Although agent Stern was not available for comment, both Farrar and Moreno acknowledge that the FBI interviewed her last year. They say the interview was simply part of the overall investigation of Reyes and that several other legislators had similar contacts with agents.
Moreno admits he did tell Padilla not to discuss the FBI visit with anyone, but he flatly denies taking her to an empty parking lot to deliver the warning. The District 143 nominee says he worked in a 1992 campaign for Reyes, but was not on his payroll during the period covered by the Hotel Six investigation. Moreno claims Padilla was dropped from the legislator's staff because of credibility problems, and he cautions, "I would be very careful in accepting anything she says as factual."
Likewise, Representative Farrar characterizes her contact with the FBI as a routine interview and says she had nothing to tell them because she was in the Legislature at the time the probe was taking place. The representative went on to say that although Padilla's work as her aide was satisfactory, she found discrepancies in her resume. Padilla had claimed to be completing a master's degree in business graduate school at UT, although the representative says she later learned that Padilla was not attending the school. After the session, Farrar says she had hoped Padilla would go her own way without recriminations.
"I just can't figure out what the motivation is," says Farrar. "It's an embarrassing situation for a young woman. I'd hoped she learned and had gone on."
Padilla denies making false claims on her job application to Farrar, and at press time, the paperwork could not be obtained from the House of Representatives communications office.
In any case, running for office as a self-proclaimed informant for the FBI is hardly a winning political formula in Houston's Hispanic community, whose political leaders have accused the G-men of mounting a racially motivated investigation that led to the Hotel Six indictments, one mistrial and a retrial scheduled for next month.
Political consultant Marc Campos, a supporter of Moreno, figures Padilla didn't do herself any favors with her unorthodox campaign speech. "Put it this way," chuckles Campos, "it's not going to get her invited to a whole lot of events in the future."
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