DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) – A state senator who has been indicted on a charge of attempted extortion said Tuesday he no longer suspects he’s being targeted because he’s gay.

However, Sen. Matt McCoy, D-Des Moines, did express concerns over U.S. attorney’s office investigations of elected officials across the country that he said focus on a disproportionate number of Democrats.

McCoy pleaded not guilty in March to one count of attempted extortion for allegedly threatening to use his influence as a legislator to force a former business partner to pay him $2,000.

In an interview in March with The Advocate, McCoy said he has “been a continuous target of groups targeting gays to advance their own agendas of intolerance and hate.”

“Clearly, there is significant speculation about what has motivated federal officials to take this action against me,” McCoy said in the article, which appeared at Advocate.com last week.

However, on Tuesday he told The Associated Press that he no longer believes he was targeted because of his sexual orientation.

“At the time I was interviewed, I had a lot to say, and those were suspicions at the time,” he said. “Since then, I honestly have to say, I have found no evidence to support some of the thoughts that I had at the time that I shared with the media.”

McCoy said he does still have concerns about the motivations of the U.S. attorneys office, and said that of about 3,000 elected officials currently under federal investigation, 80 percent are Democrats.

“Do I think that there is an organized effort out there? I can only say that I don’t believe Democrats are more likely to break the law than Republicans,” he said. “I have to believe there are some people out there who are innocent as I was and am.”

McCoy argued in The Advocate interview that U.S. Attorney Matt Whitaker is pursuing the case against him in an attempt to show conservative loyalty to the Bush administration in the wake of the U.S. attorney firings by the Justice Department.

A telephone message The Associated Press left for Whitaker at his office on Tuesday wasn’t returned.

At a hearing on a motion on Tuesday afternoon, McCoy’s attorneys were seeking permission for the defense to hand out questionnaires to potential jurors.

The form included more than 30 questions inquiring into media coverage of the case and public dissatisfaction with elected officials. The questionnaire also seeks answers on the attitudes of potential jurors about U.S. Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. He has been embroiled in the controversy over the firings of nine U.S. attorneys last year, a move that Democrats contend was politically motivated.

“I think it’s calculated to further inflame the issue,” said U.S. attorney Lester Paff, who told Judge James Gritzner that he thought many of the questions “would be better put to those jurors in open court.”

McCoy’s attorney, F. Montgomery Brown, said “there is a Gonzales issue out there, and they are going to have opinions on it.”

The U.S. attorney’s office has said McCoy attempted to extort money from Reid Schultz, owner of a home security business in Des Moines, and an employee, Tom Vasquez. The business was planning on selling security systems for elderly adults throughout Iowa, officials have said.

Officials have accused McCoy of demanding money from Schultz and Vasquez and threatening to have their status as a Medicaid vendor pulled if they didn’t pay.

McCoy accepted $2,000 in payments between Dec. 29, 2005, and March 24, 2006, the U.S. attorneys office has said. The money was provided by the FBI as part of an undercover investigation.

The charge relates to the Hobbs Act, a federal law enacted in 1946 to fight racketeering in labor-management disputes but that also includes a section on extortion involving public officials.

McCoy maintains that the charges stem from a business relationship and contractual disagreement that soured, and former partners who turned against him and cooperated with federal authorities.

“I still look forward to my day in court,” he said on Tuesday.

He faces a maximum prison sentence of up to 20 years and a potential fine of $250,000 if convicted on the charge.

The prosecution and defense on Tuesday jointly asked the judge to delay the trial from Oct. 1 to Oct. 29.