Adithya Sambamurthy/The Bay Citizen

Supporters of the Run Ed Run campaign wait before a rally at San Francisco City Hall on Monday, August 1, 2011

Federal prosecutors in San Francisco have requested documents related to the "Run, Ed, Run" campaign, raising the possibility of a criminal investigation into the politically connected group that raised money for the drive to entice Mayor Ed Lee to run for re-election, two people with knowledge of the matter said Monday.

Last week, Aaron Peskin, the chairman of the San Francisco County Democratic Party, sent the U. S. Attorney’s office 37 pages of documents, including a four-page letter of complaint he sent to the San Francisco Ethics Commission in early August.

In his letter, Peskin alleged possible ethics violations by Progress For All, the political committee that raised thousands of dollars with the help of Rose Pak — the Chinatown powerbroker and Lee’s confidante — and insinuated that Pak and Lee were working in concert to circumvent campaign finance restrictions.

Peskin declined comment on Monday. The San Francisco Chronicle first reported the request for documents.

When reached Monday, Enrique Pearce, the political consultant who directed the "Run, Ed, Run" campaign, said he had not been contacted by federal investigators and had no knowledge of an investigation.

Tony Winnicker, a spokesman for Lee’s official campaign, said he had no knowledge of the investigation, adding that "Run, Ed, Run" was “completely independent from our campaign, and we have followed all ethics regulations to the letter of the law.”

The campaigns for City Attorney Dennis Herrera, Supervisor David Chiu and state Sen. Leland Yee — three of the leading candidates who called for an investigation into "Run, Ed, Run" — also said Monday they had no knowledge of an investigation.

Interim District Attorney George Gascón, who is also running for re-election and has been facing calls to recuse himself from any potential investigations into Lee’s campaign, said the U.S. Attorney's office has not contacted him about any probes related to the mayoral race.

It remains unclear whether the inquiry, which is in its preliminary stages, is part of a broader Justice Department probe into city contracts, which sources say has been ongoing for more than year.

But the prosecutors' requests appeared limited to campaign finance issues and did not involve Recology, the garbage company with close ties to former Mayor Willie L. Brown Jr. that also helped the "Run, Ed, Run" effort this summer. The San Francisco-based company, which has contracts with dozens of municipalities across the state, including San Francisco, has been the subject of a series of federal and local investigations into allegations of bribery over the past 20 years.

In early August, Quentin Kopp, a retired judge and former state senator, was the first to write to the Justice Department calling for a criminal investigation into Recology and its ties to Lee’s supporters.

The company said it has not been contacted by investigators.

“Recology hasn’t received an inquiry, nor do we don’t expect any,” said Sam Singer, a spokesman for the company. “There is one person out there, Quentin Kopp, who is crotchety and has an axe to grind and wants to keep pointing the finger at us. But he’s never been successful in the past and he’s not going to be successful now.”