Too Close For Comfort?

Personally, I'm not sure if what Alberto Gonzales' adult stepson does/did for a living should have any bearing on whether his nomination goes through. It would just seem that a man, who had a relatively high profile job prior to the nomination and who was also a family values proponent, could have influenced his stepson into seeking a different employer. Of course, Inquiring minds will want to know if Alberto had access to any of the perks or benefits from the porn king.

Bush nominee Alberto Gonzales has a stepson who, until recently, worked for Larry Flynt.

Until he abruptly quit last month - around the time that President Bush nominated his stepfather, White House Counsel Alberto Gonzales, to be U.S. attorney general - Web designer Jared Freeze worked as a consultant for notorious pornographer Larry Flynt.

A knowledgeable source told Lowdown that the twentysomething Freeze - a child from the previous marriage of Gonzales' wife, Rebecca - left Flynt's employ at the urging of Gonzales, who was said to be worried that the Hustler magazine connection might cause political damage during his confirmation hearings.

But Flynt disputed that version yesterday.

"No," he told me through a rep. "He resigned after Alberto Gonzales was nominated, because he felt it would be prudent."

Aides in the White House press office didn't respond to half a dozen phone calls from Lowdown over the past two days.

Flynt - best known for such hard-core magazines as Hustler and Barely Legal, which have featured simulated gang rapes and other graphic material - told Lowdown through a spokeswoman: "Jared Freeze was a consultant with us. He worked in our Web site and broadcasting divisions."

Flynt added that Freeze's employment should have no bearing on Gonzales' confirmation. "There's no relationship," he argued.

Gonzales is extremely close to Bush, but some conservative groups have expressed skepticism about his anti-abortion bonafides.

When he was a Texas Supreme Court justice, he wasn't staunch enough, in the view of some conservatives, in upholding state laws requiring pregnant teenage girls to notify their parents before obtaining an abortion.

Yesterday, Jan LaRue, chief counsel of the conservative group Concerned Women for America, told me Freeze's employment with Flynt is "a legitimate issue" that should be raised next month before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

"The Justice Department is responsible for enforcing the obscenity and child pornography laws," LaRue said, "and Larry Flynt's publications include hard-core prosecutable material, in my opinion."

She added that she wants to know if Gonzales had urged his stepson to quit before he knew he was going to be nominated.

"If he didn't, that wouldn't be very helpful," she said.

Lowdown's attempts to reach Freeze yesterday were unsuccessful.

Then again, perhaps this is too close for comfort.