City Hall bug two weeks old; Street 'subject' of probe

Philadelphia Mayor John Street has publicly acknowledged that he is a subject of a federal investigation. The acknowledgement comes nearly two weeks after a bug was planted in his City Hall office, and seven days after police discovered it.

Last week, Street's spokesmen denied that the mayor is a subject or a target of the Federal Bureau of Investigation's inquiry.

However, information to the contrary leaked on Friday, along with a number of other developments.

During a debate with Republican mayoral candidate Sam Katz Tuesday on KYW-AM radio, Street said that "there could literally be hundreds of subjects of this investigation. I'm not a target -- that's the most important thing to me," according to a report in The Philadelphia Inquirer.

A Street spokesman also confirmed that Street turned over two more BlackBerry personal computers to the FBI this weekend, in addition to the one he handed over earlier last week.

However, spokesmen from neither Street's campaign office nor City Hall could confirm or deny Inquirer reports that a listening device found in his office on Oct. 7 had been planted only two weeks before. In addition, the Inquirer reported that FBI agents were only allowed to listen to conversations involving a short list of the mayor's many visitors.

The bug was discovered by Philadelphia Police in Street's City Hall office during a routine security sweep. Following the discovery of the listening device, the FBI stepped up its investigation, conducting a number of raids on local businesses and residences, some of which have ties to the mayor.

Since then, both the Street and Katz campaigns -- and the media -- have focused on little else.

Street is running against Katz in a rematch of the 1999 election, which Street won by less than 1 percent. A current poll conducted by WCAU-TV indicates that Street leads Katz by 10 percentage points.

However, this time around, Street has maintained a solid lead which has not been damaged by the latest controversy, his campaign spokesman Mark Nevins said.

Still, he expressed frustration with the flow of information.

"I don't know what to make of it," he said. "The federal authorities seem to be leaking like a 19th century faucet, and we don't really know anything, except for the little leaks that they put in the paper seemingly on a daily basis."

Philadelphia Newspapers, Inc., which published the Inquirer, requested this weekend for access to any search warrants from the FBI or local officials during the investigation.

But their request was struck down.

Chief U.S. District Judge James Giles told the Inquirer that "the public's interest is protected by the secrecy of the grand jury material."

Despite the secrecy, Nevins feels that the timing of the investigation is suspect.

"I think it puts in bold the question we've been raising the whole time, which is: what is up with the timing?" he said.

But Katz's spokesmen denied any charges of a partisan conspiracy theory.

"Street will do anything to distract attention for his dismal record as mayor," Katz spokesman Nate Raab said. "He has not been forthright with the media, and continues, more than a week after voters first found out about the listening device, to dodge questions."

Rumors also flew this weekend that prominent Democrats had called for Street's resignation, but those were quickly squashed.

"It never had any credibility, it doesn't have any credibility now," Nevins said. "The mayor is in this race through the end because he didn't do anything wrong."

Meanwhile, Katz's campaign has continued to ram home the message of "the corruption, the cynicism and the cronyism" -- especially during the radio debate -- in Street's City Hall.

"I think it's very clear to the voters that John Street has run the city for the benefit of his friends, campaign contributors and his cronies," Raab said. "Something is broken in City Hall, and Sam wants to fix it."

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