California police are probing if computer hackers illegally downloaded a private taped conversation of Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger from state computers, a spokesman said on Monday.
Democrats rebuked Schwarzenegger, a Republican who is seeking re-election in November. State Treasurer Phil Angelides, the Democratic candidate for governor, called the comments offensive and embarrassing for the increasingly Hispanic state.
Computer hacking, not a leak within Schwarzenegger's office, is suspected. "We can confirm that we are looking into the security of the governor's office computer system," said Fran Clader, a spokeswoman with the California Highway Patrol, the agency in charge of the investigation.
Andrea Lynn Hoch, Schwarzenegger's legal affair secretary, said in a statement the Internet Protocol address used to hack the computer system had been identified. "As a result of the governor's office internal audit, this office discovered that on August 29 and 30, 2006, an unknown person or persons downloaded an audio file from the governor's office computer system," she said.
Schwarzenegger has apologized for the comments, taped during a meeting with aides. Police are probing their release because they were stored on digital files in state computers with only a few people authorized to access them.
Reporters have not said how they acquired the taped remarks, part of a six-minute recording of Schwarzenegger and members of his inner circle. "Any questions should be referred to the investigating agency. We do not disclose confidential sources," the newspaper said in a statement.
Political consultants from both parties said Schwarzenegger may have been the target of computer hackers, who stumbled across material that proved embarrassing to the Hollywood and body-building icon.
"This is the technological equivalent of what the Watergate burglars did in 1972," said Republican consultant Dan Schnur.
