Jerry Brown Staffer Quits Over Recorded Conversations

A spokesman for California Attorney General Jerry Brown has resigned after admitting he secretly taped telephone conversations with reporters.

In his resignation letter, Scott Gerber wrote that he didn't make the recordings "to play gotcha but simply to have an accurate record of official, on-the-record statements on matters of public concern." Gerber apologized to Brown and to the reporters, admitting that he "made serious errors in judgment," the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

Gerber said neither Brown nor anyone else in his office was aware of the taping. Brown hasn't commented.

California is among the states that require consent to record telephone conversations when there is an expectation of confidentiality.