"It's a political decision"

     Remember Republican challenger to Rep. Loretta Sanchez Tan Nguyen? Back in 2006, during the campaign, his senior political advisor was our own Tom Fuentes, SOCCCD trustee.
     But then the Nguyen campaign sent that infamous letter. It was kind of a "Fuentes" thing to do.
     After that, Tom got real scarce.
     Well, the case against Nguyen is still in the courts:

Prosecutor calls congressional candidate a liar (OC Register)

     Former congressional candidate Tan Nguyen was behind a controversial campaign letter to Latino voters from start to finish, federal prosecutor Gregory Staples told jurors Tuesday in opening statements during Nguyen's trial for obstruction of justice.
     Nguyen faces charges of lying to investigators about the letter and asking an uninvolved campaign worker to take responsibility for the mailing sent out to support his failed 2006 challenge of Rep. Loretta Sanchez, D-Santa Ana.. . .
     The Spanish-language letter, sent on a letterhead that mimicked the name of a prominent immigration reform group, was mailed to 14,000 voters with Spanish last names who'd been born abroad....
     That mailing had warned that "emigrados" could go to prison if they voted. "Emigrado" is ambiguous in Spanish. It can generally mean an emigrant – who may or may not be a U.S. citizen eligible to vote – or specifically a non-citizen in the country with a green card.
     The letter also warned that "a new computerized system" would track new voters and could be accessed by "organizations that oppose immigration.". . .
     During the investigation, Nguyen said he had read an initial draft of the letter in English but had no further involvement with it. He told investigators it was paid for and sent out by a long-time friend and campaign helper, Mark Nguyen, without his knowledge.
     Steward told jurors that the idea for the letter initiated with campaign advisor Roger Rudman.
     But Staples promised jurors he would produce a series of emails showing Tan Nguyen making decisions about the letter and the letterhead, and ordering the database of voters the letter was sent to.
     Staples described a meeting with Rudman, Mark Nguyen and Tan Nguyen, in which Rudman instructed Mark Nguyen on sending out the letter.
     "'Tan doesn't need to know about it,'" Rudman said, according to Staples. "Then both the defendant and Roger Rudman laughed."
     According to prosecutors, Tan Nguyen initially blamed the mailer on 23-year-old office manager Chi Dinh and asked her to take responsibility.
     Dinh was engaged to Mark Nguyen at the time, and they subsequently married. Both are scheduled to testify for the prosecution.
     "Why are you throwing my fiancé under the bus," Mark Nguyen asked Tan Nguyen, according to Staples. "What (Tan Nguyen) said was, 'It's a political decision.'"….