EDWOOD CITY, Calif. - The Bush campaign, clearly rattled by questions about how a mock debate videotape ended up in the possession of Al Gore, yesterday demanded the FBI investigate the vice president's campaign to determine who infiltrated their operation and obtained the tape.
George W. Bush has tried to avoid mentioning the matter so as not to distract voters from his daily message. But the mysterious mailing, arguably the strangest event of the campaign, had by yesterday evolved into a political issue, as Bush communications director Karen Hughes all but accused the FBI of failing to fully investigate Gore.
''Any thorough investigation into how Bush campaign proprietary materials ended up in the hands of the Gore campaign involves not only the Bush campaign but also the Gore campaign,'' Hughes said. ''The Gore campaign has obviously had a problem, because they have had to suspend one of their employees for boasting about the presence of a mole. We think that is something that is very serious and that ought to be looked at.''
The tape, mailed anonymously but with an Austin, Texas, postmark, was sent along with a debate briefing book to former New York representative Tom Downey earlier this month. Downey, a Democrat who was playing the role of Bush in mock debates with Gore, said he viewed only 60 to 90 seconds of the tape before realizing it was highly confidential and turning it off. He turned it over to the FBI.
Since then, both sides have speculated wildly - but not publicly - about who might be responsible, with each campaign insisting it is not involved. Last weekend, the Gore campaign suspended a junior staff member, Michael Doyne, 28, after he admitted to joking in an e-mail to a friend about a well-placed Bush ''mole'' - a turn of events the Bush campaign quickly seized upon.
But the matter has now become more than a whodunnit. Despite concerns about letting the issue become a distraction, the Bush campaign yesterday nudged it into the spotlight, implying the FBI is not doing enough to resolve the matter and is perhaps even showing some favoritism to Gore.
Bush officials were especially piqued that, as of yesterday morning, they had not received a return phone call from FBI Director Louis Freeh, despite at least two phone calls from Bush campaign manager Joe Allbaugh over the last three days.
Justice Department officials and FBI investigators also opened themselves up to charges of political maneuvering last weekend, Hughes said, when news that FBI officials suspected a traitor within the Bush campaign was anonymously leaked.
At the same time, the Bush campaign dismissed accusations from the head of the Texas Democratic Party that a senior Bush strategist, Karl Rove, was somehow involved.
Molly Beth Malcolm, the leading Democrat in Bush's home state, was quoted in yesterday's edition of the Austin American-Statesman as saying the mystery had ''Karl Rove's fingerprints all over it.'' Hughes dismissed the charge as ''totally ridiculous,'' urging reporters to ''consider the source.'' Rove did not return a call for comment.
The Gore campaign refused to address any of the issues raised by the Bush aides. Douglas Hattaway, a Gore spokesman, simply said: ''This matter is in the hands of professional investigators at the FBI. We are comfortable with that. For some reason, the Bush campaign apparently is not.''
Hughes vehemently denied any high-ranking staff member was involved, and said aides would be willing to take a lie-detector test to prove it.
''I know the people who have access to the tape. They are my friends, they are my co-workers, they have worked with me for years,'' she said. ''It's so ridiculous, I don't think it merits a denial.''
