EDITORIAL HAHN'S ``OUTRAGE'' MAYOR'S DENIAL STRATEGY ON HIS SCANDAL FAILS TRUTH TEST.

ACCORDING to James Hahn's spokesman, the mayor was ``outraged'' - outraged, mind you - that the public relations firm he was channeling millions of dollars to stands accused of stealing from the taxpayers.

The federal grand jury indictment last week of recently discharged Fleishman-Hillard executive John Stodder on 11 counts of defrauding the Department of Water and Power, the Port of Los Angeles and two private clients seems to have surprised no one but Hahn.

Federal and district attorney investigators have been tearing apart the Hahn administration's ``pay-to-play'' contracting practices for more than a year, while City Controller Laura Chick's audits have been turning up evidence of wrongdoing in scandalous proportions.

``The mayor is as concerned as anyone that the city of Los Angeles has been victimized, and the criminals need to go to jail,'' said the mayor's spokesman in feigned shock at the indictment.

On his own behalf the mayor proclaimed he has ``a 20-year career of unquestioned honesty and integrity.'' Well, not quite. A lot of people, including prosecutors, have been questioning his honesty and integrity for a while.

It is true that Hahn's dishonesty is unproved. However, it's also true that the pay-to-play contracting environment has become pervasive during his administration.

It's also true he put his campaign finance director in charge of the three big contracting departments - Harbor, Airports and Water and Power. He named other big-money fund-raisers to the commissions that oversaw those departments.

And he merrily accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in expert public-relations advice from Fleishman-Hillard executives that was paid for by the DWP, as well as a lot of so-called ``pro bono'' political advice that may or may not have been paid for by the DWP.

As the mayor well knows as a former prosecutor himself, the massive criminal investigations under way did not set out to capture a P.R. executive. Prosecutors were looking for public corruption in City Hall.

It remains to be seen whether they will find criminality in public places, but it is already certain that the mayor's strategy of denial, shock and outrage isn't working.

Perhaps he and his aides should try being straightforward and honest for a change, instead of calculating and deceiving.

Whether or not Hahn or his current or former aides are ultimately indicted themselves, the fact is a dark ethical cloud has hung over the Hahn administration for a long time. No amount of denying its existence will make it disappear.

We're sure the union bosses, contractors, consultants and big shots lined up with Hahn and spending heavily to get him re-elected share the mayor's outrage over the growing appearance of a major scandal at City Hall.

After all, Stodder is the first person indicted. But they all have to be wondering whether he will be the last.