BUSH'S DUI LEAK

Was an 11th-hour leak to the news media about George W. Bush's 1976 DUI arrest in Maine deliberately timed to throw Bush off-balance and erode his conservative base in the final days of the campaign? It's hard to confirm, but to many observers the answer appears to be "yes."
"If anybody doesn't believe that this came right out of Gore headquarters, you ought to sprinkle some Peter Pan twinkle dust on them," former Wyoming Senator Alan Simpson told CNBC's Chris Matthews.
While few know for sure who sent the blast fax of Bush's arrest record to Fox News, it's clear someone was pushing hard to get newsrooms to report on the 24-year-old DUI. And Democrats appeared to have already been prepared to pounce on the Bush DUI report once it came out.
Many observers questioned the role Gore press secretary Chris Lehane played in the leak. The arrest was first reported by a television reporter in Portland, Maine -- home of Lehane's sister Erin whose law firm is affiliated with a political consulting business with strong ties to the Democratic National Committee.
Following is a 2000 story from WorldNetDaily.com:

Is DNC-tied Maine law firm behind DUI leak?
By Paul Sperry
© 2000 WorldNetDaily.com

WASHINGTON -- The sister of Al Gore's press secretary denies helping leak information about George W. Bush's drunk-driving record but her Portland, Maine, law firm is affiliated with a political consulting business headed by a long-time Democratic National Committee operative, WorldNetDaily has learned.
The DNC has denied leaking any information about Bush's 1976 misdemeanor in Maine, although it admits investigating public records on GOP foes.
Erin M. Lehane, sister of Gore campaign spokesman Chris Lehane, is a member of the Portland-based law firm, Curtis Thaxter Stevens Broder & Micoleau. Partner Charlie Micoleau, an eight-year DNC veteran, is director of The Public Affairs Group, an Augusta, Maine-based political consultancy.
Micoleau also served as an aide, including as chief of staff, to U.S. Sen. Edmund S. Muskie in Washington from 1970 to 1978. The Portland probate judge, Bill Childs, who pulled the court files on Bush and gave them to a local Democratic lawyer to tip off the press, is tied through his father to the old Muskie political machine in Maine, according to Portland political watchers.
"I'm interested in winning," Micoleau was quoted as saying during the 1988 presidential race, while serving on a DNC steering committee.
Calls to Micoleau's residence were not returned.
What's more, Curtis Thaxter's founding partner, Kenneth M. Curtis, was a former two-term Democratic governor of Maine and the chairman of the DNC from 1977 to 1978.
Another Curtis Thaxter partner, Jamie Broder, served as a delegate to the 1995 White House Conference on Aging.
Denying Republican rumors, Lehane insists she had nothing to do with leaking the 11th-hour bombshell about Bush's operating-under-the-influence, or OUI, conviction.
Is there anything to rumors you played a role in unearthing this information? WorldNetDaily asked Lehane at her Freeport, Maine, home Saturday.
"Absolutely not," she said in a phone interview.
Were you at the Maine District Court in Portland on Thursday, when Childs gave the information to Democrat lawyer Tom Connolly?
"Absolutely not," said Lehane, who works in Portland.
And you've never dealt with Judge Childs? "Not at all."
The Martindale-Hubbell Law Directory does not list probate as one of Lehane's areas of practice. They are limited to "corporate, litigation and international." Her firm, however, does handle probate cases and has come before Childs' court.
Asked if she knew Connolly, the 29-year-old Lehane replied: "I just know him because he ran for governor. I have no personal or professional relationship in court with him."
She added: "I have no idea how I got dragged into it."
After learning her brother is Gore's campaign spokesman and that they both grew up in Kennebunkport, where Bush was pulled over, Republican operatives figured she might be involved.
Can you see how they put two and two together?
"Yeah, well, they put two and two together and came up with 47," Lehane said with a laugh.
Lehane, who's married to lawyer Julius Ciembroniewicz, used to work as in-house legal counsel for Wright Express LLC in South Portland.
Some White House employees who have dealt with Chris Lehane say he has a reputation as a dirty trickster.
Former White House FBI agent Gary Aldrich, for one, said Lehane's job in the White House primarily was to smear whistleblowers.
"Chris Lehane was the deputy over at the Old Executive Office Building who was assigned by (presidential aide) Harold Ickes to discredit any witnesses like me who came forward to give testimony about Bill Clinton," Aldrich said. "He's now handling the Gore campaign. What does that tell you about Al Gore's campaign?"
Ickes is now handling Hillary Clinton's Senate campaign.