The Republican National Committee denies it had anything to do with a controversial proposal to redraw Utah congressional districts so that they would virtually ensure defeat for Rep. Wayne Owens, D-Utah.
In fact, RNC press secretary Leslie A. Goodman sent a letter to the Deseret News and other media calling it "a gross gerrymander." The letter was sent mainly to complain that reporters hadn't verified stories about it with the RNC.That letter reverses much of what Utah Republicans have said for weeks about the proposal, which many had informally called the "RNC plan" in conversations.
The RNC's action also led to Rep. Jim Hansen, R-Utah, becoming the "fall guy" for the controversial plan.
In a Deseret News interview, he changed earlier stories about who drew the plan, who proposed implementing it in 1990 instead of 1992 and what the RNC's involvement was.
Hansen had earlier said the plan was considered the "inspired version" of 36 proposals drafted by the RNC.
But this week, Hansen said instead that an aggregate of 20 to 30 people in Washington and Utah who had been involved in redistricting in 1982 had come up with the plan, as well as some other versions. He declined to name any of the group besides himself.
"You can make me the fall guy, I guess," he said. He said the whole matter is somewhat overblown anyway, because the Legislature - not the RNC or Hansen - will make final decisions on redistricting.
When asked if the RNC had taken part in drawing or reviewing the plan, Hansen said, "I won't respond to that."
Hansen's press secretary said later that Hansen's office wanted to make clear that the proposal was not from the RNC. Hansen added he was sure that RNC Chairman Lee Atwater had no knowledge of it.
The RNC letter said, "The truth is this: Neither Lee Atwater nor anyone connected with the RNC has drawn any redistricting maps or plans for the state of Utah or any of its districts."
Hansen also changed earlier claims about exactly who was exploring the idea of possibly implementing redistricting before the 1990 elections and Census because of possibly illegal population differences in Utah districts.
Hansen earlier had said RNC lawyers "thought Utah might be a good place to test whether it can be done." He had said they came to talk to him about it because he had been vice chairman of a House subcommittee that oversees redistricting. But he claimed he told them early redistricting would not be wise politically.
But on Wednesday, Hansen said he and other Republicans had come up with the idea, and he invited the RNC to discuss its legality. RNC Chief Counsel Ben Ginsberg - who Hansen described as abrasive and not knowledgeable about redistricting - came to a meeting in Hansen's office.
Deputy RNC Counsel Michael Hess was also in the meeting and said RNC lawyers said that early redistricting would likely be illegal. He said the RNC was not shown any maps or specific redistricting plans.
Goodman also stressed this week that the RNC had not been consulted about the specific redistricting plan or seen maps of it until they appeared in the press.
Hansen was upset with the part of the RNC letter that called the redistricting proposal "a gross gerrymander drawn to eliminate a specific candidate," which is "counter to the RNC's policy on redistricting."
"That shows they wouldn't know a gerrymander if they saw one," Hansen said.
He noted that laws and court decisions require congressional district boundaries to divide states into districts of equal populations and not to divide counties if possible. If a county must be divided, then only one should be cut up.
"That's what this does," he said. "It's still better than any other proposal I've seen."
It uses straight lines. It divides only Salt Lake County, down Seventh East. Owens' district - which now includes most of Salt Lake County - would then contain only the heavily Republican east side and the heavily Republican rural areas of eastern Utah.
Republican Rep. Howard Niel-son's 3rd District would contain the rest of Salt Lake County and Utah County. It now contains the southwest quadrant of Salt Lake County, all of Utah County and rural eastern Utah.
A number of Utah Republicans have seen the now-mysterious redistricting plan, but say they don't know from where it came.
For example, House Majority Leader Craig Moody, R-Sandy, got a copy of the redistricting plan from the governor's office. He doesn't know for sure who drew it up. Moody, a former state GOP chairman who is interested in running against Owens, says the plan is extreme, although he believes it is legal.
He prefers a more moderate plan that he himself has proposed in which the 2nd District stays within Salt Lake County, but the boundaries are changed to include more of the southwestern part of the county.
Several Republicans told the Deseret News on Wednesday that the controversial redistricting plan has served its purpose. Said one GOP leader, "It's like this: We can't do anything worse to him (Owens) than this plan, so whatever we do is more acceptable. We could answer critics by saying `at least we didn't do what the RNC or whoever wrote it suggested.' "
One person who is happy about the RNC letter - even though he said he didn't believe its contents - is Owens.
"The letter is not believable as to past actions or intentions of the RNC," he said. "I don't believe that the RNC didn't know what was going on."
The letter also gives him ammunition to fight any attempt by the Republican-controlled Legislature to follow the redistricting proposal, because he could quote the RNC saying it is an obvious gerrymander and is against RNC policy.
He predicts the letter will kill the redistricting proposal that could have ended his career by making his district 3 1/2-to-1 Republican instead of its already difficult 2-1 ratio.
When Goodman was asked if the RNC letter was sent especially to defend Atwater - who was attacked bitterly recently because of an RNC memo that implied House Speaker Thomas Foley may be homosexual - she said, "Absolutely not.
"We deal in facts, and that was our interest. We want the stories to be correct," she said. Her letter also blasted the press, saying, "You owe it to your readers to provide responsible and accurate coverage. That should start with a call to the parties about whom you're reporting."