Report Says Watson Hired Spiritualist

SACRAMENTO — State Sen. Diane Watson (D-Los Angeles) employed a spiritualist to help her with staff problems and paid for the clairvoyant’s services from campaign funds, according to Copley News Service.

The spiritualist, Barbara Cromartie of Philadelphia, said she prompted a purge of Watson’s staff in the late 1980s. “Sometimes people outgrow things, but they don’t realize that they’ve outgrown it,” Cromartie told the news service. “ . . . I spoke to her staff and her staff began to dissolve itself.”

Watson, locked in a tough election fight to succeed retiring Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth Hahn, said scrutiny of her dealings with Cromartie was politically motivated. She declined to say whether she believed in psychics or the occult.

“This is what happens during silly season,” Watson said, referring to political campaigning. “I am not a weirdo.”