The Justice Department has subpoenaed at least three bookstores Arundel Books in Los Angeles and Seattle; Olsson's Book in Washington, D.C.; and Books and Books in Coral Gables, Fla. in an ongoing investigation into the finances of Democratic Sen. Robert Torricelli of New Jersey.
In part, the investigation is looking into whether Torricelli received unreported gifts from David Chang, a New Jersey businessman who may have been looking for assistance in his dealings with the North and South Korean governments.
Specifically, the subpoenas demand records of purchases made by Torricelli, David Chang and six others going back as far as 1995. The stores had until August 31 to comply, but all three were fighting the request at press time and had enlisted the American Booksellers Foundation for Free Expression (ABFFE) for legal assistance in getting the subpoena quashed. Chris Finan, executive director of ABFFE, told PW that "the negotiations were at a delicate point" between the organization and the assistant U.S. attorney for compliance.
Arundel Books was served the subpoena on August 16. Phillip Bevis, Arundel's owner, told PW, "I don't know what they're after, but I don't like it. We do not care whose book purchases were subpoenaed. We have opposed this on the basis that records of customer book purchases and choice of reading are both private and protected by the First Amendment." He has since hired his own counsel, but believes the legal costs of fighting the subpoena may cost him as much as one year's total profits. He added, "I find this whole experience to be Orwellian. This is just absolutely wrong."
The whole issue may be a dead end for the Feds. Torricelli has as good an alibi as any for being in contact with bookstores: he's edited a pair of anthologies, Quotations for Public Speakers: A Historical, Literary, and Political Anthology and In Our Own Words: Extraordinary Speeches of the American Century.
