Special prosecutor to investigate Anderson mailer

Prince William County Commonwealth’s Attorney Paul B. Ebert has asked that a special prosecutor investigate claims that a campaign mailer wrongly released the personal information of Del. Paul F. Nichols.

Republican Rich Anderson, who’s challenging the Democratic incumbent, recently sent a flier to about 15,000 homes in the House of Delegates’ 51st District announcing Nichols’ arrest in 2006 in North Carolina.

Nichols doesn’t dispute the arrest, made while he was on a golf trip to the Outer Banks.

But he said the mailer is misleading and leaves out key details, including the fact that all charges, including one that he assaulted a police officer, were dismissed and that the matter has been expunged from the public record.

Anderson’s campaign, meanwhile, maintains that though the charges were dismissed, the arrest needed to be brought to the attention of voters in northeastern Prince William.

Nichols’ other gripe was that the mailing included an image of his arrest record, which he said recklessly released his personal information, including his Social Security number.

That’s what Ebert’s office would have investigated.

But, reached Monday, Prince William’s top prosecutor said he couldn’t look into the allegation because he’s known Nichols, a Lake Ridge lawyer, for many years.

“I’d be uncomfortable making a ruling one way or another on this case,” Ebert said.

So he asked Chesterfield County Commonwealth’s Attorney, William W. Davenport, or his designate, to take the lead.

Ebert, one of the longest-serving Democrats currently in public office in Prince William, has donated $500 to Nichols’ campaign this year, according to the Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks elections.

The prosecutor also gave Nichols $1,000 toward the lawmaker’s first run for office in 2007.

Nichols’ campaign manager, Kyle Gott, said that, after looking at statutes, it was clear to his candidate that Anderson had broken the law and needed to be investigated.

“Any commonwealth’s attorney’s office in the state, seeing the same thing we saw, would have done it,” he said.

In an e-mail Monday, Anderson said he was assured, by his counsel and others, “that there were no laws broken surrounding releasing anyone’s Social Security number.”

“As I’ve always said, no one’s Social Security number was released to the public,” he said, “only an operator’s license number from a legally obtained arrest record.”

Nichols, however, has noted that, in 2006, his driver’s license number was his Social Security number.

Anderson also said he doesn’t feel he has done anything wrong by releasing information about the arrest.

“This is an important part of Paul Nichols’ resume that was left out last election,” he said.

Staff writer Jonathan Hunley can be reached at 703-369-5738.