COEUR d'ALENE - Coeur d'Alene City Attorney Mike Gridley confirmed Wednesday the city is investigating a suspicious campaign contribution that was made to Mary Souza's mayoral campaign.

Souza published a newsletter on Monday claiming the city attorney's office, The Press and two prominent Democrats are engaged in "three levels of intimidation" against her and her campaign contributors.

On Wednesday, Gridley issued a statement saying the city is simply looking into what appears to be someone trying to disguise campaign contributions, which is not legal in Idaho.

Souza wrote in her newsletter that she returned the contribution, she did everything she was supposed to do, and that the city attorney told her she had followed all of the laws and disclosed all of the information the city has asked for, but she was still under investigation until the election is over.

"For the record, I have never spoken to Ms. Souza regarding this matter, and I have certainly never told her that she has followed all of the election laws," Gridley said in his statement, adding that Souza did meet with Deputy City Attorney Warren Wilson and City Clerk Renatta McLeod about the donation, and requested a letter indicating that she was in full compliance with Idaho's Sunshine Laws.

"She was told that issuing such a letter would be inappropriate until a final review of all of the required filings is completed after the election is over," he said.

Souza did provide the information the city was seeking on the Ocean of Life Foundation, Gridley said, but the city has yet to hear from the foundation's director, the Rev. Thomas Wold, who claims to have made several more donations to candidates in this election.

In fact, Wilson said he told Souza the main focus of the investigation is on Wold.

Souza did not return a phone message from The Press requesting an interview on Wednesday.

In her newsletter, Souza wrote:

"It is outrageous for a citizen, any citizen, who has been questioning the actions of our local government to be the subject of intimidation efforts by city officials. The second level of grit is the preposterous article by the Press last Thursday, targeting one of my campaign contributors."

The Press published a story on Oct. 16 after the director of Ocean of Life Foundation threatened a reporter in a recorded voicemail. The man told the reporter to back off his coverage of the Souza campaign or he would "pursue a little farther and faster" after the reporter, who was attempting to find out his identity.

After The Press informed Souza that it was going to publish a story on the matter, Souza returned the Ocean of Life Foundation's $1,000 contribution the same day, and later mentioned in her newsletter that the director re-issued a check to her campaign and in the process, was publicly revealing his name, which is Rev. Thomas Wold.

Just before the article went to press last week, Wold did reveal his identity to the editor of The Press. He gave his name with the understanding that, because the donation had been returned, his identity not be disclosed in that story.

The Press article ran without his name. Based on his earlier voicemail message, the article quoted Wold saying he had made several contributions to campaigns in the city council races, but "(The Press) haven't found that out yet." Souza also refused to identify the director of the foundation at that time, saying the donor wanted to remain anonymous.

That is what prompted the city to investigate the contributions, Wilson said. Under Idaho's Sunshine Laws, political donations more than $49 are subject to disclosure, and cannot be made anonymously.

"Mary said in that article that the donor wanted to remain anonymous, but you can't hide your donations," said Wilson. Wilson said he was also concerned about Wold's statement that even more donations have been made, which appear to be disguised.

"That gave us a prima facie reason to look into it," he said.

The City Clerk sent letters to the Souza campaign and The Press requesting all information concerning Ocean of Life Foundation, its director and any donation information they may have.

The Press had obtained documentation of the Ocean of Life Church Inc., which was incorporated in Kootenai County on April 9, 2003 and dissolved on July 8, 2004. The church was incorporated for the purpose of religious worship and education under a board of directors which included Rev. Thomas Wold, William J. Olson, of Otis Orchards, Wash., and Ljubov Fletcher, who also goes by Luba Wold.

Both Fletcher and Wold listed their home address of 440 S. Hidden Island Lane as the registered office for the church.

That information was turned over to the city, along with other documents that were generated during a private investigation of Wold in 2003.

Wilson said the city attorney's office is still waiting to talk with Wold before commenting further on the investigation.

"At this point we haven't decided how we are going to proceed," he said, adding they will likely wait for all of the campaign disclosures to be filed after the election wraps up before reaching any conclusions. "Sometimes these things can take months."