Attorney General Kelly Ayotte said Utah-based Western Wats conducted the polling in the state with the nation's first presidential primary election on behalf of Portland, Ore.-based Moore Information Inc., but Ayotte said an investigation has not determined who was behind the poll calls.

A court date was set for Jan. 16, eight days after New Hampshire's primary, on subpoenas issued to the Portland firm, which is fighting a document request by the Attorney General's Office. But that court hearing will come too late for the Romney campaign, which had hoped to out the organization behind the anonymous calls.

Romney's campaign, making a final push for the Iowa caucuses five days before the New Hampshire primary, issued a statement saying it had nothing to do with the phone surveys, which it labeled "alleged push polling calls."

Campaign manager Beth Myers laid the blame on the campaign of Arizona Sen. John McCain, who was praised in the New Hampshire phone calls while Romney was disparaged. But a McCain adviser pointed the finger back at Romney.

"We've long suspected - and still suspect - it's Governor Romney who wanted to test the Mormon issue and McCain's record and see what messages would work," said Chuck Douglas, a former congressman who is a top McCain adviser in New Hampshire.

Myers blasted back.

"It is reckless, irresponsible and egregious for the McCain campaign to even mention the Romney campaign in relation to these calls," she said in a statement. "If they have any proof, let's see it. If not, Sen. McCain should immediately apologize for the actions of his own campaign."

Douglas later clarified that he was speaking "only for myself and not the McCain campaign."

Saying New Hampshire voters "deserve to know whether any presidential candidate violated New Hampshire's law by conducting this poll," Ayotte asked for anyone with information about the survey to contact the Attorney General's Office.

The calls, as reported by voters in Iowa and New Hampshire, asked several negative-sounding questions about Romney, including whether a person would be inclined to vote for Romney if he knew Mormons consider the Book of Mormon superior to the Bible, or if he knew Romney escaped the Vietnam draft by serving a Mormon mission.

The Portland company has done polling for former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who contemplated running for the White House last year, under his organization, American Solutions.

The company also polled for presidential candidate Ron Paul's 2006 House race and has been hired by other independent Republican groups, according to Federal Election Commission filings and the company's own Web site.

The Utah Republican Party and Rep. Chris Cannon, a Utah Republican whose district includes Orem where Western Wats is based, has also hired Moore Information in the past, the firm's site says.

Cannon has endorsed Romney and was stumping in Iowa on Thursday night for the candidate.

Cannon's chief of staff, Joe Hunter, dismissed any link between his boss and the anti-Romney calls.

tburr@sltrib.com