Despite the party's earlier criticism of negative campaigning by Republicans and its denials of knowledge about the "mysterious" political action committee, evidence is mounting that it had multiple connections:

l Democratic Party leaders provided voters' addresses for thousands of the PAC's mailers slamming Republicans. The PAC also ran radio spots and newspaper inserts with similar themes.

l The PAC's self-described senior adviser, Debbie Willhite, supervised Utah Democratic Party Chairman Donald Dunn for a time when they worked in the Clinton administration. She also contributed to one of Dunn's congressional campaigns.

l The state party hired Willhite's Washington-based consulting company to produce campaign mailers at the same time the firm was advising the Truth in Politics PAC.

l Party-sponsored mailers mainly went to the same Democratic legislative candidates running against Republicans lambasted in the Truth in Politics mailers.

Dunn acknowledged Wednesday that the party sold its voter address list to the PAC in question. But he said the party did not control Truth in Politics or have any direct involvement in its activities.

"The Truth in Politics group was an independent group that decided what it wanted to do," Dunn said. "It's their group; it's not my group. . . . Everything that we did and the party produced and paid for was properly labeled" as coming from the party.

Truth in Politics, which presented itself as part of a nationwide effort, blasted state and county GOP candidates and officials in the ads that carried headlines such as "Map of Corruption" and "Hall of Shame." The latter mailer included labels over several Republican politicians such as "guilty" or "indicted" or "double-dipper."

Four of the Republicans targeted in the ads lost their elections, including Salt Lake County Council Chairman Steve Harmsen.

Harmsen says information about the PAC should have been disclosed before the election, and he says a lawsuit is possible if more answers aren't forthcoming. Harmsen noted that it was Dunn who threw pictures into a gutter at a news conference while complaining about negative Republican ads.

"There's no question it cost me an election," Harmsen said. "There's no question [the PAC] libeled me. The irony is that while the Democratic Party was crying foul over [Republican congressional candidate] John Swallow, they were up to their own necks in slime."

Dunn told The Salt Lake Tribune days before the general election that the party wasn't involved with Truth in Politics. "Who are they?" he asked then.

Now, he acknowledges he did know that Willhite was involved. He said Wednesday that he knows others who are involved in the group, but declined to name them.

Willhite said that other than buying postal addresses from the party, the party was not involved with the PAC.

"I just don't think that we're all that mysterious," she said, noting that many other PACs do not list complete information in their filings. "We're just fulfilling the laws of the state of Utah. If there's something mysterious done within the law, then - whew! - there needs to be some changes in the laws."

And there probably will be.

State Sen. Chris Buttars, who was cast by the ads as "guilty" of some unspecified offense, says there will be legislation to ensure a political action committee lists all its principal officials.

"It's just pure mud," said Buttars, who won re-election. "That's the dirtiest of politics. I don't think we've seen that kind of crap . . . in Utah before."

The PAC was suspect from the outset.

It was formed two months before the election, and its contact - and so far, its sole listed donor - C.L. Peacock, initially listed a Las Vegas address that turns out to be a UPS store. The Park City phone number listed on the group's organizing forms disconnects a caller after a few rings.

Summit County has no voter registered under the name C.L. Peacock, and there is no listed phone number. A reverse look-up of the phone number listed by the PAC shows that the number belongs to Craig Tassainer, who says he let the PAC use his Park City condo and phone but that no one currently lives there.

The Utah Republican Party has filed a complaint against the PAC, charging that the legitimacy of the group is questionable because the PAC's phone number does not work and there is no business address listed for the group. The State Elections Office has requested more information about the PAC but so far has received no response.

In the absence of information about the group, Republicans flung accusations about. Some blamed County Council aides. Buttars and state Sen. James Evans accused Salt Lake City Mayor Rocky Anderson, and Buttars said it was "the gays." Anderson denies any involvement. Some of those involved, though, are gay-rights activists, including WordPerfect co-founder Bruce Bastian, who contributed money.

So what, says Bastian. "If you look at what the Republicans say about us . . . I don't think what we did is sleazy at all," he said.

Salt Lake County Mayor-elect Peter Corroon is one Democrat who says he would have preferred the group not meddle in his race.

"Frankly, I wasn't happy with it," Corroon said Wednesday. "If it's related to your campaign, people think you have control of it. I'd rather not have them involved with my campaign."

tburr@sltrib.com