DES MOINES (AP) - Word of the raid in Postville came just minutes before the first call from the media.

It was just after 10 a.m. on May 12, and the staff of the governor's office had precious little time to digest the news.

Staffers scrambled to respond.

"I am sure we are going to need a statement on this. Can someone work with me on details/statement/TPs (talking points)? This is the first I am hearing of this," the governor's communications director, Brad Anderson wrote at 10:17 a.m. on May 12, under the subject line "Immigration raid in Postville."

E-mails and internal communications obtained by The Associated Press using Iowa's public records law portray the governor's staff as quick to grasp the scope and importance of the raid at the Agriprocessors slaughterhouse in Postville. It led to the arrest of 389 workers on immigration violations and was the first of several actions taken by federal and state officials that have left the company's future in doubt.

The communications also show the limits of state government's power to respond to a federal operation.

Soon after the raid, according to the documents, Gov. Chet Culver had made Lt. Gov. Patty Judge his point person. Within hours, she had convened a working group of top aides from across state government to game out a response.

"We knew the scope pretty quickly," said Ralph Rosenberg, the executive director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission and the person Judge tapped to head the working group.

"But the thing that was important in our response was that we pulled people together very quickly … we had Iowa Workforce Development, DHS, the Department of Human Rights, all the directors of these departments together in just a couple of hours," Rosenberg said.

The biggest question in the hours after the raid was not whether the state should respond, but how.

According to meeting notes of the working group, several approaches were considered, including sending either the lieutenant governor or governor to Postville. That plan was ultimately shelved out of fears it would look like a public relations stunt.

To most involved it was quickly clear that the state's role would be limited, said Roger Munns, a spokesman for the Iowa Department of Human Services.

"We had practice with this because of the Swift raid in Marshalltown," Munns said, referring to a July 2007 action at Swift & Co. plants in four states, including Iowa. "When that raid happened we expected a number of calls and they never really came. … We've learned in these situations we need to be ready but we're not always called upon."

Because most of those directly affected by the raid were illegal immigrants, Munns said, the state could do little to help the workers. And the aid the state could provide, such as taking custody of children whose parents had been arrested, largely wasn't needed.

The governor's staff seemed aware of the perils of appearing to do nothing, however.

In an e-mail sent at noon on the day of the raid, Patrick Dillon, the governor's chief of staff, told another staffer to find out what information could be disseminated to lawmakers - and to tamp down expectations of extensive state involvement in the raid.

"Clearly their members will be engaged on this - and I think it would help at the front end to at least make clear to them as soon as possible the limited state role," Dillon wrote in an e-mail to Matt Unger, a top aide to Judge.

By the next day, Dillon looked prescient. Anderson fretted to other aides in an e-mail May 13 about a phone call he had with state Sen. Mark Zieman, whose district includes Postville.

Zieman, "(j)ust called me wondering if the state was doing anything with regards to Postville. I said the LG convened the core group yesterday to develop a gameplan, and he said, 'Yeah, but are they doing anything.' I said I did not know what specific action was being taken, but to call Matt Unger and he could discuss.

"Anyway, before he goes to the press that we aren't doing anything, if Matt, our resident 'young 20-something,' could call him that would be helpful. I don't have his contact info."

The governor's office was also fielding calls for help from local officials.

Molly Clause, a receptionist in the governor's office wrote to two other aides conveying a call from Postville Mayor Robert Penrod: "Mayor is asking for help from the Governor. … The town is in chaos," she wrote on May 14.

In their response, aides made clear there was little they could do.

"I told (Clause) we would call to get (Clause) calmed down but how do you want to handle this?," Cindy Jones, the governor's constituent services coordinator wrote to Unger.

"I'm not sure," Unger wrote back.

They ultimately decided they could offer Penrod little more than a token response.

"We should respond as a courtesy but maybe direct him to ICE since he is concerned mostly about the legalities???" Jones wrote. "We can also assure him that we are working in an advisory capacity only to make sure humanitarian efforts are done."

"I think that's right," Unger wrote back.

A message left with Penrod asking for comment was not immediately returned.

E-mails show a staffer later asked Judge if she wanted to talk to a reporter. Judge declined because she didn't want to take a critical stand so soon after the raid. That would change in the coming months as Culver spoke out against Agriprocessors and the state took an aggressive approach to the company.

Agriprocessors officials now face charges of child labor law violations and of illegally hiring immigrants. The company also is reeling from a loss of much of its workforce and a lawsuit from a creditor seeking to seize its assets.