Bush says Texans deserve 'full disclosure;' Rangers summoned

By MICHAEL HOLMES / Associated Press

AUSTIN - The Texas Rangers were called in Thursday to help safeguard state lottery records after questions were raised about documents subpoenaed by a federal grand jury.

Lottery Commission Chairwoman Harriet Miers said she was concerned "about the integrity and security of documents and files" at the lottery.

She said lottery executive director Nora Linares was questioning the authenticity of records sought by the grand jury.

Some of those documents showed that former GTECH consultant Mike Moeller was listed as a lottery headquarters visitor a dozen times in 1992.

Moeller's friendship with Ms. Linares has raised questions about his $30,000 contract with GTECH, the lottery operator and its largest contractor. His name appeared on several of the more than 2,500 pages of the lottery's visitor logs.

Gov. George W. Bush, describing himself as "deeply concerned" about the lottery, told The Associated Press: "We must have full disclosure of all the facts.

"I think the public feels like I feel. They just want to know the truth. What are the facts?"

The Lottery Commission is investigating how Moeller, now serving time in a federal prison on an unrelated charge, received a $30,000 consulting contract with GTECH Corp., the Rhode Island-based company that operates the lottery's on-line games.

Commissioners are trying to determine whether Ms. Linares has given preferential treatment to GTECH or other vendors.

Bush said he had faith that Ms. Miers, a Dallas lawyer, would get to the bottom of the questions.

"I've called upon Harriet Miers to do whatever it takes to lay out the truth. I've got full confidence in Harriet. She's honest, she's smart and she's tough," Bush said.

"She is deeply concerned about conflicts of interest and potential improprieties. I said ... do whatever it takes to make full disclosure."

Ms. Miers said the Rangers and Department of Public Safety document experts were needed to protect lottery records.

"While we must move carefully to avoid casting doubt or blame until we know all the facts, I also must be able to assure the people of Texas that the public records of the Lottery Commission are being safeguarded," Ms. Miers said.

Ms. Miers said the sign-in logs were jumbled, and that not all subpoenaed records were immediately given to the lottery's general counsel.

She said Ms. Linares asked for access to the original records first, to analyze them to determine their authenticity before they were delivered to federal investigators. That request was denied, Ms. Miers said.

Ms. Linares has told commissioners she didn't learn until last month of Moeller's GTECH contract, which ran for five months in 1992-93.

GTECH spokesman Robert Rendine has said the company doesn't know what Moeller did for the money.

Rendine said Moeller was hired by former GTECH national sales manager J. David Smith, who was convicted in September in New Jersey of defrauding GTECH in a kickback scheme.

Copies of the subpoenaed lottery visitor logs were made available to the news media Thursday under the Texas Public Information Act.

On 12 log entries, Moeller's name appeared, usually with the time of day. On some, his lottery "escort" was listed as Ms. Linares. On a log dated Nov. 11, 1992, Moeller's name was followed by the notation "husband," and Ms. Linares was listed as escort.

Ms. Linares' lawyer, Charles Soechting of San Marcos, said many of the log entries were fakes.

Soechting said two of the 12 signatures were Moeller's. However, he said, some entries - including the one with the "husband" notation - were phony.

"They show that someone had entered Mike Moeller's name on those logs. Two of these signatures do appear to be Mr. Moeller's. The rest are going to be shown to be forgeries. It may be more than two, but it's sure not going to be 12," Soechting told the AP.

"There's nothing at all unusual about the fact that we have two visits in a one-year period of time, especially amongst friends," he added. "It's my client's best recollection that it was two times, and that's what the signatures that appear to be Mr. Moeller's seem to indicate."

Soechting also said some of the Linares signatures were phonies.

"It doesn't appear to be his signature and it very positively is not hers. It's obvious that this is an attempt on the part of someone to spread false information."