The case began with a dead fish and a rose in an aluminum pan, left on the hood of a car parked on a Los Angeles street. Taped to the windshield of the car, which belonged to a reporter for The Los Angeles Times, was a piece of cardboard with a single word: "Stop."
The discovery in June last year -- for which an ex-convict was later arrested -- unleashed a chain of events that has suddenly entwined many of the Hollywood elite and threatens to turn into the kind of scandal that the show-business world has not faced in decades. Managers, actors, businessmen and lawyers are now being questioned, and in some cases subpoenaed, by the federal government in a widening grand jury investigation of suspected illegal wiretapping that has moved beyond Los Angeles to New York, according to entertainers, producers, attorneys and others involved in the inquiry.
At issue are the contents of what federal investigators have told potential witnesses are wiretap transcripts found on the computer of Anthony Pellicano, a well-known private investigator who has worked for some of Hollywood's top celebrities, including Michael Jackson, Kevin Costner, Sylvester Stallone and Roseanne Barr. The transcripts were among a huge trove of computer files discovered in an FBI raid last year of Pellicano's Sunset Boulevard office in connection with the threat against the reporter, Anita Busch. The grand jury investigation is now seeking to unravel the details of the wiretapping and whether prominent lawyers or their clients had hired Pellicano to do it.
It remains unclear how much information the government has about Pellicano's actions and whether the lawyers and clients who retained the private investigator knew of any wiretapping. Still, at virtually every movie premiere, in studio commissaries, over lunch at The Grill and at other show-business hangouts, the investigation, and who is being called before the grand jury, have become the major topic of discussion. Among those who have been called by the FBI was the comedian Garry Shandling, who said in a recent interview that an FBI agent had informed him that he had been wiretapped.
Word of the investigation had been percolating through Hollywood for some time. But the vague speculation turned specific last week after one of Hollywood's most prominent lawyers, Bert Fields, told the entertainment trade journal Variety that he had been questioned by the FBI. It was the first time anyone who had spoken to the FBI as part of the investigation had identified himself. Over the years, Fields' client list has included Tom Cruise, John Travolta, David Geffen, Jeffrey Katzenberg and Michael Jackson. Fields and his law firm have long used Pellicano as a private investigator.
In a telephone interview, Fields said there was "no question" that the FBI was seeking information about Pellicano.
"That's what they were questioning me about," said Fields, who has hired a prominent criminal defense lawyer, John Keker. Fields denied any knowledge of wiretapping. "I do not do that, nor did I authorize Anthony Pellicano to do any wiretapping, ever," he said.
Under federal law, conviction for illegal wiretapping may punished with a prison sentence of up to five.
Pellicano's attorney, Donald Re, declined to comment.
According to people who have been questioned by the FBI, the evidence gathered in Pellicano's office led the FBI to look into the possible use of illegal wiretaps in several cases, including the legal and personal battle in 1999 between Shandling and his former manager, Brad Grey. Fields represented Grey in the bitter financial dispute, which was settled before the trial began.
Grey, who is one of the producers of The Sopranos, is a leading talent manager whose company, Brillstein-Grey, represents stars like Brad Pitt and Adam Sandler. In an interview, Shandling said the FBI had asked him "questions about wiretapping."
"The FBI was interested in my lawsuit in regards to Brad Grey, and the circumstances of the press campaign mounted against me," Shandling said. He added that he had been informed that "my name and other people who were deposed in my lawsuit, their names were run through a computer at the LAPD." He would not elaborate, but the reference was apparently to the suspension in June of Sargent Mark Arneson of the robbery-homicide division of the Los Angeles Police Department, who was accused of tapping into police databases on Pellicano's behalf.
An FBI spokesman in Los Angeles said that the agency "was not at liberty to discuss the investigation."
When asked about the possible use of wiretaps in the Shandling case, Grey said: "I can't imagine Bert Fields would be involved or get his clients involved in anything like this. I never heard anything about any wiretapping, and that's what I shared with investigators when they asked."
What set off the growing investigation was the threat against Busch, an entertainment reporter for The Los Angeles Times who has also written for The New York Times. Busch had told authorities she believed the incident was related to her research for an article about the actor Steven Seagal and his relationship with a possible suspect of organized crime.
According to court documents, Alexander Proctor implicated himself in the threat against Busch during a tape-recorded conversation with an FBI informant. Proctor told the informant he had been offered US$10,000 by Pellicano to set Busch's car on fire but, uncomfortable with that, he purchased the fish and a rose to warn her off the story.
Authorities obtained a warrant to search Pellicano's office for evidence linking him to Proctor. Federal agents said that during the search, two unregistered hand grenades and some plastic explosives were found.
The search also turned up the computer files that have become the focus of the federal investigation. Pellicano pleaded guilty last month to the charges of possessing explosives, and although formal sentencing is not until January, he is expected to enter prison next Monday. Pellicano and Seagal have denied involvement in any threat to Busch case -- and neither has been charged with trying to threaten the reporter.
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