Attorney General Returns Donation (snicker)

(AP) ^

[Dallas]

SACRAMENTO, Calif. --

State Attorney General Bill Lockyer returned $50,000 in campaign donations Wednesday to Oracle Corp., saying he didn't want the money to undermine his investigation of a state contract signed by the computer company.

Lockyer said he didn't want Republican criticism of the contributions to weaken public confidence in his office.

"Returning the campaign contributions from Oracle will help ensure that partisans don't undermine public confidence in the integrity" of the investigation, he said in a statement.

Lockyer is looking into a $95 million, no-bid contract that Oracle signed last year to provide the state with database software. The deal was initially touted as a way for the state to save at least $16 million through volume purchases.

But the state auditor says the contract could end up costing the state up to $41 million more than if it had not signed the contract and kept its previous software supply arrangements.

The agreement has also come under fire because Oracle gave Gov. Gray Davis a $25,000 contribution a few days after the contract was signed last year.

Davis said Wednesday that he would wait "until all the facts are in on Oracle" before deciding whether to return his donation. He has denied there was any link between the contribution and the state's willingness to sign the contract.

Lockyer received a $25,000 donation from Oracle in December 2000 and another $25,000 contribution from the Redwood Shores-based company in June 2001.

Copyright © 2002, The Associated Press

[Gophack]

You're correct, it was Lockyer ... BEFORE he did a poll.