking role at next week’s Democratic National Committee Convention.

Saying he was “sorely disappointed” in Rep. Loretta Sanchez, Democratic National Committee Chairman Joe Andrew announced Thursday he had “no alternative but to take action.”

Under pressure from Al Gore’s presidential campaign, partyofficials are planning to meet Aug. 18 and could enact further penalties on Sanchez. That could include withdrawal of support for herre-election and removal from her position as Democratic NationalCommittee general vice-chairwoman.

A spokesman for the Gore campaign says the vice president is“in complete support of Chairman Andrew’s decision.”

The removal of Sanchez from the proposed convention schedule came just hours after she said she would proceed with Tuesday’s fund-raiser, despite warnings from Andrew and other Democratic Party leaders.

“It will be a success,” Sanchez said Thursday afternoon, reading a statement to reporters in Garden Grove, Calif. She said the directors of Hispanic Unity USA, the political action committee she runs, has decided to go ahead with the event as planned.

“I support that decision,” she added.

But this morning, Sanchez said on NBC’s Today show that she would consider moving the event if a different venue could be found.

“It’s never been about the Playboy Mansion,” she said. “It’s been about putting on a good event andraising money.”

Andrew, interviewed on CNN today, said of Sanchez, “if she changes the venue she would absolutely go back on the speakers list, and we would be proud to have her there.”

Gore, in an interview on Fox, said he supported Andrew’s actions. When asked about contributions his campaign has taken from Playboy founder Hugh Hefner, as well as Hefner’s daughter, the vice president said they were not relevant to the fund-raiser controversy, calling the two matters “apples and oranges.”

Thursday Warnings

On Thursday, William Daley, chairman of Gore’s campaign, told Sanchez that if she did not cancel or move the event, currently planned for the second night of the Democratic National Convention, the party would not take it lightly.

Additionally, Andrew sent a letter to Sanchez — a copy of which has been obtained by ABCNEWS (see sidebar, below) — warning the congresswoman that if she went ahead with her plans, he “will take actions” against her.

Andrew and Sanchez also spoke on the phone about the matter Thursday morning. A Democratic source described the tone of the conversation as “not pretty.”

Sanchez has been planning for weeks to hold the party, which benefits her own congressional campaign, at the Playboy Mansion. At least 600 people are expected to attend the invitation-only gala. No Playboy Playmates or bunnies will be there.

Mixed Messages

Nevertheless, leading Democrats are concerned that the event could undercut the centrist, family-values message the party has carefully attempted to spread, and could become an easy target for Republican attacks.

In the letter, Andrew wrote that “Democratic State Chairs, Latinos, leaders of women’s groups and just plain Democrats have called and told me that this event was neither appropriate nor reflective of our Party’s values.”

But despite such intense opposition from Gore and from the Democratic National Committee, there is essentially nothing party leaders can do to stop it — a fact Andrew acknowledged in the letter, saying, “I can’t force you not to have it.”

Gore himself ordered the event to be canceled from the moment he found out about it several weeks ago. But efforts by his campaign to find an alternate venue for the fund-raiser have gone nowhere. Previous conversations between DNC staffers and Sanchez’ staff — and Sanchez herself — also failed to resolve the issue.

Gore spokesman Chris Lehane told ABCNEWS on Thursday the vice president did not condone or support the event, and that no one from the Gore campaign would attend.

“I certainly respect Vice President Gore’s decision not to attend,” Sanchez said Thursday afternoon. She confirmed that she has been contacted by the Gore campaign about the situation.

Lehane would not comment on a report in The Washington Post that Gore is contemplating not supporting Sanchez in her bid for re-election if she does not move the event.

Balancing Act

The flap has forced Democrats into an awkward balancing act, as they try to present themselves as a party of mainstream family values without spurning efforts at Hispanic voter outreach.

Sanchez, one of the party’s most prominent Hispanic women, has been considered a valuable party asset, and she serves as vice-chair of the party during an election year in which both Democrats and Republicans have been targeting the Latino vote.

However, since Sanchez’ DNC position is an honorary one, the party might be able remove her from the post without going through a formal, drawn-out procedure.

Sanchez won her House seat in 1996, upsetting Republican incumbent Rep. Robert Dornan in one of the most closely watched races of the 1996 election.

The wrangling between Democrats and Sanchez also comes as the battle for control of the House intensifies. Democrats can regain a majority with a gain of just six seats, and Sanchez, who represents a conservative Orange County district, is not considered a shoo-in for re-election.

ABCNEWS’ Elizabeth Wilner and Dana Hill and the Associated Press contributed to this report.