See below.
The long arm of the law reached out and arrested a corrupt governor and took other actions against corrupt businessmen and lawmen.
Meanwhile, how deeply and thoroughly are federal officials scrutinizing St. Augustine and St. Johns County?
How soon will indictments be handed up?
(Yes, indictments are handed "up" -- to the judge, by the grand jury foreperson or court clerk or courtroom deputy. Of course, many American journalists don't know up from down and don't report it thattaway -- they say indictments are handed "down."
Will any white collar criminals in City Hall, the Courthouse or State Capital go unscathed?
Friday, December 12, 2008
USDOJ Press Release: Former Jailers Sentenced to Prison for Civil Rights Conspiracy, Causing Rape of Teenage Traffic Offender By Inmates
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, December 8, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
Former Grant County, Kentucky Detention Center Officers Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations in Teenager Rape Case
WASHINGTON—Wesley Lanham, 31, and Shawn Freeman, 36, both former deputy jailers at Grant County Detention Center in Kentucky, were sentenced today on federal civil rights, conspiracy, and obstruction charges. Lanham was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release, and Freeman was sentenced to 14 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Both defendants were found guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of a teenaged traffic offender by arranging for him to be raped by inmates. The jury convicted the defendants on all charges and specifically found that the defendants were responsible for the aggravated sexual assault carried out by the inmates.
"Although nothing can fully heal the wounds inflicted on this teenager, hopefully the defendants’ sentences today will bring closure to this young man and his family," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "His courage in coming forward helps to ensure that egregious acts such as this one will be appropriately punished, and facilitates the Justice Department’s efforts to ensure the integrity of law enforcement."
The case stemmed from an incident that occurred on Feb. 14, 2003, when the defendants, along with their supervisor, former Sergeant Shawn Sydnor, taunted an 18-year-old high school student who had been brought to the detention center on a speeding charge. The deputies teased the teenager about his physical appearance and told him that he would make a good "girlfriend" for the other inmates. The defendants then solicited a group of convicted felons housed in a general population cell to scare and "mess with" the teenager. After eliciting an agreement from the inmates, the officers left the teenager in the cell where he was sexually assaulted by the other inmates.
When the teenager’s father reported the incident and demanded an investigation, the defendants falsified their official reports relating to the treatment of the teenager.
A third defendant, former Sergeant at the jail, Clint Shawn Sydnor, previously pleaded guilty to civil rights and conspiracy charges and was sentenced earlier today to 90 months in prison.
This case was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Kristy L. Parker and Trial Attorney Forrest Christian of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
###
08-1075
Monday, December 8, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888
Former Grant County, Kentucky Detention Center Officers Sentenced for Civil Rights Violations in Teenager Rape Case
WASHINGTON—Wesley Lanham, 31, and Shawn Freeman, 36, both former deputy jailers at Grant County Detention Center in Kentucky, were sentenced today on federal civil rights, conspiracy, and obstruction charges. Lanham was sentenced to 15 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release, and Freeman was sentenced to 14 years in prison and 3 years of supervised release. Both defendants were found guilty of conspiring to violate the civil rights of a teenaged traffic offender by arranging for him to be raped by inmates. The jury convicted the defendants on all charges and specifically found that the defendants were responsible for the aggravated sexual assault carried out by the inmates.
"Although nothing can fully heal the wounds inflicted on this teenager, hopefully the defendants’ sentences today will bring closure to this young man and his family," said Grace Chung Becker, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. "His courage in coming forward helps to ensure that egregious acts such as this one will be appropriately punished, and facilitates the Justice Department’s efforts to ensure the integrity of law enforcement."
The case stemmed from an incident that occurred on Feb. 14, 2003, when the defendants, along with their supervisor, former Sergeant Shawn Sydnor, taunted an 18-year-old high school student who had been brought to the detention center on a speeding charge. The deputies teased the teenager about his physical appearance and told him that he would make a good "girlfriend" for the other inmates. The defendants then solicited a group of convicted felons housed in a general population cell to scare and "mess with" the teenager. After eliciting an agreement from the inmates, the officers left the teenager in the cell where he was sexually assaulted by the other inmates.
When the teenager’s father reported the incident and demanded an investigation, the defendants falsified their official reports relating to the treatment of the teenager.
A third defendant, former Sergeant at the jail, Clint Shawn Sydnor, previously pleaded guilty to civil rights and conspiracy charges and was sentenced earlier today to 90 months in prison.
This case was prosecuted by Special Litigation Counsel Kristy L. Parker and Trial Attorney Forrest Christian of the Criminal Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, with assistance from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Kentucky. The case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
###
08-1075
USDOJ Press Release: CEO Sentenced to 97 Months in Federal Prison in $3 billion fraud
For Immediate Release
December 11, 2008 Karen P. Hewitt, United States Attorney
Southern District of California
(619) 557-5610
Former Peregrine Systems, Inc. CEO to Serve 97 Months in Federal Prison
San Diego, CA - United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Stephen Parker Gardner, former Chief Executive Officer of Peregrine Systems, Inc. (“Peregrine”), was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego by United States District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan to serve 97 months in custody, based on his conviction on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and obstruction of justice, arising out of his participation in a scheme to defraud Peregrine’s shareholders between 1999 and 2002. Judge Whelan cited Gardner’s cooperation with federal authorities following his guilty plea in March 2007 and his testimony during the trial of his co-defendants as reasons that supported the sentence.
Judge Whelan ordered Gardner to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his release from prison. Judge Whelan also ordered Gardner to forfeit to the United States the proceeds from the sale of three parcels of real estate in Maine, approximately $970,032 from the sale of a fourth parcel of real estate, plus approximately $384,652 seized from his brokerage accounts. Judge Whelan will address restitution at a hearing on February 23, 2009.
According to evidence introduced in Gardner’s case, Peregrine was a business software company formerly headquartered in San Diego, California and had been one of the region’s most celebrated technology companies. Shares of Peregrine were publicly traded on the NASDAQ and for ten consecutive quarters between 1999 and 2001, Gardner and his co-schemers declared that Peregrine had met or exceeded Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings. In truth, Gardner and others fraudulently manipulated Peregrine’s financial statements in order to deceptively meet these numbers, thereby fraudulently inflating and sustaining the price of Peregrine’s stock. The scheme employed a number of fraudulent practices designed to manipulate Peregrine’s revenue and earnings figures, including: (1) improperly keeping Peregrine’s books “open” past the end of the fiscal quarter and deceptively including in the prior fiscal period backdated contracts that had actually closed in later periods; (2) improperly recording revenue on contracts that were subject to oral and written side agreements and promises; and (3) concealing from Wall Street the fact that Peregrine counted revenue on “barter deals” – that is, sales that were dependent on Peregrine’s providing the purchaser with cash, equity, or orders for products or services.
According to court documents, in an effort to avoid restating revenues that had already been reported to Wall Street, Gardner and his co-schemers took steps to conceal from investors the fact that millions of dollars of Peregrine’s accounts receivable had not been collected. In addition, in an effort to avoid scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Gardner gave false and misleading testimony to the SEC about whether a series of “barter deals” booked by Peregrine were directly linked and predicated upon each other.
According to court files, Gardner was hired by Peregrine in 1997 as Vice President of Strategic Acquisitions, was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer in April 1998, and accepted the title of Chairman of the Board of Directors in July 2000. During his time at the company, Gardner exercised stock options and sold thousands of shares of Peregrine stock, reaping approximately $8.2 million in net proceeds.
Gardner also took annual bonuses from Peregrine that at one point exceeded $1 million. When Peregrine publicly disclosed its accounting improprieties in May 2002, the company’s stock price collapsed. Peregrine later sought federal bankruptcy protection and eventually sold itself to Hewlett-Packard Company.
Shareholders have claimed losses in excess of $3 billion resulting from the fraudulent activities of Gardner and others.
United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt stated, “The sentencing of former CEO Stephen Gardner is an important milestone demonstrating the commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to combat corporate fraud in San Diego. Gardner and other top executives caused Peregrine to falsify its numbers to investors and took affirmative steps to hide the truth from the public and the authorities. They did so for financial gain and to advance their careers. This case should leave no doubt that stiff penalties await those tempted to engage in corporate fraud and cheat investors.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter commented, “Today's sentencing is a testament to the criminal justice system at work for the American people. Those at Peregrine who were involved with these gross misrepresentations affected thousands of shareholders and workers throughout the country. These types of actions destroy confidence in our financial system and undermine efforts to convince corporate America to play by the rules. This sentencing should assure shareholders, Wall Street, and taxpayers that the FBI and our partners are committed to pursuing those who engage in these types of criminal activities.”
United States Attorney Hewitt praised the outstanding efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Diego Division and thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement for working cooperatively with investigators and attorneys throughout this process.
Gardner was ordered to begin serving his sentence by February 20, 2009.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 04CR2605-W
Stephen Parker Gardner Age: 55
Maine
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Count 1: Conspiracy - Title 18, United States Code, Section 371
Count 2: Securities Fraud - Title 15, United States Code, Sections 78j(b) and 78ff, and Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 240.10b-5.
Count 46: Obstruction of Proceedings Before Departments, Agencies, and Committees -Title 18, United States Code, Section 1505.
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
December 11, 2008 Karen P. Hewitt, United States Attorney
Southern District of California
(619) 557-5610
Former Peregrine Systems, Inc. CEO to Serve 97 Months in Federal Prison
San Diego, CA - United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt announced that Stephen Parker Gardner, former Chief Executive Officer of Peregrine Systems, Inc. (“Peregrine”), was sentenced today in federal court in San Diego by United States District Court Judge Thomas J. Whelan to serve 97 months in custody, based on his conviction on charges of conspiracy, securities fraud, and obstruction of justice, arising out of his participation in a scheme to defraud Peregrine’s shareholders between 1999 and 2002. Judge Whelan cited Gardner’s cooperation with federal authorities following his guilty plea in March 2007 and his testimony during the trial of his co-defendants as reasons that supported the sentence.
Judge Whelan ordered Gardner to serve a three-year term of supervised release following his release from prison. Judge Whelan also ordered Gardner to forfeit to the United States the proceeds from the sale of three parcels of real estate in Maine, approximately $970,032 from the sale of a fourth parcel of real estate, plus approximately $384,652 seized from his brokerage accounts. Judge Whelan will address restitution at a hearing on February 23, 2009.
According to evidence introduced in Gardner’s case, Peregrine was a business software company formerly headquartered in San Diego, California and had been one of the region’s most celebrated technology companies. Shares of Peregrine were publicly traded on the NASDAQ and for ten consecutive quarters between 1999 and 2001, Gardner and his co-schemers declared that Peregrine had met or exceeded Wall Street expectations for revenue and earnings. In truth, Gardner and others fraudulently manipulated Peregrine’s financial statements in order to deceptively meet these numbers, thereby fraudulently inflating and sustaining the price of Peregrine’s stock. The scheme employed a number of fraudulent practices designed to manipulate Peregrine’s revenue and earnings figures, including: (1) improperly keeping Peregrine’s books “open” past the end of the fiscal quarter and deceptively including in the prior fiscal period backdated contracts that had actually closed in later periods; (2) improperly recording revenue on contracts that were subject to oral and written side agreements and promises; and (3) concealing from Wall Street the fact that Peregrine counted revenue on “barter deals” – that is, sales that were dependent on Peregrine’s providing the purchaser with cash, equity, or orders for products or services.
According to court documents, in an effort to avoid restating revenues that had already been reported to Wall Street, Gardner and his co-schemers took steps to conceal from investors the fact that millions of dollars of Peregrine’s accounts receivable had not been collected. In addition, in an effort to avoid scrutiny from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”), Gardner gave false and misleading testimony to the SEC about whether a series of “barter deals” booked by Peregrine were directly linked and predicated upon each other.
According to court files, Gardner was hired by Peregrine in 1997 as Vice President of Strategic Acquisitions, was promoted to President and Chief Executive Officer in April 1998, and accepted the title of Chairman of the Board of Directors in July 2000. During his time at the company, Gardner exercised stock options and sold thousands of shares of Peregrine stock, reaping approximately $8.2 million in net proceeds.
Gardner also took annual bonuses from Peregrine that at one point exceeded $1 million. When Peregrine publicly disclosed its accounting improprieties in May 2002, the company’s stock price collapsed. Peregrine later sought federal bankruptcy protection and eventually sold itself to Hewlett-Packard Company.
Shareholders have claimed losses in excess of $3 billion resulting from the fraudulent activities of Gardner and others.
United States Attorney Karen P. Hewitt stated, “The sentencing of former CEO Stephen Gardner is an important milestone demonstrating the commitment of the United States Attorney’s Office to combat corporate fraud in San Diego. Gardner and other top executives caused Peregrine to falsify its numbers to investors and took affirmative steps to hide the truth from the public and the authorities. They did so for financial gain and to advance their careers. This case should leave no doubt that stiff penalties await those tempted to engage in corporate fraud and cheat investors.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Keith Slotter commented, “Today's sentencing is a testament to the criminal justice system at work for the American people. Those at Peregrine who were involved with these gross misrepresentations affected thousands of shareholders and workers throughout the country. These types of actions destroy confidence in our financial system and undermine efforts to convince corporate America to play by the rules. This sentencing should assure shareholders, Wall Street, and taxpayers that the FBI and our partners are committed to pursuing those who engage in these types of criminal activities.”
United States Attorney Hewitt praised the outstanding efforts of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s San Diego Division and thanked the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s Division of Enforcement for working cooperatively with investigators and attorneys throughout this process.
Gardner was ordered to begin serving his sentence by February 20, 2009.
DEFENDANT Case Number: 04CR2605-W
Stephen Parker Gardner Age: 55
Maine
SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Count 1: Conspiracy - Title 18, United States Code, Section 371
Count 2: Securities Fraud - Title 15, United States Code, Sections 78j(b) and 78ff, and Title 17, Code of Federal Regulations, Section 240.10b-5.
Count 46: Obstruction of Proceedings Before Departments, Agencies, and Committees -Title 18, United States Code, Section 1505.
AGENCIES
Federal Bureau of Investigation
United States Securities and Exchange Commission
USDOJ Press Release: Cleveland City Council Member Charged With Bribery
News Release
December 8, 2008
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Northern District of Ohio
William J. Edwards
United States Attorney
Dean M. Valore
Assistant United States Attorney
216-622-3689
Cleveland City Council Member Charged With Bribery
William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that a one-count information was filed charging Cleveland City Council Member Robert J. White, III, age 47, of Cleveland, Ohio, with one count of bribery in violation of the Hobbs Act.
Count 1 of the information alleges that in or about late 2007, White accepted a $500 bribe from an unnamed Cleveland businessman who was cooperating with the FBI in exchange for the performance of his official duties as Ward 2 Councilman for the City of Cleveland.
The maximum potential penalty for conviction under the Hobbs Act violation is 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any period of incarceration. The court may determine the actual sentence under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which depend upon a number of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, his role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. The actual sentence may be less than the statutory maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean M. Valore following an investigation initiated by the Cleveland Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
December 8, 2008
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Northern District of Ohio
William J. Edwards
United States Attorney
Dean M. Valore
Assistant United States Attorney
216-622-3689
Cleveland City Council Member Charged With Bribery
William J. Edwards, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Ohio and C. Frank Figliuzzi, Special Agent in Charge of the Cleveland Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, today announced that a one-count information was filed charging Cleveland City Council Member Robert J. White, III, age 47, of Cleveland, Ohio, with one count of bribery in violation of the Hobbs Act.
Count 1 of the information alleges that in or about late 2007, White accepted a $500 bribe from an unnamed Cleveland businessman who was cooperating with the FBI in exchange for the performance of his official duties as Ward 2 Councilman for the City of Cleveland.
The maximum potential penalty for conviction under the Hobbs Act violation is 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years of supervised release following any period of incarceration. The court may determine the actual sentence under the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which depend upon a number of factors unique to each case, including the defendant’s prior criminal record, if any, his role in the offense and the characteristics of the violation. The actual sentence may be less than the statutory maximum.
This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dean M. Valore following an investigation initiated by the Cleveland Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
An information is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government’s burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
USDOJ Press Release: FORMER SENATOR WILKERSON AND CITY COUNCILOR TURNER INDICTED IN PUBLIC CORRUPTION CONSPIRACY
The United States Attorney's Office
District of Massachusetts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MA
CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING
PHONE: (617) 748-3356
CHRISTINA.STERLING@USDOJ.GOV
FORMER SENATOR WILKERSON AND CITY COUNCILOR TURNER INDICTED IN PUBLIC CORRUPTION CONSPIRACY
BOSTON, MA—Former Massachusetts State Senator DIANNE WILKERSON and Boston City Councilor CHUCK TURNER were indicted this afternoon as co-conspirators on a federal public corruption charge.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office and Police Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department announced today that DIANNE WILKERSON, 53, of 74 Howland Street in Boston, Massachusetts, and CHARLES “CHUCK” TURNER, 68, of 63 Beech Glen Street, Boston, Massachusetts were charged by federal indictment this afternoon.
WILKERSON and TURNER were charged with conspiring to extort cash under color of official right. TURNER is also charged with one count of attempted extortion under color of official right in connection with his acceptance of $1,000 in cash to assist a Boston-area businessman obtain a liquor license, and three counts of false statements to FBI agents. In total, the indictment handed down today charges WILKERSON with nine federal felonies and TURNER with five federal felonies. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the funds paid to WILKERSON and TURNER by undercover agents and a cooperating witness as part of an 18-month covert investigation into their alleged corrupt activities.
If convicted WILKERSON faces up to 20 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the nine charges. If convicted TURNER faces up to 20 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the two extortion charges. He faces up to 5 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the three false statement charges
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office, in conjunction with the Boston Police Department Anti-Corruption Unit and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. McNeil in Sullivan’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
District of Massachusetts
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 9, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/MA
CONTACT: CHRISTINA DiIORIO-STERLING
PHONE: (617) 748-3356
CHRISTINA.STERLING@USDOJ.GOV
FORMER SENATOR WILKERSON AND CITY COUNCILOR TURNER INDICTED IN PUBLIC CORRUPTION CONSPIRACY
BOSTON, MA—Former Massachusetts State Senator DIANNE WILKERSON and Boston City Councilor CHUCK TURNER were indicted this afternoon as co-conspirators on a federal public corruption charge.
United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, Warren T. Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office and Police Commissioner Edward Davis of the Boston Police Department announced today that DIANNE WILKERSON, 53, of 74 Howland Street in Boston, Massachusetts, and CHARLES “CHUCK” TURNER, 68, of 63 Beech Glen Street, Boston, Massachusetts were charged by federal indictment this afternoon.
WILKERSON and TURNER were charged with conspiring to extort cash under color of official right. TURNER is also charged with one count of attempted extortion under color of official right in connection with his acceptance of $1,000 in cash to assist a Boston-area businessman obtain a liquor license, and three counts of false statements to FBI agents. In total, the indictment handed down today charges WILKERSON with nine federal felonies and TURNER with five federal felonies. The indictment also seeks forfeiture of the funds paid to WILKERSON and TURNER by undercover agents and a cooperating witness as part of an 18-month covert investigation into their alleged corrupt activities.
If convicted WILKERSON faces up to 20 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the nine charges. If convicted TURNER faces up to 20 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the two extortion charges. He faces up to 5 years imprisonment, 3 years of supervised release and a $250,000 fine on each of the three false statement charges
The case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation - Boston Field Office, in conjunction with the Boston Police Department Anti-Corruption Unit and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney John T. McNeil in Sullivan’s Public Corruption and Special Prosecutions Unit.
The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendants are presumed to be innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
USDOJ Press Release: INVESTMENT ADVISER AND FORMER CHAIRMAN OF NASDAQ STOCK MARKET ARRESTED FOR MULTIBILLION DOLLAR PONZI SCHEME
United States Attorney
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 11, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/NYS/
CONTACT: U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
YUSILL SCRIBNER
REBEKAH CARMICHAEL
(212) 637-2600
INVESTMENT ADVISER AND FORMER CHAIRMAN OF NASDAQ STOCK MARKET ARRESTED FOR MULTIBILLION DOLLAR PONZI SCHEME
NEW YORK - Bernard L. Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, a registered investment adviser, and former Chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market, was arrested today and charged with one count of securities fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Lev L. Dassin and Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI's New York Office Mark J. Mershon announced.
According to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Bernard L. Madoff is the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (the Firm), a securities broker dealer with its principal office in New York City. According to the Firm's website, the Firm: (a) "is a leading international market maker. The firm has been providing quality executions for broker-dealers, banks and financial institutions since its inception in 1960"; (b) "[w]ith more than $700 million in firm capital, Madoff currently ranks among the top 1% of U.S. Securities firms; and (c) "Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining an unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm's hallmark."
According to two senior employees of the Firm (the Senior Employees), Madoff conducts certain investment advisory business for clients that is separate from the firm's proprietary trading and market making activities. According to the Senior Employees, Madoff ran his investment adviser business from a separate floor in the New York City offices of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. According to a Senior Employee, Madoff kept the financial statements for the firm under lock and key, and Madoff was "cryptic" about the firm's investment advisory business.
According to a document filed by Madoff with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan.7, 2008, Madoff's investment advisory business served between 11 and 25 clients and had a total of approximately $17.1 billion in assets under management.
On Dec. 10, 2008, Madoff informed the Senior Employees, in substance, that his investment advisory business was a fraud. Madoff stated that he was "finished," that he had "absolutely nothing," that "it's all just one big lie," and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme. Madoff stated that the business was insolvent, and that it had been for years. Madoff also stated that he estimated the losses from this fraud to be at least approximately $50 billion. Madoff further informed the Senior Employees that, in approximately one week, he planned to surrender to authorities, but before he did that, he had approximately $200-300 million left, and he planned to use that money to make payments to certain selected employees, family and friends. Madoff, 70, currently resides in New York City.
The securities fraud charge in the complaint carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000,000. Madoff is expected to be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton today.
Mr. Dassin praised the investigative work of the FBI and thanked the SEC for its assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt is in charge of the prosecution. The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
###
Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 11, 2008
WWW.USDOJ.GOV/USAO/NYS/
CONTACT: U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
YUSILL SCRIBNER
REBEKAH CARMICHAEL
(212) 637-2600
INVESTMENT ADVISER AND FORMER CHAIRMAN OF NASDAQ STOCK MARKET ARRESTED FOR MULTIBILLION DOLLAR PONZI SCHEME
NEW YORK - Bernard L. Madoff, the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC, a registered investment adviser, and former Chairman of the NASDAQ Stock Market, was arrested today and charged with one count of securities fraud, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Lev L. Dassin and Assistant Director-in-Charge of the FBI's New York Office Mark J. Mershon announced.
According to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Bernard L. Madoff is the founder of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC (the Firm), a securities broker dealer with its principal office in New York City. According to the Firm's website, the Firm: (a) "is a leading international market maker. The firm has been providing quality executions for broker-dealers, banks and financial institutions since its inception in 1960"; (b) "[w]ith more than $700 million in firm capital, Madoff currently ranks among the top 1% of U.S. Securities firms; and (c) "Clients know that Bernard Madoff has a personal interest in maintaining an unblemished record of value, fair-dealing, and high ethical standards that has always been the firm's hallmark."
According to two senior employees of the Firm (the Senior Employees), Madoff conducts certain investment advisory business for clients that is separate from the firm's proprietary trading and market making activities. According to the Senior Employees, Madoff ran his investment adviser business from a separate floor in the New York City offices of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC. According to a Senior Employee, Madoff kept the financial statements for the firm under lock and key, and Madoff was "cryptic" about the firm's investment advisory business.
According to a document filed by Madoff with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on Jan.7, 2008, Madoff's investment advisory business served between 11 and 25 clients and had a total of approximately $17.1 billion in assets under management.
On Dec. 10, 2008, Madoff informed the Senior Employees, in substance, that his investment advisory business was a fraud. Madoff stated that he was "finished," that he had "absolutely nothing," that "it's all just one big lie," and that it was "basically, a giant Ponzi scheme. Madoff stated that the business was insolvent, and that it had been for years. Madoff also stated that he estimated the losses from this fraud to be at least approximately $50 billion. Madoff further informed the Senior Employees that, in approximately one week, he planned to surrender to authorities, but before he did that, he had approximately $200-300 million left, and he planned to use that money to make payments to certain selected employees, family and friends. Madoff, 70, currently resides in New York City.
The securities fraud charge in the complaint carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a maximum fine of $5,000,000. Madoff is expected to be presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Douglas F. Eaton today.
Mr. Dassin praised the investigative work of the FBI and thanked the SEC for its assistance. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt is in charge of the prosecution. The charges and allegations contained in the complaint are merely accusations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
###
A Modest Proposal: Letter to THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL, Suggesting That He Release Transcripts and Video/Audio Tapes of FBI Surveillance in Bribery Case
Dear Tom:
May I suggest that you release all of the transcripts and tapes now? This would promote transparency and help uncover the truth. If you are the victim of entrapment, nothing could prove it swifter than opening it all to the public -- just as you did your interviews of County Administrator candidates. Wouldn't it be novel and newsworthy if a white collar defendant exercised his right to share discovery materials with the people and the press? This could help your attorney and investigators and pursue leads, helping lead to the "just, speedy and inexpensive determination" of your case. Compare F.R.Civ. P. Rule 1.
As Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant and electric light the best policeman."
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Clean Up City of St. Augustine, Florida
www.cleanupcityofstaugutine.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
May I suggest that you release all of the transcripts and tapes now? This would promote transparency and help uncover the truth. If you are the victim of entrapment, nothing could prove it swifter than opening it all to the public -- just as you did your interviews of County Administrator candidates. Wouldn't it be novel and newsworthy if a white collar defendant exercised his right to share discovery materials with the people and the press? This could help your attorney and investigators and pursue leads, helping lead to the "just, speedy and inexpensive determination" of your case. Compare F.R.Civ. P. Rule 1.
As Justice Louis Dembitz Brandeis said, "sunlight is the best disinfectant and electric light the best policeman."
With kindest regards, I am,
Sincerely yours,
Ed Slavin
Clean Up City of St. Augustine, Florida
www.cleanupcityofstaugutine.blogspot.com
P.O. Box 3084
St. Augustine, Florida 32085-3084
DOJ PRESS RELEASE: NY State Legislator Indicted for Corruption
United States Attorney Southern District of New York
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 10, 2008
CONTACT:
U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
YUSILL SCRIBNER
REBEKAH CARMICHAEL
JANICE OH
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(212) 637-2600
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLYMAN INDICTED FOR HONEST SERVICES MAIL FRAUD
LEV L. DASSIN, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a federal grand jury in Manhattan returned an Indictment today charging ANTHONY SEMINERIO, a New York State Assemblyman, with one count of honest services mail fraud. SEMINERIO, who has served as a member of the Assembly representing New York's 38th Assembly district in Queens since approximately 1978, was previously charged in a criminal Complaint filed in federal court on September 9, 2008. According to the Indictment filed today in Manhattan federal court:
From approximately April 2000 through September 2008, SEMINERIO defrauded the public of his honest services as a member of the Assembly by using an alleged consulting firm, Marc Consultants, to solicit and receive “consulting” payments from persons and entities having business before the State of New York.
SEMINERIO, however, did little or no consulting work. Instead, SEMINERIO received approximately $1 million from various entities with business before the State of New York, in connection with his position as a member of the Assembly and with the performance of his official duties, resulting in favorable treatment for those entities in New York State Government. The entities that made these payments included hospitals and related entities; a consulting firm associated with an educational institution; and a firm engaged in marketing supplemental insurance packages to public institutions.
SEMINERIO, 73, of Queens, New York, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on the charge set forth in the indictment.
This case is assigned to United States District Judge JOHN G. KOELTL.
Mr. DASSIN praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys DANIEL STEIN and WILLIAM HARRINGTON are in charge of the prosecution.
The charge contained in the Indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
DECEMBER 10, 2008
CONTACT:
U.S. ATTORNEY'S OFFICE
YUSILL SCRIBNER
REBEKAH CARMICHAEL
JANICE OH
PUBLIC INFORMATION OFFICE
(212) 637-2600
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLYMAN INDICTED FOR HONEST SERVICES MAIL FRAUD
LEV L. DASSIN, Acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that a federal grand jury in Manhattan returned an Indictment today charging ANTHONY SEMINERIO, a New York State Assemblyman, with one count of honest services mail fraud. SEMINERIO, who has served as a member of the Assembly representing New York's 38th Assembly district in Queens since approximately 1978, was previously charged in a criminal Complaint filed in federal court on September 9, 2008. According to the Indictment filed today in Manhattan federal court:
From approximately April 2000 through September 2008, SEMINERIO defrauded the public of his honest services as a member of the Assembly by using an alleged consulting firm, Marc Consultants, to solicit and receive “consulting” payments from persons and entities having business before the State of New York.
SEMINERIO, however, did little or no consulting work. Instead, SEMINERIO received approximately $1 million from various entities with business before the State of New York, in connection with his position as a member of the Assembly and with the performance of his official duties, resulting in favorable treatment for those entities in New York State Government. The entities that made these payments included hospitals and related entities; a consulting firm associated with an educational institution; and a firm engaged in marketing supplemental insurance packages to public institutions.
SEMINERIO, 73, of Queens, New York, faces a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment on the charge set forth in the indictment.
This case is assigned to United States District Judge JOHN G. KOELTL.
Mr. DASSIN praised the investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Public Corruption Unit. Assistant United States Attorneys DANIEL STEIN and WILLIAM HARRINGTON are in charge of the prosecution.
The charge contained in the Indictment is merely an accusation, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
Schiller Park Blog: Why More and More Politicians Are Rotten to the Core
Why More and More Politicians Are Rotten to the Core
by Matt Towery
That the governor of Illinois would attempt to sell a U.S. Senate seat didn’t shock me. Across America, there is a growing sense of entitlement among more and more elected officials. Not all, of course, but too many.
From city councils to Congress, elected positions have evolved from their intended part-time status to full-time obsessions. And as governments have grown, so have their access to big money. Political leaders now hold life-and-death fiscal power over people and businesses.
Most states’ legislatures were designed to be part-time, citizens’ deliberative bodies. The harvest schedules of old agrarian societies were a reason. So were comparatively modest government budgets.
Now most state legislators, no matter how green, are approached from the start of their terms by genuflecting lobbyists, business leaders and civic groups. These legislators understand that their new jobs are essentially year-round ones. Committee meetings, special sessions and the like are essentially gimmickry to keep elected officials in their respective capital cities as often as possible.
How do these people make a living? There’s the hitch. Some are independently wealthy. Some own companies they don’t run. Others have understanding bosses. But in way too many cases, elected officials are drawn to elective or appointed office for the power and prestige. Only later do they realize they’ve got no way to pay for the necessities of life, much less for the conspicuous consumption they continually see as part of the world of elected officials.
This explains why someone as powerful as Illinois Governor Rod “They Owe Me” Blagojevich can feel that his salary just isn’t enough, and that maybe he and his wife should be paid handsomely so that some lucky person can replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Please know that there are countless decent and hardworking people holding elected office in America. But their numbers are dwindling. Too many talented people work in the private sector instead of the public one. It’s simply about economic security.
Too many people are attracted to elective office to satisfy their own egos. They’re willing to sacrifice family and personal economic responsibility so that they can regularly get their rear ends kissed. It’s sad, but it’s true. Believe me.
Some states have gotten smart. Florida has a total ban on gifts and gratuities to its elected officials. That helps. But efforts like these don’t eliminate the arrogance and sense of entitlement that make some part-time public officials feel entitled to honor and tribute at every turn.
Things have just gotten out of control, folks. Now, in many states, an election for a legislative position that pays under $20,000 can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to win. That’s appalling and absurd.
I’ve spent my entire adult life either around elected officials or, for several years, as one myself. I’ve watched as what was meant to be temporary public service turned into unending self-service. I can’t tell you how many elected officials now expect the finest meals, tickets to prestigious events and so on. Some completely neglect their families, both financially and emotionally.
Something must be done to make public service a reality and not just a campaign slogan. Either let’s pay these people what it takes to attract the kind of talent really good leadership demands; or let’s put more limitations on their power. Otherwise, the Illinois governor may be the vanguard of a long train of public service felons to come in the years ahead.
by Matt Towery
That the governor of Illinois would attempt to sell a U.S. Senate seat didn’t shock me. Across America, there is a growing sense of entitlement among more and more elected officials. Not all, of course, but too many.
From city councils to Congress, elected positions have evolved from their intended part-time status to full-time obsessions. And as governments have grown, so have their access to big money. Political leaders now hold life-and-death fiscal power over people and businesses.
Most states’ legislatures were designed to be part-time, citizens’ deliberative bodies. The harvest schedules of old agrarian societies were a reason. So were comparatively modest government budgets.
Now most state legislators, no matter how green, are approached from the start of their terms by genuflecting lobbyists, business leaders and civic groups. These legislators understand that their new jobs are essentially year-round ones. Committee meetings, special sessions and the like are essentially gimmickry to keep elected officials in their respective capital cities as often as possible.
How do these people make a living? There’s the hitch. Some are independently wealthy. Some own companies they don’t run. Others have understanding bosses. But in way too many cases, elected officials are drawn to elective or appointed office for the power and prestige. Only later do they realize they’ve got no way to pay for the necessities of life, much less for the conspicuous consumption they continually see as part of the world of elected officials.
This explains why someone as powerful as Illinois Governor Rod “They Owe Me” Blagojevich can feel that his salary just isn’t enough, and that maybe he and his wife should be paid handsomely so that some lucky person can replace Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Please know that there are countless decent and hardworking people holding elected office in America. But their numbers are dwindling. Too many talented people work in the private sector instead of the public one. It’s simply about economic security.
Too many people are attracted to elective office to satisfy their own egos. They’re willing to sacrifice family and personal economic responsibility so that they can regularly get their rear ends kissed. It’s sad, but it’s true. Believe me.
Some states have gotten smart. Florida has a total ban on gifts and gratuities to its elected officials. That helps. But efforts like these don’t eliminate the arrogance and sense of entitlement that make some part-time public officials feel entitled to honor and tribute at every turn.
Things have just gotten out of control, folks. Now, in many states, an election for a legislative position that pays under $20,000 can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars to win. That’s appalling and absurd.
I’ve spent my entire adult life either around elected officials or, for several years, as one myself. I’ve watched as what was meant to be temporary public service turned into unending self-service. I can’t tell you how many elected officials now expect the finest meals, tickets to prestigious events and so on. Some completely neglect their families, both financially and emotionally.
Something must be done to make public service a reality and not just a campaign slogan. Either let’s pay these people what it takes to attract the kind of talent really good leadership demands; or let’s put more limitations on their power. Otherwise, the Illinois governor may be the vanguard of a long train of public service felons to come in the years ahead.
Manuel trial delay granted
Manuel trial delay granted
Judge postpones it until April 6
From staff
Publication Date: 12/12/08
U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard on Thursday ordered that former St. Johns County Commissioner Tom Manuel's federal bribery trial will be postponed until April 6.
Howard had previously turned down an earlier motion by Manuel's lawyers, William Sheppard and D. Gray Thomas of Jacksonville, to delay the trial for six months.
The two attorneys refiled the motion Wednesday, and it was approved Thursday morning.
Manuel is accused of accepting $60,000 in cash from two undercover informants during an 18-month investigation by the FBI.
In the course of that investigation, the FBI made more than 42 video or audio recordings of Manuel. Manuel's attorneys argued that the sheer number of recordings and other evidence made it impossible to be ready for trial on Jan. 6.
The judge agreed, saying, "This case is stricken from the January 2009 calendar."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121208/news_1212_035.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Judge postpones it until April 6
From staff
Publication Date: 12/12/08
U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard on Thursday ordered that former St. Johns County Commissioner Tom Manuel's federal bribery trial will be postponed until April 6.
Howard had previously turned down an earlier motion by Manuel's lawyers, William Sheppard and D. Gray Thomas of Jacksonville, to delay the trial for six months.
The two attorneys refiled the motion Wednesday, and it was approved Thursday morning.
Manuel is accused of accepting $60,000 in cash from two undercover informants during an 18-month investigation by the FBI.
In the course of that investigation, the FBI made more than 42 video or audio recordings of Manuel. Manuel's attorneys argued that the sheer number of recordings and other evidence made it impossible to be ready for trial on Jan. 6.
The judge agreed, saying, "This case is stricken from the January 2009 calendar."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121208/news_1212_035.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
ABA Journal: No Bright Line Between Political Favors and Illegal ‘Personal Piggery’
Government Law
No Bright Line Between Political Favors and Illegal ‘Personal Piggery’
Posted Dec 11, 2008, 04:59 pm CST
By Martha Neil
Concerning the accusation by federal prosecutors that Ill. Gov. Rod Blagojevich, in effect, tried to sell President-elect Barack Obama's vacant U.S. Senate seat to the highest bidder, it isn't difficult to see the legal issue that is posed by such alleged conduct.
But both in criminal cases and the court of public opinion, such claimed "personal piggery" is viewed quite differently from ordinary political favors, crisis management specialist Eric Dezenhall tells the Associated Press. (see below)
"Taking money in exchange for official government action is clearly illegal. But it may be just savvy politics when a governor names his political rival a state judge so she won't oppose him next election," the news agency writes in a lengthy article seeking to define what does and does not fall into the prohibited category.
AP: A crime or just politics _ where's the line?
December 11, 2008
A crime or just politics _ where's the line?
By NANCY BENAC
Associated Press Writer
Politicians make deals every day. They do favors and ask them in return. They kowtow to campaign contributors.
It may be unsavory, but it's often perfectly legal.
The prosecutors who arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich say his conduct went far beyond politics-as-usual into a shocking pattern of corruption. But where's the line?
There's a vast gray area in which political dealmaking flourishes.
President-elect Barack Obama acknowledged as much Thursday, speaking of wheelers and dealers who ask "what's in it for me?"
The charges against Blagojevich represent "the far end of the spectrum of that business mentality of politics," Obama said. "But there are more subtle examples of it, right, that are within the lines of legality but still don't fulfill the spirit of service."
Joseph diGenova, a former prosecutor now in private practice, said political corruption can be a bit like obscenity — hard to describe, but "you know it when you see it."
He said it's especially hard to prove criminal behavior involving campaign contributions, as opposed to personal enrichment.
"It's not like, 'Gimme $50,000 in a black bag and I'll give you the nomination,'" diGenova said.
"People give campaign contributions and expect things in exchange," he said. "It's all perfectly legal."
So it's a given that politicians sometimes indulge in a form of give-and-take.
"Deals are made all the time in politics," said Daniel Lowenstein, a professor at UCLA Law School. "Our system couldn't operate without it."
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, announcing the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, said he wasn't "trying to criminalize people making political horse trades on policies or that sort of thing. But it is criminal when people are doing it for their personal enrichment."
The line is crossed, diGenova said, when an official act is paid for with money or something else of value. Some of the proposed dealmaking discussed by Blagojevich in his taped conversations might make people gasp, he said, but isn't necessarily criminal.
Some others agree.
"A lot of these issues do fall into a gray area, where it may be hard to distinguish between politics as usual, practices that go on in statehouses all over the country, and criminal conduct," said defense attorney Ross Garber, who was counsel to Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland during an FBI investigation. "There's an ambiguous area between this political horse trading and improper conduct."
Rowland pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge and served 10 months in prison. He admitted trading access to his office for more than $100,000 in vacations, charter airline trips and home repairs.
Taking money in exchange for official government action is clearly illegal. But it may be just savvy politics when a governor names his political rival a state judge so she won't oppose him next election.
What about when Hillary Rodham Clinton endorses Barack Obama, who helps pay off her campaign debt and then names her secretary of state? No allegations of a crime there.
The Blagojevich case offers a lot to look at.
"I want to make money," Blagojevich said in a taped conversation, according to prosecutors.
If it's proven that Blagojevich tried to sell a Senate seat for personal gain, that's clearly illegal.
But offering to appoint Obama's favored candidate to the seat in exchange for a Cabinet position sounds more like the kind of deal that happens all the time.
"When a governor says that a political appointment is valuable, well, that's true," Garber said. "A political appointment is valuable. But in this case, prosecutors say the governor was talking about monetary value and that's the problem."
In at least one of the allegations, prosecutors say the governor and aide John Harris obtained financial gain for Blagojevich, his family and his campaign in exchange for appointments to state boards and access to state contracts.
Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management specialist who advises corporations and high-profile people who get in hot water, said the problem with Blagojevich, based upon initial reports, is that "his behavior appears to be a nakedly self-aggrandizing cash proposition."
"Both in the courts and in the media, the crux of his defense must be differentiating between garden-variety quid pro quo and personal piggery," Dezenhall said. "People understand politicians being politicians; they don't understand politicians mugging old ladies for a loaf of marble rye."
Or, as in Blagojevich's case, allegedly threatening to withhold government money for a children's hospital because its CEO hadn't coughed up enough campaign contributions.
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said Blagojevich's situation is more a case of "politics as absurd" than politics as usual.
"Normally, there is subtlety in these attempts at self-serving, but here there was no subtlety," he said. "The fact that it was attended by colorful, disgusting language made it even more insulting to the public."
Stripping away all of that drama, Cuomo said, "the basic question is one that's omnipresent. It's the quid pro quo situation," suggesting an exchange of this for that.
Prosecutors called Blagojevich's conduct "appalling," a characterization that drew little argument. Next comes the challenge of proving it illegal.
___
Associated Press Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this story.
A crime or just politics _ where's the line?
By NANCY BENAC
Associated Press Writer
Politicians make deals every day. They do favors and ask them in return. They kowtow to campaign contributors.
It may be unsavory, but it's often perfectly legal.
The prosecutors who arrested Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich say his conduct went far beyond politics-as-usual into a shocking pattern of corruption. But where's the line?
There's a vast gray area in which political dealmaking flourishes.
President-elect Barack Obama acknowledged as much Thursday, speaking of wheelers and dealers who ask "what's in it for me?"
The charges against Blagojevich represent "the far end of the spectrum of that business mentality of politics," Obama said. "But there are more subtle examples of it, right, that are within the lines of legality but still don't fulfill the spirit of service."
Joseph diGenova, a former prosecutor now in private practice, said political corruption can be a bit like obscenity — hard to describe, but "you know it when you see it."
He said it's especially hard to prove criminal behavior involving campaign contributions, as opposed to personal enrichment.
"It's not like, 'Gimme $50,000 in a black bag and I'll give you the nomination,'" diGenova said.
"People give campaign contributions and expect things in exchange," he said. "It's all perfectly legal."
So it's a given that politicians sometimes indulge in a form of give-and-take.
"Deals are made all the time in politics," said Daniel Lowenstein, a professor at UCLA Law School. "Our system couldn't operate without it."
Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald, announcing the criminal complaint against Blagojevich, said he wasn't "trying to criminalize people making political horse trades on policies or that sort of thing. But it is criminal when people are doing it for their personal enrichment."
The line is crossed, diGenova said, when an official act is paid for with money or something else of value. Some of the proposed dealmaking discussed by Blagojevich in his taped conversations might make people gasp, he said, but isn't necessarily criminal.
Some others agree.
"A lot of these issues do fall into a gray area, where it may be hard to distinguish between politics as usual, practices that go on in statehouses all over the country, and criminal conduct," said defense attorney Ross Garber, who was counsel to Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland during an FBI investigation. "There's an ambiguous area between this political horse trading and improper conduct."
Rowland pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge and served 10 months in prison. He admitted trading access to his office for more than $100,000 in vacations, charter airline trips and home repairs.
Taking money in exchange for official government action is clearly illegal. But it may be just savvy politics when a governor names his political rival a state judge so she won't oppose him next election.
What about when Hillary Rodham Clinton endorses Barack Obama, who helps pay off her campaign debt and then names her secretary of state? No allegations of a crime there.
The Blagojevich case offers a lot to look at.
"I want to make money," Blagojevich said in a taped conversation, according to prosecutors.
If it's proven that Blagojevich tried to sell a Senate seat for personal gain, that's clearly illegal.
But offering to appoint Obama's favored candidate to the seat in exchange for a Cabinet position sounds more like the kind of deal that happens all the time.
"When a governor says that a political appointment is valuable, well, that's true," Garber said. "A political appointment is valuable. But in this case, prosecutors say the governor was talking about monetary value and that's the problem."
In at least one of the allegations, prosecutors say the governor and aide John Harris obtained financial gain for Blagojevich, his family and his campaign in exchange for appointments to state boards and access to state contracts.
Eric Dezenhall, a crisis management specialist who advises corporations and high-profile people who get in hot water, said the problem with Blagojevich, based upon initial reports, is that "his behavior appears to be a nakedly self-aggrandizing cash proposition."
"Both in the courts and in the media, the crux of his defense must be differentiating between garden-variety quid pro quo and personal piggery," Dezenhall said. "People understand politicians being politicians; they don't understand politicians mugging old ladies for a loaf of marble rye."
Or, as in Blagojevich's case, allegedly threatening to withhold government money for a children's hospital because its CEO hadn't coughed up enough campaign contributions.
Former New York Gov. Mario Cuomo said Blagojevich's situation is more a case of "politics as absurd" than politics as usual.
"Normally, there is subtlety in these attempts at self-serving, but here there was no subtlety," he said. "The fact that it was attended by colorful, disgusting language made it even more insulting to the public."
Stripping away all of that drama, Cuomo said, "the basic question is one that's omnipresent. It's the quid pro quo situation," suggesting an exchange of this for that.
Prosecutors called Blagojevich's conduct "appalling," a characterization that drew little argument. Next comes the challenge of proving it illegal.
___
Associated Press Writer Matt Apuzzo contributed to this story.
Thursday, December 11, 2008
IN HAEC VERBA: INDICTED REPUBLICAN COUNTY COMMISSION CHAIRMAN THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL'S BRIBERY TRIAL SET FOR APRIL 2009 TERM OF FEDERAL COURT IN JAX
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
THOMAS G. MANUEL
_________________________________
Case No. 3:08-cr-370-J-34HTS
O R D E R
This cause is before the Court on Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Amended
Unopposed Second Motion for Continuance (Dkt. No. 48; Motion) filed on December 10,
2008. In the Motion, Defendant requests that the Court continue the trial and other
proceedings in this matter for three months. See Motion at 1. In support of the Motion, defense counsel asserts that this case involves approximately 42 lengthy audio and/or audio/video recordings that need to be transcribed, reviewed and analyzed, and that a significant amount of legal work and investigation needs to be done in order to properly advise Defendant on how to proceed with this matter. See id. at 1-2. Defense counsel represents to the Court that Defendant consents to the requested continuance and that counsel for the government does not object to the relief requested in the Motion. See id. at 2. After due consideration, it is
ORDERED:
1. Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Amended Unopposed Second Motion for
Continuance (Dkt. No. 48) is GRANTED.
2. This case is continued to the April 2009 trial term, commencing on April 6,
2009. In light of the voluminous and lengthy recordings and defense counsel’s
representation that a significant amount of legal work and investigation must be done in order to properly advise Defendant on how to proceed with this matter, the Court finds that “the ends of justice served by the granting of such continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(A). The Court, therefore, determines that the time from today until the end of the April 2009 trial term shall be "excludable time" pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h).
3. This case is stricken from the January 2009 trial calendar and defense
counsel is relieved of the obligation of attending the status conference previously scheduled for December 15, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. Another status conference is scheduled for March 23, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. before the undersigned in Courtroom 10B, Tenth Floor, United States Courthouse, 300 North Hogan Street, Jacksonville, Florida.
DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida, this 11th day of December, 2008.
MARCIA MORALES HOWARD
United States District Judge
ja
Copies to:
Counsel of Record
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
THOMAS G. MANUEL
_________________________________
Case No. 3:08-cr-370-J-34HTS
O R D E R
This cause is before the Court on Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Amended
Unopposed Second Motion for Continuance (Dkt. No. 48; Motion) filed on December 10,
2008. In the Motion, Defendant requests that the Court continue the trial and other
proceedings in this matter for three months. See Motion at 1. In support of the Motion, defense counsel asserts that this case involves approximately 42 lengthy audio and/or audio/video recordings that need to be transcribed, reviewed and analyzed, and that a significant amount of legal work and investigation needs to be done in order to properly advise Defendant on how to proceed with this matter. See id. at 1-2. Defense counsel represents to the Court that Defendant consents to the requested continuance and that counsel for the government does not object to the relief requested in the Motion. See id. at 2. After due consideration, it is
ORDERED:
1. Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Amended Unopposed Second Motion for
Continuance (Dkt. No. 48) is GRANTED.
2. This case is continued to the April 2009 trial term, commencing on April 6,
2009. In light of the voluminous and lengthy recordings and defense counsel’s
representation that a significant amount of legal work and investigation must be done in order to properly advise Defendant on how to proceed with this matter, the Court finds that “the ends of justice served by the granting of such continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(A). The Court, therefore, determines that the time from today until the end of the April 2009 trial term shall be "excludable time" pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h).
3. This case is stricken from the January 2009 trial calendar and defense
counsel is relieved of the obligation of attending the status conference previously scheduled for December 15, 2008, at 3:00 p.m. Another status conference is scheduled for March 23, 2009, at 3:00 p.m. before the undersigned in Courtroom 10B, Tenth Floor, United States Courthouse, 300 North Hogan Street, Jacksonville, Florida.
DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida, this 11th day of December, 2008.
MARCIA MORALES HOWARD
United States District Judge
ja
Copies to:
Counsel of Record
Possible Local Nominees for Next Year's :Falsies Awards" (See below)
1. PLAZABUM.COM, where disreputable local public officials, their families, entourages and government contractors (pay-to-play or otherwise) trash-talk anyone who criticizes them, hiding behind anonymity, except for NANCY SIKES-KLINE (long BullG8R Lady on Talk of the Town and Plazabum.com), who has posted in her own name. The "Anonymice" are a disgrace to the human race with their threats at protected activity and their constant, lying, "anonymice" spin.
2. FIRST COAST NEWS, for its antitrust-violating, FCC-rubberstamped combination of the newsrooms of both ABC and NBC affiliates, decreasing competition in news.
3. MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS, for its too-frequent "spin" and coverups, culminating in the firing of cartoonist Ed Hall. For more, see the Daily Cartoonist website.
4. CULTURAL COUNCIL PHILIP A. MCDANIEL, for pressuring the Record to fire Ed Hall with his slashing, emotional attack on Ed Hall's November 30, 2008 political cartoon.
5. THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL, County Commission Chairman, for portraying himself as a reformer, while allegedly taking $60,000 in cash bribes from lawyer GEORGE McCLURE and a developer.
6. ST. JOHNS COUNTY REPUBLICANS, for stealing signs in the dark of night while the State's Attorney (defeated Republican JOHN TANNER) offered a $500 reward for their arrest.
7. ST. AUGUSTINE CITY GOVERNMENT, for covering up environmental violations, resulting in two consent orders for illegal dumping (of solid waste in the Old City Reservoir and of sewage effluent into our saltwater marsh), with no criminal charges by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Meanwhile, our Nation's Oddest (and Oldest) City is still refusing to post pertinent documents on its website -- not even Commission meeting agenda item background (which is already posted by our County and our Water Management District).
2. FIRST COAST NEWS, for its antitrust-violating, FCC-rubberstamped combination of the newsrooms of both ABC and NBC affiliates, decreasing competition in news.
3. MORRIS COMMUNICATIONS, for its too-frequent "spin" and coverups, culminating in the firing of cartoonist Ed Hall. For more, see the Daily Cartoonist website.
4. CULTURAL COUNCIL PHILIP A. MCDANIEL, for pressuring the Record to fire Ed Hall with his slashing, emotional attack on Ed Hall's November 30, 2008 political cartoon.
5. THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL, County Commission Chairman, for portraying himself as a reformer, while allegedly taking $60,000 in cash bribes from lawyer GEORGE McCLURE and a developer.
6. ST. JOHNS COUNTY REPUBLICANS, for stealing signs in the dark of night while the State's Attorney (defeated Republican JOHN TANNER) offered a $500 reward for their arrest.
7. ST. AUGUSTINE CITY GOVERNMENT, for covering up environmental violations, resulting in two consent orders for illegal dumping (of solid waste in the Old City Reservoir and of sewage effluent into our saltwater marsh), with no criminal charges by the Florida Department of Environmental Protection. Meanwhile, our Nation's Oddest (and Oldest) City is still refusing to post pertinent documents on its website -- not even Commission meeting agenda item background (which is already posted by our County and our Water Management District).
Center for Media and Democracy: 2008 Falsies Awards Target Deceptive "News," PR, Propaganda
Published on Center for Media and Democracy (http://www.prwatch.org)
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8055/print
The 2008 Falsies Awards: In Memory of the First Casualty
By Diane Farsetta
Created 12/10/2008 - 16:07
There's nothing quite like a hotly contested election. The candidates have their devoted supporters and angry detractors. Then there are vigorous debates over the issues, while some people question the integrity of the entire process.
We speak, of course, of the Falsies Awards.
Part of the coveted AwardsThis year marks the Center for Media and Democracy's (CMD's) fifth annual Falsies Awards. The Falsies are our attempt to shine an unflattering light on those responsible for polluting the information environment over the past year. We're happy to report that more people -- nearly 1,450 -- voted in this year's Falsies survey than ever before! We're also bestowing special recognition on one of this year's "winners."
Falsies recipients can collect their prizes -- a pair of Groucho Marx glasses, our two cents and a chance to atone for their spinning ways by making a detailed public apology -- by visiting CMD's office in Madison, Wisconsin. This year's Gold and Silver Falsies go to masters of war deception, while the Bronze Falsie recognizes a massive greenwash campaign. The first-ever Lifetime Achievement Falsie goes to a serial corporate front man, while a determined (if at times laughable) attempt at nation re-branding wins dishonorable mention. Then there are the Readers' Choice Falsies and Win Against Spin Awards, nominated by our survey participants.
That's a lot to cover, so without further ado, the winners of the 2008 Falsies Awards are ...
Golden Falsie: The Propaganda Pundits
You could call it General (ret.) Misinformation -- the Pentagon's successful effort to turn retired military officers into the Bush Administration's "message force multipliers," mostly on broadcast and cable television. "You could see that they were messaging," one former Defense Department official explained to New York Times [1] journalist David Barstow, who first reported on the covert program. "You could see they were taking verbatim what the [Defense] secretary was saying ... and they were saying it over and over."
Pentagon pundit Ken Allard [2]In the public relations world, putting your words into someone else's mouth is known as the third party technique [3]. When it's secretly carried out with taxpayer funds to influence domestic public opinion, it's illegal propaganda [4]. (Three investigations into the Pentagon pundit program [5], by the Pentagon's own Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office and the Federal Communications Commission, are still pending.)
But wait -- there's more! Not only did the 75 Pentagon pundits dutifully parrot Administration talking points on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and warrantless wiretapping, in exchange for high-level Pentagon access, special briefings and free trips to those locations. Many of the pundits also had ties to military contractors, via side gigs as industry executives, board members, consultants and/or lobbyists [6]. These private-enterprise pundits used their Pentagon and media access to attract new clients, benefit current clients and enrich themselves.
This "deeply opaque world," where "privileged access to senior government officials" and "war commentary can fit hand in glove with undisclosed commercial interests" is exemplified by one spectacularly conflicted Pentagon pundit, Barry McCaffrey [7], argued Barstow in his recent follow-up article [8]. McCaffrey heads his own consulting firm [9] and holds lucrative positions with numerous military and security contractors, including Veritas Capital [10], DynCorp [11] and HNTB Federal Services.
McCaffrey used his Pentagon-funded overseas trips, his access to Defense Department officials and his media appearances on NBC and its cable affiliates to benefit his corporate clients. Yet, neither McCaffrey nor NBC disclosed those clients to viewers. Worse, NBC has yet to report on the Pentagon pundit program. (The same is true of nearly every other implicated network; CNN [12] and NPR are the sole exceptions [13]. PBS, the only other national network that reported on the Pentagon program [14], did not have paid analysts who participated in it.)
Barry McCaffrey [15]NBC News anchor Brian Williams has defended McCaffrey as a friend [16]. Evidently he thinks a little propaganda between friends (and their viewers) is no big deal, even though it results in misleading coverage. Several Pentagon pundits have admitted they publicly gave rosy assessments of the war in Iraq while harboring secret doubts, because they were afraid of losing Pentagon access or military contracts.
If NBC and the other networks had disclosed their pundits' conflicts -- or, better yet, featured truly independent commentators, from military and non-military backgrounds -- perhaps the Administration's Iraq war plans would have gone the way of its Social Security privatization [17] deal.
Silver Falsie: Disputing the Count of the Dead
Shortly after the Pentagon pundits' "military-industrial-media complex" helped lead the United States into war, the debate over the cost of the Iraq war began. Nearly six years later, there's still disagreement over whether the final bill will be in the hundreds of billions or trillions of U.S. dollars [18]. More important, of course, is the human cost. We know that more than 4,200 U.S. service members [19] have been killed. But how many Iraqis have lost their lives?
In 2004 and 2006, public health researchers used the best available method in a war zone -- surveying households in randomly distributed clusters -- to answer that question. Both studies were published in the peer-reviewed British medical journal The Lancet. The more recent study estimated that, as of July 2006, there had been more than 650,000 Iraqi "excess deaths," from violent and non-violent causes. War supporters rejected the Lancet studies, questioning the researchers' methods and their motives [20].
Wounded Iraqi child (U.S. Army picture [21])In early 2008 -- more than a year after the later study appeared -- a spate of editorials heaped more scorn on the Lancet studies. These "Swift Boat [22] editorials" (as one of the co-authors of the 2004 Lancet study called them) were based on a January 2008 National Journal article titled "Data Bomb [23]." The article threw several kitchen sinks' worth of accusations at the Lancet studies and their authors: one Iraqi researcher was a Saddam Hussein stooge, the data was questionable, and the political leanings of the researchers and their funders biased their findings. None of the charges hold up under scrutiny [24].
When another study [25], authored by the Iraqi Health Ministry and World Health Organization, estimated that 151,000 Iraqis had died since March 2003, the critics of the Lancet studies declared victory. When examined carefully, however, this study's findings are actually similar to those of the 2006 Lancet study. For example, its 151,000 figure is for Iraqi deaths from violent causes only. The study data actually predicts more than 430,000 Iraqi deaths, from both violent and non-violent causes.
While it's not surprising that conservative commentators would seek to defend the Iraq war, mainstream media outlets have often failed to fully and accurately report on Iraqi casualties. For example, in an October 2008 action alert [26], the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting challenged the Washington Post's practice of reporting the fewer than 100,000 Iraqi deaths confirmed by media reports as the "maximum count." The Post responded by changing its labeling [27] but keeping the numbers.
As one of our survey respondents asked, who actually wins this Falsie? Good question. Since there's enough blame to go around, we jointly award this year's Silver Falsie to the conservative reporters and commentators who placed ideology over accuracy, when discussing the Lancet studies; to the Iraqi Health Ministry and World Health Organization, for very curiously writing up only part of their data; and to the mainstream reporters unable or unwilling to admit that the best evidence suggests that some 650,000 Iraqis had died as of mid-2006 -- a number that may be more than one million [28] by now.
Bronze Falsie: Coal Is the New Green
Think of the Bronze Falsie as a little lump of you-know-what placed in the coal industry's Christmas stocking.
Increased public awareness of the threats posed by global warming [29], along with new evidence that significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions must be made soon, before global "tipping points" are reached, have made it difficult to build new coal-burning power plants. Since mid-2007, plans for 82 coal plants across the United States have been cancelled, abandoned or placed on hold [30].
A coalition of environmental groups [31] is using ads to challenge "clean coal"The coal industry responded by ramping up its public relations and marketing efforts. Americans for Balanced Energy Choices [32] (ABEC), an industry front group [33] formed by coal, mining, electric and railroad companies, nearly quadrupled its budget for PR, advertising and "grassroots" organizing, from 2007 to 2008. ABEC sought to influence the U.S. presidential election with a $35 million campaign touting "clean coal [34]" in key primary and caucus states. The front group paid CNN $5 million, for advertising and co-sponsorship of at least six presidential debates. ABEC also paid people to walk around "as human billboards" outside the January 2008 Democratic debate, handing out leaflets "with questions for voters to ask the candidates."
ABEC -- since renamed the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity [35] (ACCCE) -- also increased its lobbying efforts. It opposed the Lieberman / Warner climate change bill [36], seeking allies by misrepresenting itself to grassroots activists as an environmental group with no industry ties. During the first half of 2008, ABEC / ACCCE spent $4.7 million on federal lobbying, "more than any other organization ... devoted exclusively to influencing climate change legislation," reported the Center for Public Integrity [37].
Former vice-president and climate change activist Al Gore [38] recently criticized "clean coal," calling it "too imaginary to make a difference [39] in protecting either our national security or the global climate." However, President-Elect Barack Obama [40] lists as one of his administration's energy goals [41] to "develop and deploy clean coal technology."
While the Bronze Falsie goes to the coal industry and its front groups, the public relations firms behind the ABEC / ACCCE "clean coal" campaign merit mention: MGA Communications [42] and R&R Partners [43]. Although the Edelman [44] firm did not work on the "clean coal" campaign, it also deserves recognition, for defending the massive expansion of a coal-burning plant in Britain [45] while promoting its Canada office for going "carbon neutral."
Lifetime Achievement Falsie: The Center for Consumer Fiefdom
It seems like just yesterday, when industry lobbyist and anti-labor lawyer Rick Berman [46] was helping tobacco giant Philip Morris [47] (PM) defend itself against pesky public health advocates. In 1995, Berman urged PM to create a front group called the "Guest Choice Network," to foster "a proactive, aggressive mentality" against smoking bans in restaurants and other public places. An "additional benefit," he explained in a letter to PM [48], would be if the group were "externally perceived as driven by restaurant owners," giving it "more flexibility and creativity allowed than if it is 'owned' by Philip Morris."
"60 Minutes" profiled Rick Berman in a segment titled "Meet Dr. Evil [49]"Today, the Guest Choice Network is known as the Center for Consumer Freedom [50] (CCF). While CCF is perhaps Berman's best-known industry front group, he certainly doesn't limit himself to fighting public health advocates on behalf of the tobacco, alcohol and chain restaurant industries. In 2008 alone, Berman's Center for Union Facts [51] lobbied against labor rights legislation, claiming it would allow "union bosses" to "use coercion." Just before the U.S. election, Berman's Employment Policies Institute [52] took out a full-page ad in the New York Times, calling ACORN [53] "rotten," for supposed hypocrisy while organizing and advocating for workers and low-income communities. Berman also defended the tanning industry, claiming its critics were part of a "sunscam industry."
Indeed, no one exemplifies the spirit of the Falsie quite like Rick Berman. It takes a special -- um, something -- to champion the payday loan, pesticide and alcohol industries, by taking on such dangerously principled foes as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
For all his jaw-dropping spin over the years, Rick Berman truly deserves a Lifetime Achievement Falsie. Of course, that's in addition to the millions of dollars [54] he's circulated through his front groups and into his for-profit lobbying and PR firms. Consider the Lifetime Achievement Falsie an extra dot of icing on top of Berman's rather rich cake.
Dishonorable Mention: China Goes for the Gold Falsie (But Misses)
Monks holding a Tibet protestPoor China [55] thought that hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics would burnish its international image. With help from the PR firm Hill & Knowlton [56], the Beijing Olympics were supposed to showcase China as a modern, well-run and prosperous country. Then human rights activists started using the international attention to criticize China's occupation of Tibet and its support of the Sudanese government. Corporate sponsors of the Olympics became nervous. Steven Spielberg resigned as an artistic adviser to the Olympics, citing China's stance on Darfur. Tibetan monks held protests across China. The Olympics torch relay was accompanied by demonstrations around the world, leading some to call it a "public relations nightmare [57]."
During the Olympics Games, China failed to make good on some of its promises about press freedom. Another PR disaster happened when Chinese officials didn't allow anyone to use the designated "protest zones" around Beijing. The Games' opening ceremony comically exposed China's attention to image over substance. They digitally faked the "footprint" fireworks display for television viewers, and had one young girl lip-sync a patriotic song that was actually sung by another, supposedly less attractive girl.
Instead of improving China's image, the Olympics reinforced many widely-held criticisms of its government. However, according to at least one account [58], the Games did help China boost national pride.
Readers' Choice Falsie Awards
Not surprisingly, many survey participants nominated politicians for an election year Falsie. John McCain [59] was nominated, for "his campaign suspension to deal with the economic crisis" and his ad claiming that Barack Obama [60] "wanted to teach sex ed to kindergartners." Obama was nominated, for "saying that hiring a bunch of retread foreign policy and money people would be 'Change that we could believe in.'" George W. Bush [61], Karl Rove [62], Nancy Pelosi [63] and "Joe the Plumber" also made the list, along with Rupert Murdoch [64], the "major media" and the Center for Media and Democracy (for being "a far left leaning organization" whose founder "is / was actually a communist").
The three most popular nominees among our comrades -- um, survey participants -- win our 2008 Readers' Choice Falsie Awards:
Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin [65], for taking "election spin to new lows," for "fak[ing] being a viable candidate," for "whipping up fear over 'the other'" and accusing Obama of "palling around with terrorists";
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson [66] and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke [67], for their "'handling' [of] the financial debacle" and the financial industry, for its "spinning and lobbying around the bank (and now auto industry) bailouts"; and
Fox News [68], for "excellence in distortion," for "relentlessly and slavishly hewing to the Republican Party line" and for their "economic 'experts' [who] tell the nation we were not in a recession."
Win Against Spin Awards
The simple act of calling out something as "spin" means that we haven't allowed slick messaging to define our understanding of the world. There are many people, organizations and institutions who work hard to provide accurate, independent reporting on and analyses of the important issues of our time. The Win Against Spin Awards -- the one sincere part of our annual Falsies -- are designed to honor them.
Many survey participants nominated people and groups who received Win Against Spin Awards just last year [69], namely Amy Goodman and her colleagues at "Democracy Now!" and the Center for Media and Democracy. While the nominations are a sign of continued good work, our panel of judges decided to disqualify previous winners. Other popular nominees this year included reporter and author Naomi Klein [70], consumer advocate and frequent presidential candidate Ralph Nader [71], iconoclastic politicians Dennis Kucinich [72] and Ron Paul [73], and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
Kudos to the winners of the 2008 Win Against Spin Awards, who are:
FactCheck.org [74], a nonpartisan "'consumer advocate' for voters" run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania;
Bill Moyers [75], for being "the most trustworthy journalist of our time" and "get[ting] to the heart of the stories"; and
Media Matters for America [76], for its "consistent quality work" and "excellent website [77]."
What Will 2009 Bring?
As 2008 draws to a close, we not only review the past year but also look to the future. Will 2009 bring a more responsive U.S. government and an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [78]? Will militarism continue to grow, or will diplomacy once again become a respected way to deal with international disagreements?
Ultimately, it's up to us, to be informed and active citizens. Stay tuned to our PR Watch website [79] for reports on deceptive PR tactics and campaigns throughout the year, and subscribe to our Weekly Spin email [80] and Weekly Radio Spin podcast [81]. Better yet, become an editor [82] on our SourceWatch [83] website, our collaborative online encyclopedia of the "people, organizations and issues shaping the pubic agenda." If you're concerned about global warming, take a look at our new Climate Change portal [84] on SourceWatch.
To deceptive PR people, politicians and corporate shills, you can't say that we never gave you anything. To our readers, volunteers and other supporters, many thanks from all of us here at CMD.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diane Farsetta is the Center for Media and Democracy's Senior Researcher. Thanks to CMD Associate Director Judith Siers-Poisson for her help with the Falsies Award survey.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8055
Links:
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html
[2] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ken_Allard
[3] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=third_party_technique
[4] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7261
[5] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pentagon_military_analyst_program
[6] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7282
[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barry_McCaffrey
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/washington/30general.html
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=BR_McCaffrey_Associates,_LLC
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Veritas_Capital
[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DynCorp
[12] http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/27/rs.01.html
[13] http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3568
[14] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june08/tvgenerals_04-24.html
[15] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barry_McCaffrey
[16] http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/29/958477.aspx
[17] http://www.prwatch.org/node/3343
[18] http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0310/p16s01-wmgn.html
[19] http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx
[20] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7034
[21] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Army.mil-2007-03-27-114351.jpg
[22] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth
[23] http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2008/0104nj1.htm
[24] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7034
[25] http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/5/484
[26] http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3636
[27] http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3654
[28] http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78
[29] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=global_warming
[30] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=What_happened_to_the_151_proposed_coal_plants?
[31] http://action.thisisreality.org/about
[32] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Balanced_Energy_Choices
[33] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=front_group
[34] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=clean_coal
[35] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Coalition_for_Clean_Coal_Electricity
[36] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=America
[37] http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/686/
[38] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Al_Gore
[39] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09gore.html
[40] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama
[41] http://change.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment_agenda/
[42] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MGA_Communications
[43] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=R%26R_Partners
[44] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Edelman
[45] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7614
[46] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Berman
[47] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Philip_Morris
[48] http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ewk06c00
[49] http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2661990n
[50] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom
[51] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Union_Facts
[52] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Employment_Policies_Institute
[53] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ACORN
[54] http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/19131
[55] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=China
[56] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hill_%26_Knowlton
[57] http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/07/olympic.wrap/index.html
[58] http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/comment/-Olympics-The-gold-medal.4421928.jp
[59] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_McCain
[60] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama
[61] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush
[62] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Karl_Rove
[63] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nancy_Pelosi
[64] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rupert_Murdoch
[65] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sarah_Palin
[66] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson
[67] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ben_Bernanke
[68] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fox_News
[69] http://www.prwatch.org/falsies2007
[70] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Naomi_Klein
[71] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ralph_Nader
[72] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Kucinich
[73] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ron_Paul
[74] http://www.factcheck.org
[75] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Moyers
[76] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Media_Matters_for_America
[77] http://mediamatters.org/
[78] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=COP15
[79] http://www.prwatch.org
[80] http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html
[81] http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/247
[82] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Contributing
[83] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch
[84] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Portal:Climate_Change
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8055/print
The 2008 Falsies Awards: In Memory of the First Casualty
By Diane Farsetta
Created 12/10/2008 - 16:07
There's nothing quite like a hotly contested election. The candidates have their devoted supporters and angry detractors. Then there are vigorous debates over the issues, while some people question the integrity of the entire process.
We speak, of course, of the Falsies Awards.
Part of the coveted AwardsThis year marks the Center for Media and Democracy's (CMD's) fifth annual Falsies Awards. The Falsies are our attempt to shine an unflattering light on those responsible for polluting the information environment over the past year. We're happy to report that more people -- nearly 1,450 -- voted in this year's Falsies survey than ever before! We're also bestowing special recognition on one of this year's "winners."
Falsies recipients can collect their prizes -- a pair of Groucho Marx glasses, our two cents and a chance to atone for their spinning ways by making a detailed public apology -- by visiting CMD's office in Madison, Wisconsin. This year's Gold and Silver Falsies go to masters of war deception, while the Bronze Falsie recognizes a massive greenwash campaign. The first-ever Lifetime Achievement Falsie goes to a serial corporate front man, while a determined (if at times laughable) attempt at nation re-branding wins dishonorable mention. Then there are the Readers' Choice Falsies and Win Against Spin Awards, nominated by our survey participants.
That's a lot to cover, so without further ado, the winners of the 2008 Falsies Awards are ...
Golden Falsie: The Propaganda Pundits
You could call it General (ret.) Misinformation -- the Pentagon's successful effort to turn retired military officers into the Bush Administration's "message force multipliers," mostly on broadcast and cable television. "You could see that they were messaging," one former Defense Department official explained to New York Times [1] journalist David Barstow, who first reported on the covert program. "You could see they were taking verbatim what the [Defense] secretary was saying ... and they were saying it over and over."
Pentagon pundit Ken Allard [2]In the public relations world, putting your words into someone else's mouth is known as the third party technique [3]. When it's secretly carried out with taxpayer funds to influence domestic public opinion, it's illegal propaganda [4]. (Three investigations into the Pentagon pundit program [5], by the Pentagon's own Inspector General, the Government Accountability Office and the Federal Communications Commission, are still pending.)
But wait -- there's more! Not only did the 75 Pentagon pundits dutifully parrot Administration talking points on Iraq, Afghanistan, Guantanamo Bay and warrantless wiretapping, in exchange for high-level Pentagon access, special briefings and free trips to those locations. Many of the pundits also had ties to military contractors, via side gigs as industry executives, board members, consultants and/or lobbyists [6]. These private-enterprise pundits used their Pentagon and media access to attract new clients, benefit current clients and enrich themselves.
This "deeply opaque world," where "privileged access to senior government officials" and "war commentary can fit hand in glove with undisclosed commercial interests" is exemplified by one spectacularly conflicted Pentagon pundit, Barry McCaffrey [7], argued Barstow in his recent follow-up article [8]. McCaffrey heads his own consulting firm [9] and holds lucrative positions with numerous military and security contractors, including Veritas Capital [10], DynCorp [11] and HNTB Federal Services.
McCaffrey used his Pentagon-funded overseas trips, his access to Defense Department officials and his media appearances on NBC and its cable affiliates to benefit his corporate clients. Yet, neither McCaffrey nor NBC disclosed those clients to viewers. Worse, NBC has yet to report on the Pentagon pundit program. (The same is true of nearly every other implicated network; CNN [12] and NPR are the sole exceptions [13]. PBS, the only other national network that reported on the Pentagon program [14], did not have paid analysts who participated in it.)
Barry McCaffrey [15]NBC News anchor Brian Williams has defended McCaffrey as a friend [16]. Evidently he thinks a little propaganda between friends (and their viewers) is no big deal, even though it results in misleading coverage. Several Pentagon pundits have admitted they publicly gave rosy assessments of the war in Iraq while harboring secret doubts, because they were afraid of losing Pentagon access or military contracts.
If NBC and the other networks had disclosed their pundits' conflicts -- or, better yet, featured truly independent commentators, from military and non-military backgrounds -- perhaps the Administration's Iraq war plans would have gone the way of its Social Security privatization [17] deal.
Silver Falsie: Disputing the Count of the Dead
Shortly after the Pentagon pundits' "military-industrial-media complex" helped lead the United States into war, the debate over the cost of the Iraq war began. Nearly six years later, there's still disagreement over whether the final bill will be in the hundreds of billions or trillions of U.S. dollars [18]. More important, of course, is the human cost. We know that more than 4,200 U.S. service members [19] have been killed. But how many Iraqis have lost their lives?
In 2004 and 2006, public health researchers used the best available method in a war zone -- surveying households in randomly distributed clusters -- to answer that question. Both studies were published in the peer-reviewed British medical journal The Lancet. The more recent study estimated that, as of July 2006, there had been more than 650,000 Iraqi "excess deaths," from violent and non-violent causes. War supporters rejected the Lancet studies, questioning the researchers' methods and their motives [20].
Wounded Iraqi child (U.S. Army picture [21])In early 2008 -- more than a year after the later study appeared -- a spate of editorials heaped more scorn on the Lancet studies. These "Swift Boat [22] editorials" (as one of the co-authors of the 2004 Lancet study called them) were based on a January 2008 National Journal article titled "Data Bomb [23]." The article threw several kitchen sinks' worth of accusations at the Lancet studies and their authors: one Iraqi researcher was a Saddam Hussein stooge, the data was questionable, and the political leanings of the researchers and their funders biased their findings. None of the charges hold up under scrutiny [24].
When another study [25], authored by the Iraqi Health Ministry and World Health Organization, estimated that 151,000 Iraqis had died since March 2003, the critics of the Lancet studies declared victory. When examined carefully, however, this study's findings are actually similar to those of the 2006 Lancet study. For example, its 151,000 figure is for Iraqi deaths from violent causes only. The study data actually predicts more than 430,000 Iraqi deaths, from both violent and non-violent causes.
While it's not surprising that conservative commentators would seek to defend the Iraq war, mainstream media outlets have often failed to fully and accurately report on Iraqi casualties. For example, in an October 2008 action alert [26], the media watchdog group Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting challenged the Washington Post's practice of reporting the fewer than 100,000 Iraqi deaths confirmed by media reports as the "maximum count." The Post responded by changing its labeling [27] but keeping the numbers.
As one of our survey respondents asked, who actually wins this Falsie? Good question. Since there's enough blame to go around, we jointly award this year's Silver Falsie to the conservative reporters and commentators who placed ideology over accuracy, when discussing the Lancet studies; to the Iraqi Health Ministry and World Health Organization, for very curiously writing up only part of their data; and to the mainstream reporters unable or unwilling to admit that the best evidence suggests that some 650,000 Iraqis had died as of mid-2006 -- a number that may be more than one million [28] by now.
Bronze Falsie: Coal Is the New Green
Think of the Bronze Falsie as a little lump of you-know-what placed in the coal industry's Christmas stocking.
Increased public awareness of the threats posed by global warming [29], along with new evidence that significant reductions in greenhouse gas emissions must be made soon, before global "tipping points" are reached, have made it difficult to build new coal-burning power plants. Since mid-2007, plans for 82 coal plants across the United States have been cancelled, abandoned or placed on hold [30].
A coalition of environmental groups [31] is using ads to challenge "clean coal"The coal industry responded by ramping up its public relations and marketing efforts. Americans for Balanced Energy Choices [32] (ABEC), an industry front group [33] formed by coal, mining, electric and railroad companies, nearly quadrupled its budget for PR, advertising and "grassroots" organizing, from 2007 to 2008. ABEC sought to influence the U.S. presidential election with a $35 million campaign touting "clean coal [34]" in key primary and caucus states. The front group paid CNN $5 million, for advertising and co-sponsorship of at least six presidential debates. ABEC also paid people to walk around "as human billboards" outside the January 2008 Democratic debate, handing out leaflets "with questions for voters to ask the candidates."
ABEC -- since renamed the American Coalition for Clean Coal Electricity [35] (ACCCE) -- also increased its lobbying efforts. It opposed the Lieberman / Warner climate change bill [36], seeking allies by misrepresenting itself to grassroots activists as an environmental group with no industry ties. During the first half of 2008, ABEC / ACCCE spent $4.7 million on federal lobbying, "more than any other organization ... devoted exclusively to influencing climate change legislation," reported the Center for Public Integrity [37].
Former vice-president and climate change activist Al Gore [38] recently criticized "clean coal," calling it "too imaginary to make a difference [39] in protecting either our national security or the global climate." However, President-Elect Barack Obama [40] lists as one of his administration's energy goals [41] to "develop and deploy clean coal technology."
While the Bronze Falsie goes to the coal industry and its front groups, the public relations firms behind the ABEC / ACCCE "clean coal" campaign merit mention: MGA Communications [42] and R&R Partners [43]. Although the Edelman [44] firm did not work on the "clean coal" campaign, it also deserves recognition, for defending the massive expansion of a coal-burning plant in Britain [45] while promoting its Canada office for going "carbon neutral."
Lifetime Achievement Falsie: The Center for Consumer Fiefdom
It seems like just yesterday, when industry lobbyist and anti-labor lawyer Rick Berman [46] was helping tobacco giant Philip Morris [47] (PM) defend itself against pesky public health advocates. In 1995, Berman urged PM to create a front group called the "Guest Choice Network," to foster "a proactive, aggressive mentality" against smoking bans in restaurants and other public places. An "additional benefit," he explained in a letter to PM [48], would be if the group were "externally perceived as driven by restaurant owners," giving it "more flexibility and creativity allowed than if it is 'owned' by Philip Morris."
"60 Minutes" profiled Rick Berman in a segment titled "Meet Dr. Evil [49]"Today, the Guest Choice Network is known as the Center for Consumer Freedom [50] (CCF). While CCF is perhaps Berman's best-known industry front group, he certainly doesn't limit himself to fighting public health advocates on behalf of the tobacco, alcohol and chain restaurant industries. In 2008 alone, Berman's Center for Union Facts [51] lobbied against labor rights legislation, claiming it would allow "union bosses" to "use coercion." Just before the U.S. election, Berman's Employment Policies Institute [52] took out a full-page ad in the New York Times, calling ACORN [53] "rotten," for supposed hypocrisy while organizing and advocating for workers and low-income communities. Berman also defended the tanning industry, claiming its critics were part of a "sunscam industry."
Indeed, no one exemplifies the spirit of the Falsie quite like Rick Berman. It takes a special -- um, something -- to champion the payday loan, pesticide and alcohol industries, by taking on such dangerously principled foes as Mothers Against Drunk Driving and the Center for Science in the Public Interest.
For all his jaw-dropping spin over the years, Rick Berman truly deserves a Lifetime Achievement Falsie. Of course, that's in addition to the millions of dollars [54] he's circulated through his front groups and into his for-profit lobbying and PR firms. Consider the Lifetime Achievement Falsie an extra dot of icing on top of Berman's rather rich cake.
Dishonorable Mention: China Goes for the Gold Falsie (But Misses)
Monks holding a Tibet protestPoor China [55] thought that hosting the 2008 Summer Olympics would burnish its international image. With help from the PR firm Hill & Knowlton [56], the Beijing Olympics were supposed to showcase China as a modern, well-run and prosperous country. Then human rights activists started using the international attention to criticize China's occupation of Tibet and its support of the Sudanese government. Corporate sponsors of the Olympics became nervous. Steven Spielberg resigned as an artistic adviser to the Olympics, citing China's stance on Darfur. Tibetan monks held protests across China. The Olympics torch relay was accompanied by demonstrations around the world, leading some to call it a "public relations nightmare [57]."
During the Olympics Games, China failed to make good on some of its promises about press freedom. Another PR disaster happened when Chinese officials didn't allow anyone to use the designated "protest zones" around Beijing. The Games' opening ceremony comically exposed China's attention to image over substance. They digitally faked the "footprint" fireworks display for television viewers, and had one young girl lip-sync a patriotic song that was actually sung by another, supposedly less attractive girl.
Instead of improving China's image, the Olympics reinforced many widely-held criticisms of its government. However, according to at least one account [58], the Games did help China boost national pride.
Readers' Choice Falsie Awards
Not surprisingly, many survey participants nominated politicians for an election year Falsie. John McCain [59] was nominated, for "his campaign suspension to deal with the economic crisis" and his ad claiming that Barack Obama [60] "wanted to teach sex ed to kindergartners." Obama was nominated, for "saying that hiring a bunch of retread foreign policy and money people would be 'Change that we could believe in.'" George W. Bush [61], Karl Rove [62], Nancy Pelosi [63] and "Joe the Plumber" also made the list, along with Rupert Murdoch [64], the "major media" and the Center for Media and Democracy (for being "a far left leaning organization" whose founder "is / was actually a communist").
The three most popular nominees among our comrades -- um, survey participants -- win our 2008 Readers' Choice Falsie Awards:
Republican vice-presidential nominee Sarah Palin [65], for taking "election spin to new lows," for "fak[ing] being a viable candidate," for "whipping up fear over 'the other'" and accusing Obama of "palling around with terrorists";
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson [66] and Federal Reserve Chair Ben Bernanke [67], for their "'handling' [of] the financial debacle" and the financial industry, for its "spinning and lobbying around the bank (and now auto industry) bailouts"; and
Fox News [68], for "excellence in distortion," for "relentlessly and slavishly hewing to the Republican Party line" and for their "economic 'experts' [who] tell the nation we were not in a recession."
Win Against Spin Awards
The simple act of calling out something as "spin" means that we haven't allowed slick messaging to define our understanding of the world. There are many people, organizations and institutions who work hard to provide accurate, independent reporting on and analyses of the important issues of our time. The Win Against Spin Awards -- the one sincere part of our annual Falsies -- are designed to honor them.
Many survey participants nominated people and groups who received Win Against Spin Awards just last year [69], namely Amy Goodman and her colleagues at "Democracy Now!" and the Center for Media and Democracy. While the nominations are a sign of continued good work, our panel of judges decided to disqualify previous winners. Other popular nominees this year included reporter and author Naomi Klein [70], consumer advocate and frequent presidential candidate Ralph Nader [71], iconoclastic politicians Dennis Kucinich [72] and Ron Paul [73], and Comedy Central's Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert.
Kudos to the winners of the 2008 Win Against Spin Awards, who are:
FactCheck.org [74], a nonpartisan "'consumer advocate' for voters" run by the Annenberg Public Policy Center of the University of Pennsylvania;
Bill Moyers [75], for being "the most trustworthy journalist of our time" and "get[ting] to the heart of the stories"; and
Media Matters for America [76], for its "consistent quality work" and "excellent website [77]."
What Will 2009 Bring?
As 2008 draws to a close, we not only review the past year but also look to the future. Will 2009 bring a more responsive U.S. government and an international agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions [78]? Will militarism continue to grow, or will diplomacy once again become a respected way to deal with international disagreements?
Ultimately, it's up to us, to be informed and active citizens. Stay tuned to our PR Watch website [79] for reports on deceptive PR tactics and campaigns throughout the year, and subscribe to our Weekly Spin email [80] and Weekly Radio Spin podcast [81]. Better yet, become an editor [82] on our SourceWatch [83] website, our collaborative online encyclopedia of the "people, organizations and issues shaping the pubic agenda." If you're concerned about global warming, take a look at our new Climate Change portal [84] on SourceWatch.
To deceptive PR people, politicians and corporate shills, you can't say that we never gave you anything. To our readers, volunteers and other supporters, many thanks from all of us here at CMD.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Diane Farsetta is the Center for Media and Democracy's Senior Researcher. Thanks to CMD Associate Director Judith Siers-Poisson for her help with the Falsies Award survey.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Source URL:
http://www.prwatch.org/node/8055
Links:
[1] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/20/washington/20generals.html
[2] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ken_Allard
[3] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=third_party_technique
[4] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7261
[5] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Pentagon_military_analyst_program
[6] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7282
[7] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barry_McCaffrey
[8] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/30/washington/30general.html
[9] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=BR_McCaffrey_Associates,_LLC
[10] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Veritas_Capital
[11] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=DynCorp
[12] http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0804/27/rs.01.html
[13] http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3568
[14] http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/media/jan-june08/tvgenerals_04-24.html
[15] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barry_McCaffrey
[16] http://dailynightly.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2008/04/29/958477.aspx
[17] http://www.prwatch.org/node/3343
[18] http://www.csmonitor.com/2008/0310/p16s01-wmgn.html
[19] http://icasualties.org/oif/BY_DOD.aspx
[20] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7034
[21] http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Army.mil-2007-03-27-114351.jpg
[22] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Swift_Boat_Veterans_for_Truth
[23] http://nationaljournal.com/about/njweekly/stories/2008/0104nj1.htm
[24] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7034
[25] http://content.nejm.org/cgi/content/full/358/5/484
[26] http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3636
[27] http://www.fair.org/index.php?page=3654
[28] http://www.opinion.co.uk/Newsroom_details.aspx?NewsId=78
[29] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=global_warming
[30] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=What_happened_to_the_151_proposed_coal_plants?
[31] http://action.thisisreality.org/about
[32] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Americans_for_Balanced_Energy_Choices
[33] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=front_group
[34] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=clean_coal
[35] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=American_Coalition_for_Clean_Coal_Electricity
[36] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=America
[37] http://www.publicintegrity.org/blog/entry/686/
[38] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Al_Gore
[39] http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/09/opinion/09gore.html
[40] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama
[41] http://change.gov/agenda/energy_and_environment_agenda/
[42] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=MGA_Communications
[43] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=R%26R_Partners
[44] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Edelman
[45] http://www.prwatch.org/node/7614
[46] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rick_Berman
[47] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Philip_Morris
[48] http://legacy.library.ucsf.edu/tid/ewk06c00
[49] http://www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=2661990n
[50] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Consumer_Freedom
[51] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Center_for_Union_Facts
[52] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Employment_Policies_Institute
[53] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=ACORN
[54] http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/19131
[55] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=China
[56] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Hill_%26_Knowlton
[57] http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/04/07/olympic.wrap/index.html
[58] http://scotlandonsunday.scotsman.com/comment/-Olympics-The-gold-medal.4421928.jp
[59] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=John_McCain
[60] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Barack_Obama
[61] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=George_W._Bush
[62] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Karl_Rove
[63] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Nancy_Pelosi
[64] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Rupert_Murdoch
[65] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Sarah_Palin
[66] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Henry_Paulson
[67] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ben_Bernanke
[68] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Fox_News
[69] http://www.prwatch.org/falsies2007
[70] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Naomi_Klein
[71] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ralph_Nader
[72] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Dennis_Kucinich
[73] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Ron_Paul
[74] http://www.factcheck.org
[75] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Bill_Moyers
[76] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Media_Matters_for_America
[77] http://mediamatters.org/
[78] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=COP15
[79] http://www.prwatch.org
[80] http://www.prwatch.org/cmd/subscribe_sotd.html
[81] http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/247
[82] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch:Contributing
[83] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=SourceWatch
[84] http://www.sourcewatch.org/index.php?title=Portal:Climate_Change
CENSORED, FIRED POLITICAL CARTOONIST ED HALL's CARTOONS AVAILABLE FOR PURCHASE, REPRINTS
December 11, 2008
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to take a second to mention that I have updated my cartoons at www.halltoons.com
If you're an editor or publisher (or if you know one who might be interested in this), and you would like to get your hands on some inexpensive, quality, local, state & national editorial cartoons, you can now purchase them safely and securely through PayPal at halltoons.com. The re-print fees are really low, and you can pick and choose the cartoons that you think might fit your paper's position on the issues. I will be updating the web site periodically with area specific cartoons from my archives, so be sure to check back often to see if there is anything you can use.
BTW, it's really easy to order through PayPal, just click the "Buy Now" button under the cartoon you'd like, and be sure to leave a description of the cartoon and your email address when you check out. Then I'll send you a high-resolution file suitable for printing or the web.
Happy Shopping! http://www.halltoons.com/
Ho, ho ,ho...
-Ed Hall
Hello everyone!
I just wanted to take a second to mention that I have updated my cartoons at www.halltoons.com
If you're an editor or publisher (or if you know one who might be interested in this), and you would like to get your hands on some inexpensive, quality, local, state & national editorial cartoons, you can now purchase them safely and securely through PayPal at halltoons.com. The re-print fees are really low, and you can pick and choose the cartoons that you think might fit your paper's position on the issues. I will be updating the web site periodically with area specific cartoons from my archives, so be sure to check back often to see if there is anything you can use.
BTW, it's really easy to order through PayPal, just click the "Buy Now" button under the cartoon you'd like, and be sure to leave a description of the cartoon and your email address when you check out. Then I'll send you a high-resolution file suitable for printing or the web.
Happy Shopping! http://www.halltoons.com/
Ho, ho ,ho...
-Ed Hall
Obama Asked Illinois Senators to Adopt Ethics Bill Against "Pay to Play," Which Ill. Governor Rushed to Get Around Before January 1, 2009
Interesting article in yesterday's NY TImes (below), which knocks into a cocked hat the Republican mercenaries who are trying to wrap President-elect Obama up in the same tortilla with indicted Illinois Governor BLAGOJEVICH.
Obviously, President-elect Obama was embarassed by BLAGOJEVICH's veto of an ethics bill banning "pay to play" with contracts. The veto made Democrats look bad. Barack Obama thereupon asked Illinois Senators to adopt it over the Governor's veto. State senators did so unanimously.
Then the money-crazed Governor ROD BLAGOJEVICH, recorded by wiretaps and room bugs, lambasted Senator Obama and his staff for sharing only their "appreciation" but no money in connection with the selection of an interim U.S. Senator to be appointed to replace Senator Obama. The U.S. Attorney (a Republican appointee) said there was nothing to connect President-elect Obama to the BLAGOJEVICH scheme.
That's not good enough for the supercilious, hate-filled speculators, who bloviate on TV and radio to dittoheads. So much for tatterdemalion Republican twits trying to impugn our President-elect.
Obviously, President-elect Obama was embarassed by BLAGOJEVICH's veto of an ethics bill banning "pay to play" with contracts. The veto made Democrats look bad. Barack Obama thereupon asked Illinois Senators to adopt it over the Governor's veto. State senators did so unanimously.
Then the money-crazed Governor ROD BLAGOJEVICH, recorded by wiretaps and room bugs, lambasted Senator Obama and his staff for sharing only their "appreciation" but no money in connection with the selection of an interim U.S. Senator to be appointed to replace Senator Obama. The U.S. Attorney (a Republican appointee) said there was nothing to connect President-elect Obama to the BLAGOJEVICH scheme.
That's not good enough for the supercilious, hate-filled speculators, who bloviate on TV and radio to dittoheads. So much for tatterdemalion Republican twits trying to impugn our President-elect.
NY TIMES: Obama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall
December 10, 2008
Obama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall
By MIKE McINTIRE and JEFF ZELENY
In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.
Tipped off to Mr. Blagojevich’s efforts, federal agents obtained wiretaps for his phones and eventually overheard what they say was scheming by the governor to profit from his appointment of a successor to the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama. One official whose name has long been mentioned in Chicago political circles as a potential successor is Mr. Jones, a machine politician who was viewed as a roadblock to ethics reform but is friendly with Mr. Obama.
Beyond the irony of its outcome, Mr. Obama’s unusual decision to inject himself into a statewide issue during the height of his presidential campaign was a reminder that despite his historic ascendancy to the White House, he has never quite escaped the murky and insular world of Illinois politics. It is a world he has long navigated, to the consternation of his critics, by engaging in a kind of realpolitik, Chicago-style, which allowed him to draw strength from his relationships with important players without becoming compromised by their many weaknesses.
By the time Mr. Obama intervened on the ethics measure, his relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, always defined more by political proximity than by personal chemistry, had cooled as the governor became increasingly engulfed in legal troubles. There is nothing in the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday to indicate that Mr. Obama knew anything about plans to seek money and favors in exchange for his Senate seat; he has never been implicated in any other “pay to play” cases that have emerged from the long-running investigation of the Blagojevich administration.
But like those previous cases, this latest one features political characters who figure in various stages of Mr. Obama’s climb from little-known state senator to presidential candidate, and who have since become politically radioactive because of corruption scandals. Some of those relationships posed a threat to Mr. Obama during the presidential campaign, forcing him to return tens of thousands of dollars in tainted campaign contributions and providing fodder for attack ads by rival candidates.
Though extreme examples, they were emblematic of the path cut by Mr. Obama through Chicago politics, where he became known for making alliances of convenience with personalities that seemed antithetical to his self-image as a progressive reformer. His political roots were in the left-leaning neighborhood of Hyde Park, but at key moments in his career he did not hesitate to form relationships with politicians who were fixtures of the Democratic machine.
When he ran for the United States Senate in 2004, he aggressively courted Mr. Jones, a sewer inspector turned legislator who had clawed his way up through ward politics and was viewed as something of a kingmaker in the Illinois Democratic Party. He also formed a good working relationship with Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, a symbol of establishment politics with whom Mr. Obama had never been close.
Mr. Obama was an adviser to Mr. Blagojevich’s first campaign for governor, in 2002, and endorsed him again in 2006, even though by that time questions had been raised about the possible selling of state jobs. Mr. Obama has also credited one of Mr. Blagojevich’s closest confidants, Antoin Rezko, a businessman who was convicted of corruption charges this year, with helping him get his own start in politics.
Mr. Rezko was among the first to contribute to Mr. Obama’s earliest State Senate race, in 1995, and later became a major fund-raiser for his campaign for the United States Senate. Mr. Rezko was known around Chicago as a collector of politicians, and he did not hesitate to make the most of his high-level contacts. The New York Times reported last year that when he was entertaining Middle Eastern financiers at a Four Seasons hotel in Chicago, he arranged for Mr. Blagojevich and Mr. Obama to drop by, separately and on different occasions, to impress his guests.
Mr. Rezko derived his political influence mainly from his close relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, who relied on him to recommend loyal campaign contributors for state appointments to boards and commissions, according to the complaint unsealed on Tuesday. But as Mr. Rezko’s legal troubles escalated, Illinois politicians who had previously found him useful, including Mr. Obama, disavowed him and started returning his campaign donations.
Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Blagojevich was not much better when he made the decision to call Mr. Jones in September about the stalled ethics bill. For Mr. Obama, the move marked an unusual return to Illinois politics, turf from which he had studiously worked to distance himself throughout the presidential race. At the time, one week before the first presidential debate of the general election campaign, Republicans were trying to tarnish him in the eyes of voters by attempting to link him to Chicago’s history of corrupt politics.
Mr. Obama used leverage that he had seldom employed — publicly, anyway — and strongly urged Mr. Jones to bypass Mr. Blagojevich and approve the ethics bill, banning the so-called pay-for-play system of influence peddling in Illinois. When asked at the time how Mr. Obama had come to be involved, Mr. Jones replied, “He’s a friend.”
When the Illinois Senate passed the measure by 55 to 0 on Sept. 22, with Mr. Jones reversing his position, Mr. Obama praised the move as one creating “a tougher ethics law that will reduce the influence of money over our state’s political process.” Mr. Obama’s intervention deepened a rift between him and Mr. Blagojevich that had been growing for some time.
When Mr. Blagojevich left Congress in 2002, he talked openly about the notion of running for president one day. After he was elected governor, and after Senator John Kerry lost the presidential race in 2004, he began eyeing a potential run in 2008.
It was short-lived. The federal corruption investigation that eventually led to Mr. Rezko’s indictment, and Tuesday’s charges against Mr. Blagojevich, had already begun to taint the governor’s administration. And by 2006, Mr. Obama had eclipsed the governor as a plausible national candidate, dashing his presidential aspirations.
The criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday underscored the acrimony between the two men. Recorded telephone calls showed Mr. Blagojevich being far less than respectful when discussing the president-elect and voicing frustration at his inability to advance beyond the governor’s office.
“If I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself,” the governor said, according to the criminal complaint. Later, he said the Senate seat was a “valuable thing — you just don’t give it away for nothing.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Blagojevich was busily trying to shake loose up to $2.5 million in campaign donations, much of it from contributors with business before the state, according to federal prosecutors. The governor’s goal was to bring in the money before the end of the year, the complaint said, “before a new state ethics law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.”
Obama’s Effort on Ethics Bill Had Role in Governor’s Fall
By MIKE McINTIRE and JEFF ZELENY
In a sequence of events that neatly captures the contradictions of Barack Obama’s rise through Illinois politics, a phone call he made three months ago to urge passage of a state ethics bill indirectly contributed to the downfall of a fellow Democrat he twice supported, Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich.
Mr. Obama placed the call to his political mentor, Emil Jones Jr., president of the Illinois Senate. Mr. Jones was a critic of the legislation, which sought to curb the influence of money in politics, as was Mr. Blagojevich, who had vetoed it. But after the call from Mr. Obama, the Senate overrode the veto, prompting the governor to press state contractors for campaign contributions before the law’s restrictions could take effect on Jan. 1, prosecutors say.
Tipped off to Mr. Blagojevich’s efforts, federal agents obtained wiretaps for his phones and eventually overheard what they say was scheming by the governor to profit from his appointment of a successor to the United States Senate seat being vacated by President-elect Obama. One official whose name has long been mentioned in Chicago political circles as a potential successor is Mr. Jones, a machine politician who was viewed as a roadblock to ethics reform but is friendly with Mr. Obama.
Beyond the irony of its outcome, Mr. Obama’s unusual decision to inject himself into a statewide issue during the height of his presidential campaign was a reminder that despite his historic ascendancy to the White House, he has never quite escaped the murky and insular world of Illinois politics. It is a world he has long navigated, to the consternation of his critics, by engaging in a kind of realpolitik, Chicago-style, which allowed him to draw strength from his relationships with important players without becoming compromised by their many weaknesses.
By the time Mr. Obama intervened on the ethics measure, his relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, always defined more by political proximity than by personal chemistry, had cooled as the governor became increasingly engulfed in legal troubles. There is nothing in the criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday to indicate that Mr. Obama knew anything about plans to seek money and favors in exchange for his Senate seat; he has never been implicated in any other “pay to play” cases that have emerged from the long-running investigation of the Blagojevich administration.
But like those previous cases, this latest one features political characters who figure in various stages of Mr. Obama’s climb from little-known state senator to presidential candidate, and who have since become politically radioactive because of corruption scandals. Some of those relationships posed a threat to Mr. Obama during the presidential campaign, forcing him to return tens of thousands of dollars in tainted campaign contributions and providing fodder for attack ads by rival candidates.
Though extreme examples, they were emblematic of the path cut by Mr. Obama through Chicago politics, where he became known for making alliances of convenience with personalities that seemed antithetical to his self-image as a progressive reformer. His political roots were in the left-leaning neighborhood of Hyde Park, but at key moments in his career he did not hesitate to form relationships with politicians who were fixtures of the Democratic machine.
When he ran for the United States Senate in 2004, he aggressively courted Mr. Jones, a sewer inspector turned legislator who had clawed his way up through ward politics and was viewed as something of a kingmaker in the Illinois Democratic Party. He also formed a good working relationship with Mayor Richard M. Daley of Chicago, a symbol of establishment politics with whom Mr. Obama had never been close.
Mr. Obama was an adviser to Mr. Blagojevich’s first campaign for governor, in 2002, and endorsed him again in 2006, even though by that time questions had been raised about the possible selling of state jobs. Mr. Obama has also credited one of Mr. Blagojevich’s closest confidants, Antoin Rezko, a businessman who was convicted of corruption charges this year, with helping him get his own start in politics.
Mr. Rezko was among the first to contribute to Mr. Obama’s earliest State Senate race, in 1995, and later became a major fund-raiser for his campaign for the United States Senate. Mr. Rezko was known around Chicago as a collector of politicians, and he did not hesitate to make the most of his high-level contacts. The New York Times reported last year that when he was entertaining Middle Eastern financiers at a Four Seasons hotel in Chicago, he arranged for Mr. Blagojevich and Mr. Obama to drop by, separately and on different occasions, to impress his guests.
Mr. Rezko derived his political influence mainly from his close relationship with Mr. Blagojevich, who relied on him to recommend loyal campaign contributors for state appointments to boards and commissions, according to the complaint unsealed on Tuesday. But as Mr. Rezko’s legal troubles escalated, Illinois politicians who had previously found him useful, including Mr. Obama, disavowed him and started returning his campaign donations.
Mr. Obama’s relationship with Mr. Blagojevich was not much better when he made the decision to call Mr. Jones in September about the stalled ethics bill. For Mr. Obama, the move marked an unusual return to Illinois politics, turf from which he had studiously worked to distance himself throughout the presidential race. At the time, one week before the first presidential debate of the general election campaign, Republicans were trying to tarnish him in the eyes of voters by attempting to link him to Chicago’s history of corrupt politics.
Mr. Obama used leverage that he had seldom employed — publicly, anyway — and strongly urged Mr. Jones to bypass Mr. Blagojevich and approve the ethics bill, banning the so-called pay-for-play system of influence peddling in Illinois. When asked at the time how Mr. Obama had come to be involved, Mr. Jones replied, “He’s a friend.”
When the Illinois Senate passed the measure by 55 to 0 on Sept. 22, with Mr. Jones reversing his position, Mr. Obama praised the move as one creating “a tougher ethics law that will reduce the influence of money over our state’s political process.” Mr. Obama’s intervention deepened a rift between him and Mr. Blagojevich that had been growing for some time.
When Mr. Blagojevich left Congress in 2002, he talked openly about the notion of running for president one day. After he was elected governor, and after Senator John Kerry lost the presidential race in 2004, he began eyeing a potential run in 2008.
It was short-lived. The federal corruption investigation that eventually led to Mr. Rezko’s indictment, and Tuesday’s charges against Mr. Blagojevich, had already begun to taint the governor’s administration. And by 2006, Mr. Obama had eclipsed the governor as a plausible national candidate, dashing his presidential aspirations.
The criminal complaint unsealed Tuesday underscored the acrimony between the two men. Recorded telephone calls showed Mr. Blagojevich being far less than respectful when discussing the president-elect and voicing frustration at his inability to advance beyond the governor’s office.
“If I don’t get what I want and I’m not satisfied with it, then I’ll just take the Senate seat myself,” the governor said, according to the criminal complaint. Later, he said the Senate seat was a “valuable thing — you just don’t give it away for nothing.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Blagojevich was busily trying to shake loose up to $2.5 million in campaign donations, much of it from contributors with business before the state, according to federal prosecutors. The governor’s goal was to bring in the money before the end of the year, the complaint said, “before a new state ethics law goes into effect on Jan. 1, 2009.”
City workers bank in bonuses -- Despite two DEP consent decrees for environmental pollution and recession, employees split $55K -- on top of raises
City workers bank in bonuses
Despite recession, employees split $55K -- on top of raises
By KATI BEXLEY
kati.bexley@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/11/08
Despite the recession, the St. Augustine City Commission voted this week to give all 350 city employees holiday bonuses totaling $55,000 as a way to "build morale."
The bonuses come on top of the 3 percent raises all city employees got earlier this year.
The employees have received the bonuses every year, and the City Commission decided to once again give the funds.
Commissioner Errol Jones said he knew the community's perception of the bonuses could be negative, but the city has to continue to put money into the economy to help it grow. The commission unanimously voted for the bonuses.
City Comptroller Mark Litzinger said the city's roughly $48 million budget is "as lean as it's ever been" this year, but the bonus money did not cause the city to cut any services.
However, he said the money could have been used for projects such as rebricking historic downtown streets. Also, in past years while formulating the budget, the City Commission came up with "Wish List Items" that have included renovating city parks. The city would try to use any extra funds on the projects, which have ranged from $5,000 to $15,000.
This year, city staff told the commission there wasn't any money left over in the budget for the Wish List.
Litzinger said the bonuses are a morale builder for staff, but, "It would never be chosen over a service needed for the city."
"If it comes down to getting rid of one (police officer) or the bonus, we would get rid of the bonus," he said.
Jones and Commissioner Nancy Sikes-Kline requested that when city staff develops the budget next August that the bonuses be looked at again and, if necessary, the money be used elsewhere.
Jones said if the commission drops the bonuses in August, employees would have time to prepare to do without them.
"It doesn't seem fair to take away the money a week before Christmas," he said.
City staff budgets for the fringe benefit every year and employees count on it. The amount given is based on how many years the employee has worked for the city. It begins at $25 and the maximum amount of $400. On average, Litzinger said, most employees receive $100 after taxes.
Litzinger noted when city staff tightened this year's budget they reduced city employees' raises.
In the past, employees received a cost of living raise, determined by the state Department of Labor, and then could receive 2 percent more based on merit. That meant an employee this year could have received a 7.5 percent raise. Instead, the city gave 3 percent raises to everyone.
Litzinger said the bonuses mean a lot to city employees, especially those who have worked at City Hall for decades.
"It's not like anybody's building a pool with this bonus. You could go out and buy a plastic one, maybe," he said. "Some of the employees who have worked here for 30 years use this money to buy their Christmas dinner."
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121108/news_1211_028.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
Manuel asks (again) to delay trial --- Defense requests CDs with not-yet-heard recordings
By PETER GUINTA
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/11/08
After being turned down for a six-month delay of his federal bribery trial, former St. Johns County Commission Chairman Tom Manuel asked Wednesday for a three-month delay instead.
In addition, the defense asked for four compact discs containing recordings that were not turned over.
The motion was filed by William J. Sheppard and D. Gray Thomas, both of Sheppard, White, Thomas & Kachergus, Jacksonville, who argued that the "voluminous recorded conversations" in this case must be reviewed, analyzed and transcribed.
"The government has indicated that its investigation was lengthy and included electronic and other surveillance from April 2007 through October 2008, a span of 18 months," the motion said.
Manuel said he really didn't have a comment about the motion.
"This is all procedural stuff," he said. "His job is to provide me the best counsel possible. On these procedural issues, I rely on him 100 percent."
Two weeks ago, Sheppard said in court that 42 recorded conversations exist of Manuel talking to informants, but only 14 of those discs are transcribed.
Extra time is needed to "work beyond review and analysis matters" to allow "proper and adequate representation for trial," the motion says.
The four missing recordings is another new development.
The motion said, "The FBI has advised that malfunction impacted some recordings, but the defendant is entitled to copies of those discs as well to make an independent determination of whether they are material" to the defense.
The defense contention that it didn't have enough time to prepare is essentially the same argument Sheppard and Thomas used in a Dec. 4 motion asking for a six-month extension. That motion also said the overwhelming amount of evidence "renders proceeding on the previous adopted schedule unreasonable."
But that motion was denied Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard and the trial remained set for Jan. 5.
Howard's final order in that matter did leave the door open for the defense to return with a "properly supported" motion, and that is what Manuel's attorneys did Wednesday.
"The ends of justice outweigh the interests of the defendant and the public in proceeding as scheduled," the motion said.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121108/news_1211_030.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
peter.guinta@staugustine.com
Publication Date: 12/11/08
After being turned down for a six-month delay of his federal bribery trial, former St. Johns County Commission Chairman Tom Manuel asked Wednesday for a three-month delay instead.
In addition, the defense asked for four compact discs containing recordings that were not turned over.
The motion was filed by William J. Sheppard and D. Gray Thomas, both of Sheppard, White, Thomas & Kachergus, Jacksonville, who argued that the "voluminous recorded conversations" in this case must be reviewed, analyzed and transcribed.
"The government has indicated that its investigation was lengthy and included electronic and other surveillance from April 2007 through October 2008, a span of 18 months," the motion said.
Manuel said he really didn't have a comment about the motion.
"This is all procedural stuff," he said. "His job is to provide me the best counsel possible. On these procedural issues, I rely on him 100 percent."
Two weeks ago, Sheppard said in court that 42 recorded conversations exist of Manuel talking to informants, but only 14 of those discs are transcribed.
Extra time is needed to "work beyond review and analysis matters" to allow "proper and adequate representation for trial," the motion says.
The four missing recordings is another new development.
The motion said, "The FBI has advised that malfunction impacted some recordings, but the defendant is entitled to copies of those discs as well to make an independent determination of whether they are material" to the defense.
The defense contention that it didn't have enough time to prepare is essentially the same argument Sheppard and Thomas used in a Dec. 4 motion asking for a six-month extension. That motion also said the overwhelming amount of evidence "renders proceeding on the previous adopted schedule unreasonable."
But that motion was denied Tuesday by U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard and the trial remained set for Jan. 5.
Howard's final order in that matter did leave the door open for the defense to return with a "properly supported" motion, and that is what Manuel's attorneys did Wednesday.
"The ends of justice outweigh the interests of the defendant and the public in proceeding as scheduled," the motion said.
Click here to return to story:
http://staugustine.com/stories/121108/news_1211_030.shtml
© The St. Augustine Record
USDOJ Press Release: Corrupt Supreme Court Justice Charged in NY
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Northern District of New York
100 South Clinton Street
Room 900; P.O. Box 7198
Syracuse, New York 13261-7198
(315) 448-0672
December 10, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
FORMER NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED EXTORTION AND BRIBERY
A former Supreme Court Justice of the Third Judicial Circuit of the State of New York was charged today with attempted extortion and federal program bribery, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced. Thomas J. Spargo, 65, was charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of New York.
According to the indictment, while Spargo was a state Supreme Court Justice in 2003, he allegedly solicited $10,000 from an Ulster County, N.Y., attorney who had cases pending before the judge. The indictment further charges that Spargo solicited the money by causing the attorney to fear that Spargo would use his official acts and influence to harm the attorney if he was not paid and, conversely, to help the attorney if he was paid.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Richard C. Pilger and Trial Attorney M. Kendall Day of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, headed by William M. Welch II, Chief. The case was investigated by the FBI – Albany Division.
An indictment is merely a charge, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
United States Attorney
Northern District of New York
100 South Clinton Street
Room 900; P.O. Box 7198
Syracuse, New York 13261-7198
(315) 448-0672
December 10, 2008
NEWS RELEASE
FORMER NEW YORK STATE SUPREME COURT JUSTICE INDICTED FOR ATTEMPTED EXTORTION AND BRIBERY
A former Supreme Court Justice of the Third Judicial Circuit of the State of New York was charged today with attempted extortion and federal program bribery, Acting Assistant Attorney General Matthew Friedrich of the Criminal Division announced. Thomas J. Spargo, 65, was charged in an indictment returned today by a federal grand jury in the Northern District of New York.
According to the indictment, while Spargo was a state Supreme Court Justice in 2003, he allegedly solicited $10,000 from an Ulster County, N.Y., attorney who had cases pending before the judge. The indictment further charges that Spargo solicited the money by causing the attorney to fear that Spargo would use his official acts and influence to harm the attorney if he was not paid and, conversely, to help the attorney if he was paid.
The case is being prosecuted by Senior Trial Attorney Richard C. Pilger and Trial Attorney M. Kendall Day of the Criminal Division’s Public Integrity Section, headed by William M. Welch II, Chief. The case was investigated by the FBI – Albany Division.
An indictment is merely a charge, and defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Wednesday, December 10, 2008
Curiouser and Curiouser -- No Handcuffs for THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL, BUT Handcuffs for ROD R. BLAGOJEVICH, Governor of Illinois
Both MANUEL and BLAGOJEVICH were arrested on federal corruption charges.
MANUEL had no handcuffs, newspapers report. He turned himself in.
BLAGOJEVICH was handcuffed at his front door at 6 AM.
FBI said BLAGOJEVICH was handcuffed as a matter of policy.
Could it it be that MANUEL was not handcuffed because he's already making a deal to testify against his fellow public officials?
What do you reckon?
MANUEL had no handcuffs, newspapers report. He turned himself in.
BLAGOJEVICH was handcuffed at his front door at 6 AM.
FBI said BLAGOJEVICH was handcuffed as a matter of policy.
Could it it be that MANUEL was not handcuffed because he's already making a deal to testify against his fellow public officials?
What do you reckon?
U.S. District Judge Marcia Morales Howard's Order Denying County Commission Chairman THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL a Bribery Trial Postponement
UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
THOMAS G. MANUEL
_________________________________
Case No. 3:08-cr-370-J-34HTS
O R D E R
This cause is before the Court on Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Second Motion
for Continuance (Dkt. No. 46; Motion) filed on December 4, 2008. In the Motion, Defendant requests that the Court continue the trial in this matter for six months. See Motion at 1. In support of the Motion, defense counsel asserts that this case involves voluminous recorded conversations and that “the quantity of legal work that remains to be done in order to properly advise the Defendant with respect to any decision to enter a plea agreement or, on the other hand, to prepare for trial, renders proceeding on the presently adopted scheduled unreasonable.” Id. Defendant represents to the Court that counsel for the government does not object to the relief requested in the Motion. See id.
Upon review of the Motion, the Court does not find that the reasons set forth in the
Motion seeking an extraordinarily lengthy continuance are sufficient for the Court to make a finding that “the ends of justice served by the granting of such continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(A).
Accordingly, it is ORDERED:
Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Second Motion for Continuance (Dkt. No. 46) is
DENIED, without prejudice. Should Defendant desire to continue the trial in this matter, he must file a properly supported motion. In addition, counsel shall comply with Local Rule 3.09(d), United States District Court, Middle District of Florida.
DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida, this 9th day of December, 2008.
MIDDLE DISTRICT OF FLORIDA
JACKSONVILLE DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
v.
THOMAS G. MANUEL
_________________________________
Case No. 3:08-cr-370-J-34HTS
O R D E R
This cause is before the Court on Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Second Motion
for Continuance (Dkt. No. 46; Motion) filed on December 4, 2008. In the Motion, Defendant requests that the Court continue the trial in this matter for six months. See Motion at 1. In support of the Motion, defense counsel asserts that this case involves voluminous recorded conversations and that “the quantity of legal work that remains to be done in order to properly advise the Defendant with respect to any decision to enter a plea agreement or, on the other hand, to prepare for trial, renders proceeding on the presently adopted scheduled unreasonable.” Id. Defendant represents to the Court that counsel for the government does not object to the relief requested in the Motion. See id.
Upon review of the Motion, the Court does not find that the reasons set forth in the
Motion seeking an extraordinarily lengthy continuance are sufficient for the Court to make a finding that “the ends of justice served by the granting of such continuance outweigh the best interests of the public and the defendant in a speedy trial.” 18 U.S.C. § 3161(h)(8)(A).
Accordingly, it is ORDERED:
Defendant Thomas G. Manuel’s Second Motion for Continuance (Dkt. No. 46) is
DENIED, without prejudice. Should Defendant desire to continue the trial in this matter, he must file a properly supported motion. In addition, counsel shall comply with Local Rule 3.09(d), United States District Court, Middle District of Florida.
DONE AND ORDERED at Jacksonville, Florida, this 9th day of December, 2008.
USDOJ Press Release: VA. SHERIFF INDICTED ON RICO, OBSTRUCTION CHARGES, FACES MORE THAN 300 YEARS
The United States Attorney's Office
Western District of Virginia
Julia C. Dudley
Acting United States Attorney
Brian McGinn
Public Affairs Specialist
BB&T Building
310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906
Roanoke, Virginia 24011
(540) 857-2974
FAX (540) 857-2179
October 23, 2008
PAGE COUNTY SHERIFF INDICTED ON RICO, OBSTRUCTION CHARGES, FACES MORE THAN 300
YEARS OF FEDERAL INCARCERATION
Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Julia C. Dudley, Criminal Chief for the Western District Thomas J. Bondurant Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond Division Jennifer Smith Love, Special Agent in Charge for the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation C. Andre’ Martin and Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region for the Department of Agriculture Brian L. Haaser, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Daniel W. Presgraves, age 46, of Luray, Virginia with committing a series of criminal acts that abused his power as Sheriff of Page County, Virginia.
A Federal Grand Jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon returned a 22-count indictment under seal on October 22, 2008. That indictment was unsealed today following Presgraves’ arrest.
The indictment charges Presgraves with six counts of obstructing a law enforcement investigation, four counts of obstructing an investigation by a Federal Grand Jury, four counts of violating the civil rights of female subordinates at the Page County Sheriff’s Office, two counts of making false statements, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of violating federal Racketeering laws.
“Our citizens must know that the people given the responsibility to enforce our nation’s laws and keep our friends and neighbors safe are doing so in a fair and responsible manner,” Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley said today. “This investigation uncovered a variety of very serious allegations against a high-ranking member of law enforcement. Like any other person charged with a crime, Sheriff Presgraves must be held accountable for these alleged acts.”
“Regardless of one’s status or position, when a public official elects to betray the public’s trust for personal gain, the very core of how and why our system of government operates is immediately and negatively impacted,” Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division C. Andre’ Martin said today. “Therefore, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division gives priority to investigations involving the alleged breach of the public trust by government officials at any level.”
“We are often asked, what harm is caused by a few folks involved in animal fighting activities,” Brian L. Haaser, Special Agent-in-Charge, USDA-OIG said today. “This and previous cases investigated by USDAOIG demonstrate that the crime of animal fighting is often connected to other types of illegal conduct.”
The indictment alleges that while serving as the Sheriff of Page County, Virginia, Presgraves used intimidation and his official position to engage in a series of illegal activities. Those activities included,sexually harassing and sexually assaulting 12 different female victims, laundering money and attempting to coerce witnesses from testifying about his activities to law enforcement officials and before a Federal
Grand Jury investigating his actions.
The indictment alleges that Presgraves attempted to intimidate these victims from talking about the Sheriff’s activities with the “Feds.” He told the victims to take this information “to the grave.” In one instance, Presgraves threatened one victim, reminding the woman that even if her daughter testified to the grand jury, he could have access to her at any time.
Furthermore, the indictment alleges that Presgraves took bribes from the operators of the Little Boxwood cockfighting pit. In return for these bribes, the Sheriff, who is also charged with conspiring to sponsor this animal fighting venture, pledged to not interfere with the operation of Little Boxwood and to tip-off the
proprietors of the pit if any other law enforcement agency was planning to raid the operation. On April 12,
2007, Presgraves made a false statement to a special agent of the United States Department of Agriculture about his lack of knowledge of any active cockfighting pits in his jurisdiction.
In addition to the bribes being paid by members of the Little Boxwood pit, the indictment also alleges that between 2000 and the time of his indictment, Presgraves accepted bribes from an unidentified corporation.
These bribes included cash, gift cards, the use of earth moving machines and free labor for his personal projects. In exchange for these bribes, Presgraves used his position as County Sheriff to tip-off officials with the corporation about an investigation into their dealings. Presgraves also used his power to
intimidate a witness not to cooperate with federal authorities investigating the corporation.
From 2001 until 2004, Presgraves deposited, or had employees of the Page County Sheriff’s Office deposit, in excess of $100,000 in cash to his personal checking accounts. Presgraves structured those deposits in amounts less that $10,000 per deposit to avoid the filing of a Currency Transaction Report by various
financial institutions.
The indictment also alleges that Presgraves withheld large amounts of revenue received by the Page County Sheriff’s Office from being deposited with the Page County Treasurer. Specifically, Presgraves withheld at least $39,409 the Sheriff’s Office received from the United States Customs Service and $47,000 the office received from PayTel, a company which installed pay phones in the Page County Jail.
One of Presgraves’ duties as the Sheriff of Page County is to monitor and supervise the Page County Jail, its employees and its inmates. The indictment alleges that Presgraves abused his power by using inmates of the Page County Jail to perform work for him on his personal, residential property and properties in
which he, or a member of his family, had a vested financial interest. To further this scheme, Presgraves contacted the Virginia Department of Corrections and convinced them that certain inmates, scheduled to be transferred from the Page County Jail, should remain under his custody. The defendant did not disclose
that these inmates were performing personal work for him. Both the defendant his wife, and other family members transported inmates from the Page County Jail to these job locations.
The indictment alleges that Presgraves, through the activities described in the preceding paragraphs and others mentioned only in the indictment, participated in a pattern of racketeering activity.
If convicted on all counts, the maximum penalty faced by the defendant is 304 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,000,000.
The investigation of the case was conducted by Phil Barnett of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jim Knorr of the United States Department of Agriculture, and Wayne Sumner of the Virginia State Police. Criminal Chief for the United States Attorney Thomas J. Bondurant and Assistant
United States Attorney Zach Lee are prosecuting the case for the United States.
A Grand Jury indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
file://A:\102308rh_sheriff.htm 10/24/2008
Western District of Virginia
Julia C. Dudley
Acting United States Attorney
Brian McGinn
Public Affairs Specialist
BB&T Building
310 1st Street, S.W., Room 906
Roanoke, Virginia 24011
(540) 857-2974
FAX (540) 857-2179
October 23, 2008
PAGE COUNTY SHERIFF INDICTED ON RICO, OBSTRUCTION CHARGES, FACES MORE THAN 300
YEARS OF FEDERAL INCARCERATION
Acting United States Attorney for the Western District of Virginia Julia C. Dudley, Criminal Chief for the Western District Thomas J. Bondurant Jr., Special Agent in Charge for the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Richmond Division Jennifer Smith Love, Special Agent in Charge for the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation C. Andre’ Martin and Special Agent in Charge of the Northeast Region for the Department of Agriculture Brian L. Haaser, announced today the unsealing of an indictment charging Daniel W. Presgraves, age 46, of Luray, Virginia with committing a series of criminal acts that abused his power as Sheriff of Page County, Virginia.
A Federal Grand Jury sitting in the United States District Court for the Western District of Virginia in Abingdon returned a 22-count indictment under seal on October 22, 2008. That indictment was unsealed today following Presgraves’ arrest.
The indictment charges Presgraves with six counts of obstructing a law enforcement investigation, four counts of obstructing an investigation by a Federal Grand Jury, four counts of violating the civil rights of female subordinates at the Page County Sheriff’s Office, two counts of making false statements, two counts of conspiracy, two counts of mail fraud, one count of money laundering and one count of violating federal Racketeering laws.
“Our citizens must know that the people given the responsibility to enforce our nation’s laws and keep our friends and neighbors safe are doing so in a fair and responsible manner,” Acting United States Attorney Julia C. Dudley said today. “This investigation uncovered a variety of very serious allegations against a high-ranking member of law enforcement. Like any other person charged with a crime, Sheriff Presgraves must be held accountable for these alleged acts.”
“Regardless of one’s status or position, when a public official elects to betray the public’s trust for personal gain, the very core of how and why our system of government operates is immediately and negatively impacted,” Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service’s Criminal Investigation Division C. Andre’ Martin said today. “Therefore, in partnership with the U.S. Attorney’s Office and the FBI, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division gives priority to investigations involving the alleged breach of the public trust by government officials at any level.”
“We are often asked, what harm is caused by a few folks involved in animal fighting activities,” Brian L. Haaser, Special Agent-in-Charge, USDA-OIG said today. “This and previous cases investigated by USDAOIG demonstrate that the crime of animal fighting is often connected to other types of illegal conduct.”
The indictment alleges that while serving as the Sheriff of Page County, Virginia, Presgraves used intimidation and his official position to engage in a series of illegal activities. Those activities included,sexually harassing and sexually assaulting 12 different female victims, laundering money and attempting to coerce witnesses from testifying about his activities to law enforcement officials and before a Federal
Grand Jury investigating his actions.
The indictment alleges that Presgraves attempted to intimidate these victims from talking about the Sheriff’s activities with the “Feds.” He told the victims to take this information “to the grave.” In one instance, Presgraves threatened one victim, reminding the woman that even if her daughter testified to the grand jury, he could have access to her at any time.
Furthermore, the indictment alleges that Presgraves took bribes from the operators of the Little Boxwood cockfighting pit. In return for these bribes, the Sheriff, who is also charged with conspiring to sponsor this animal fighting venture, pledged to not interfere with the operation of Little Boxwood and to tip-off the
proprietors of the pit if any other law enforcement agency was planning to raid the operation. On April 12,
2007, Presgraves made a false statement to a special agent of the United States Department of Agriculture about his lack of knowledge of any active cockfighting pits in his jurisdiction.
In addition to the bribes being paid by members of the Little Boxwood pit, the indictment also alleges that between 2000 and the time of his indictment, Presgraves accepted bribes from an unidentified corporation.
These bribes included cash, gift cards, the use of earth moving machines and free labor for his personal projects. In exchange for these bribes, Presgraves used his position as County Sheriff to tip-off officials with the corporation about an investigation into their dealings. Presgraves also used his power to
intimidate a witness not to cooperate with federal authorities investigating the corporation.
From 2001 until 2004, Presgraves deposited, or had employees of the Page County Sheriff’s Office deposit, in excess of $100,000 in cash to his personal checking accounts. Presgraves structured those deposits in amounts less that $10,000 per deposit to avoid the filing of a Currency Transaction Report by various
financial institutions.
The indictment also alleges that Presgraves withheld large amounts of revenue received by the Page County Sheriff’s Office from being deposited with the Page County Treasurer. Specifically, Presgraves withheld at least $39,409 the Sheriff’s Office received from the United States Customs Service and $47,000 the office received from PayTel, a company which installed pay phones in the Page County Jail.
One of Presgraves’ duties as the Sheriff of Page County is to monitor and supervise the Page County Jail, its employees and its inmates. The indictment alleges that Presgraves abused his power by using inmates of the Page County Jail to perform work for him on his personal, residential property and properties in
which he, or a member of his family, had a vested financial interest. To further this scheme, Presgraves contacted the Virginia Department of Corrections and convinced them that certain inmates, scheduled to be transferred from the Page County Jail, should remain under his custody. The defendant did not disclose
that these inmates were performing personal work for him. Both the defendant his wife, and other family members transported inmates from the Page County Jail to these job locations.
The indictment alleges that Presgraves, through the activities described in the preceding paragraphs and others mentioned only in the indictment, participated in a pattern of racketeering activity.
If convicted on all counts, the maximum penalty faced by the defendant is 304 years imprisonment and/or a fine of $2,000,000.
The investigation of the case was conducted by Phil Barnett of the Internal Revenue Service, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Jim Knorr of the United States Department of Agriculture, and Wayne Sumner of the Virginia State Police. Criminal Chief for the United States Attorney Thomas J. Bondurant and Assistant
United States Attorney Zach Lee are prosecuting the case for the United States.
A Grand Jury indictment is only a charge and not evidence of guilt. The defendant is entitled to a fair trial with the burden on the government to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
file://A:\102308rh_sheriff.htm 10/24/2008
St. Augustine, Florida: City of Shame
We've got crooks in City Hall, crooks in the Courthouse, crooks in the State Capital and crooks all over Florida.
Landraping scalawags "worse than any carpetbagger" take dirty money from India, China, South Korea, Australia and other high-growth-rate places, hiring crooked lawyers (like GEORGE McCLURE, who now admits taping some 40 conversations with Republican County Commission Chairman THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL and bribing him, according to USDOJ files in the case of United States of America v. THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL)
Our chickens are only beginning to come home to roost.
Landraping scalawags "worse than any carpetbagger" take dirty money from India, China, South Korea, Australia and other high-growth-rate places, hiring crooked lawyers (like GEORGE McCLURE, who now admits taping some 40 conversations with Republican County Commission Chairman THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL and bribing him, according to USDOJ files in the case of United States of America v. THOMAS GLAIZE MANUEL)
Our chickens are only beginning to come home to roost.
Scott Turow: Illinois is the "State of Shame"
New York Times
December 10, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
State of Shame
By SCOTT TUROW
Chicago
HERE in Chicago, where we are accustomed to news that challenges the thresholds of belief, we awoke Tuesday to find that our governor, Rod Blagojevich, had become the second Illinois chief executive in a row to be subjected to criminal charges.
The 76-page criminal complaint implies that Mr. Blagojevich was such an inveterate schemer that despite being the obvious target of a three-year federal grand jury investigation into trading state jobs and contracts for campaign contributions, he had to be taken out of his house in handcuffs to prevent him from selling off the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Even by Chicago’s picaresque standards, Tuesday’s developments are mind-boggling, even more so to a former federal prosecutor like me with an understanding of some of the nuances of the federal criminal justice system. The most worrisome element is that Mr. Blagojevich’s shameless behavior seems to have put Chicago’s United States attorney, the estimable Patrick Fitzgerald, into the unenviable position of having to bring a case before he was ready.
Mr. Fitzgerald has lived by the Machiavellian motto that if you shoot at the king, you had better kill the king. Mr. Fitzgerald’s highest-profile prosecutions — like those of I. Lewis Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and of Mr. Blagojevich’s predecessor as governor, George Ryan — have been assembled methodically, with an almost obsessive desire to tie down evidentiary details before charges are returned.
Furthermore, Mr. Fitzgerald has a history of trying not to use the justice system to pre-empt the operation of other democratic institutions. Thus, despite a more than five-year investigation, the Ryan indictment was withheld until after the governor left office in 2003, and Mr. Fitzgerald did not oppose a defense request to schedule Mr. Libby’s perjury and obstruction justice trial after the 2006 midterm elections.
Undoubtedly one of the events Patrick Fitzgerald has no desire to influence is his own possible reappointment as United States attorney for four more years (all United States attorneys can be replaced by the incoming administration). Mr. Fitzgerald’s effectiveness as a prosecutor is unquestioned, and the state’s senior senator, the Democrat Dick Durbin, has said Mr. Fitzgerald can stay in the job if he wants to.
But the Justice Department may have other thoughts. Mr. Fitzgerald has held the job since October 2001, some may argue that a position with such extraordinary discretionary powers should not lay in the same hands for 12 years.
Moreover, Mr. Fitzgerald’s bare-knuckle methods have rankled many in the Chicago bar. For example, he got George Ryan’s chief of staff, Scott Fawell, to testify against his former boss by threatening to imprison Mr. Fawell’s girlfriend for perjury.
In his news conference Tuesday, Mr. Fitzgerald indicated that he hadn’t planned to indict Governor Blagojevich until next spring, meaning that the prosecutor was going to wait until his own fate was decided. Instead, with wiretap evidence piling up that showed that Mr. Blagojevich was intent on selling the Obama seat in exchange for a substantial personal benefit, like a high-paying job for himself or his wife, Mr. Fitzgerald was forced to make the arrest. He decided that he could not even wait for the grand jury investigating Mr. Blagojevich to meet on Thursday and indict him.
Bypassing the grand jury and proceeding through a criminal complaint instead effectively puts the case against Mr. Blagojevich on the express route. Mr. Fitzgerald will now have only 20 days to either give the governor a preliminary hearing — which would amount to free discovery for his defense lawyer — or return an indictment. Given Mr. Fitzgerald’s frank appeal for information from the public at his news conference, it’s obvious that his case is not fully buttoned up, and that Mr. Blagojevich forced the prosecutor’s hand.
All of this news comes with personal chagrin for me because I was Governor Blagojevich’s first appointment to the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission, a body created his first year in office. (For the record, I have never made a campaign donation to him.) The commission judges ethics complaints against state officials, supervises ethics instruction, and tries to carry out an overall mandate to improve the ethical climate in Illinois.
Ethics reform in Illinois is often regarded as an oxymoron, and I admit that the commission’s arduous efforts to strengthen our ethics laws have met with little success. Speaking solely for myself, I hope the governor’s arrest galvanizes public outrage and at last speeds reform.
One change that is obviously indispensable is overhauling the campaign contribution laws in Illinois, where there are literally no limits on political donations — neither how big they can be or who can give them. The lone exception is a law, passed over a Blagojevich veto, that takes effect Jan. 1, prohibiting large state contractors from donating to the executive officer who gave them the business. Otherwise, anybody — union officials, regulated industries, corporations, lobbyists — can throw as much money as they like at Illinois politicians.
This astonishing state of affairs persists 32 years after the Supreme Court, in Buckley v. Valeo, recognized “the actuality and appearance of corruption resulting from large individual financial contributions” in approving limits on such donations to candidates for federal office. One can only hope that even in Illinois we are too ashamed now to tolerate business as usual.
Scott Turow is writing a sequel to his novel “Presumed Innocent.”
December 10, 2008
Op-Ed Contributor
State of Shame
By SCOTT TUROW
Chicago
HERE in Chicago, where we are accustomed to news that challenges the thresholds of belief, we awoke Tuesday to find that our governor, Rod Blagojevich, had become the second Illinois chief executive in a row to be subjected to criminal charges.
The 76-page criminal complaint implies that Mr. Blagojevich was such an inveterate schemer that despite being the obvious target of a three-year federal grand jury investigation into trading state jobs and contracts for campaign contributions, he had to be taken out of his house in handcuffs to prevent him from selling off the Senate seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Even by Chicago’s picaresque standards, Tuesday’s developments are mind-boggling, even more so to a former federal prosecutor like me with an understanding of some of the nuances of the federal criminal justice system. The most worrisome element is that Mr. Blagojevich’s shameless behavior seems to have put Chicago’s United States attorney, the estimable Patrick Fitzgerald, into the unenviable position of having to bring a case before he was ready.
Mr. Fitzgerald has lived by the Machiavellian motto that if you shoot at the king, you had better kill the king. Mr. Fitzgerald’s highest-profile prosecutions — like those of I. Lewis Libby, the former chief of staff to Vice President Dick Cheney, and of Mr. Blagojevich’s predecessor as governor, George Ryan — have been assembled methodically, with an almost obsessive desire to tie down evidentiary details before charges are returned.
Furthermore, Mr. Fitzgerald has a history of trying not to use the justice system to pre-empt the operation of other democratic institutions. Thus, despite a more than five-year investigation, the Ryan indictment was withheld until after the governor left office in 2003, and Mr. Fitzgerald did not oppose a defense request to schedule Mr. Libby’s perjury and obstruction justice trial after the 2006 midterm elections.
Undoubtedly one of the events Patrick Fitzgerald has no desire to influence is his own possible reappointment as United States attorney for four more years (all United States attorneys can be replaced by the incoming administration). Mr. Fitzgerald’s effectiveness as a prosecutor is unquestioned, and the state’s senior senator, the Democrat Dick Durbin, has said Mr. Fitzgerald can stay in the job if he wants to.
But the Justice Department may have other thoughts. Mr. Fitzgerald has held the job since October 2001, some may argue that a position with such extraordinary discretionary powers should not lay in the same hands for 12 years.
Moreover, Mr. Fitzgerald’s bare-knuckle methods have rankled many in the Chicago bar. For example, he got George Ryan’s chief of staff, Scott Fawell, to testify against his former boss by threatening to imprison Mr. Fawell’s girlfriend for perjury.
In his news conference Tuesday, Mr. Fitzgerald indicated that he hadn’t planned to indict Governor Blagojevich until next spring, meaning that the prosecutor was going to wait until his own fate was decided. Instead, with wiretap evidence piling up that showed that Mr. Blagojevich was intent on selling the Obama seat in exchange for a substantial personal benefit, like a high-paying job for himself or his wife, Mr. Fitzgerald was forced to make the arrest. He decided that he could not even wait for the grand jury investigating Mr. Blagojevich to meet on Thursday and indict him.
Bypassing the grand jury and proceeding through a criminal complaint instead effectively puts the case against Mr. Blagojevich on the express route. Mr. Fitzgerald will now have only 20 days to either give the governor a preliminary hearing — which would amount to free discovery for his defense lawyer — or return an indictment. Given Mr. Fitzgerald’s frank appeal for information from the public at his news conference, it’s obvious that his case is not fully buttoned up, and that Mr. Blagojevich forced the prosecutor’s hand.
All of this news comes with personal chagrin for me because I was Governor Blagojevich’s first appointment to the Illinois Executive Ethics Commission, a body created his first year in office. (For the record, I have never made a campaign donation to him.) The commission judges ethics complaints against state officials, supervises ethics instruction, and tries to carry out an overall mandate to improve the ethical climate in Illinois.
Ethics reform in Illinois is often regarded as an oxymoron, and I admit that the commission’s arduous efforts to strengthen our ethics laws have met with little success. Speaking solely for myself, I hope the governor’s arrest galvanizes public outrage and at last speeds reform.
One change that is obviously indispensable is overhauling the campaign contribution laws in Illinois, where there are literally no limits on political donations — neither how big they can be or who can give them. The lone exception is a law, passed over a Blagojevich veto, that takes effect Jan. 1, prohibiting large state contractors from donating to the executive officer who gave them the business. Otherwise, anybody — union officials, regulated industries, corporations, lobbyists — can throw as much money as they like at Illinois politicians.
This astonishing state of affairs persists 32 years after the Supreme Court, in Buckley v. Valeo, recognized “the actuality and appearance of corruption resulting from large individual financial contributions” in approving limits on such donations to candidates for federal office. One can only hope that even in Illinois we are too ashamed now to tolerate business as usual.
Scott Turow is writing a sequel to his novel “Presumed Innocent.”
USDOJ Press Release: FBI Busts Corrupt South Florida Sheriffs' Deputies
U.S. Department of Justice
United States Attorney
Southern District of Florida
99 N.E. 4 Street,
Miami, FL 33132
(305)961-9001
June 23, 2008
NEWS RELEASE:
BROWARD SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES AND TWO OTHERS CHARGED IN UNDERCOVER CORRUPTION PROBE
Broward Sheriff’s Deputies Richard V. Tauber, 37, and Kevin D. Frankel, 38, and two co-defendants, Robert Thomas Baccari, 38, and Christopher C. Provenzano, 37, were charged in complaints filed today with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fifty kilograms of cocaine, announced R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Al Lamberti, Broward County Sheriff. Specifically, one complaint charges Tauber, Baccari, and Provenzano with conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right by accepting bribes to protect and facilitate the interstate transportation of krugerrands and diamonds, which had been represented to them to be the proceeds of drug transactions, and by transporting fifty (50) kilograms of purported cocaine, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 and Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. A separate complaint charges Frankel with conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right by providing countersurveillance for the transportation of fifty (50) kilograms of purported cocaine, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 and Title 21, United States Code, Section 846.
Approximately one year ago, BSO brought this matter to the attention of the FBI. The resulting 10-month undercover investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI and BSO. According to the complaint, Tauber, a 14-year veteran of the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the City of Pompano Beach Police Department, Frankel, a Broward Sheriff’s Deputy since October 2006, and Baccari and Provenzano, long-time friends of Tauber not employed by the BSO, provided a variety of illegal services to individuals who represented that they were involved with a high ranking member of an organized criminal group purportedly operating out of the New York/New Jersey area and a purported Colombian drug distributor whose organization operated out of Miami. In reality, the individuals were undercover FBI agents, and the purported criminal activities were all staged operations conducted as part of the investigation.
According to the complaint, in exchange for cash payments, the defendants were involved in the following criminal activities, among others:
Tauber and Baccari transported krugerrands purportedly worth $125,000 to $150,000 from South Florida to Connecticut that were represented to have been the proceeds of narcotics transactions. For this service, Tauber received $5,000 in cash, plus an additional $2,000 for expenses.
Tauber and Provenzano transported diamonds from New Jersey to South Florida that were represented to be the drug proceeds of a Colombian drug trafficker. For this service, Tauber received $5,000 in cash and Provenzano received $2,000 in cash.
Tauber, Baccari, and Provenzano transported diamonds purportedly worth $500,000 from New Jersey to South Florida. For this service, Tauber received $5,000 in cash, Baccari and Provenzano each received $2,000 in cash, plus an additional $3,000 in expenses.
Tauber, Baccari, and Provenzano transported fifty (50) kilograms of purported cocaine from Miami to the Pompano Beach Municipal Airport, where it was loaded on a plane purportedly destined for the New York/New Jersey area. Frankel did countersurveillance around the perimeter of the Pompano Beach Municipal Airport. For this service Tauber, Frankel, Baccari and Provenzano received a total of $20,000.
The defendants would be paid in cash at the conclusion of each criminal episode in which they participated. As a result of their criminal activities, Tauber, Baccari, Provenzano, and Frankel received a total of approximately $51,500. All meetings were video and audio recorded.
U.S. Attorney Acosta stated, “Today, we announce another prosecution of corrupt police officers, who have sold their badges and betrayed their colleagues. Like two weeks ago, today’s prosecution was the result of close cooperation between the federal and local authorities. I want to thank the Broward Sheriff for bringing this matter to the attention of the FBI. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the honest men and women of law enforcement. This is a time to remember the many officers who have risked, and even sacrificed, their lives in the line of duty, and to be glad that the actions of these few can no longer diminish the hard work and dedication of the many dedicated police officers who serve honestly here in South Florida.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan I. Solomon added, “Corrupt police officers who misuse their position to protect what they believe to be criminal organizations must be dealt with swiftly and severely. The community expects and deserves law enforcement officers with the highest integrity, who will not be swayed by monetary gain. In addition, the FBI specifically thanks the BSO for their quick referral of this matter and their continued cooperation throughout this sensitive investigation.”
“I want to make it clear to the residents of Broward County that this investigation was initiated by members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. When we realized the complexity of the violations we immediately sought the assistance and participation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I am particularly proud of the BSO investigators who did this investigation and of their efforts to root out corruption in our ranks,” said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti
All defendants face maximum sentences of life in prison and fines of up to $4,000,000 if convicted of the conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. In addition, they face up to 20 years in prison for the alleged conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, and fines of $250,000.
Mr. Acosta commended the efforts of the numerous special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the detectives of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Organized Crime Unit who worked on this investigation. In addition, Mr. Acosta thanked Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti for his cooperation during this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey N. Kaplan and Paul F. Schwartz.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
United States Attorney
Southern District of Florida
99 N.E. 4 Street,
Miami, FL 33132
(305)961-9001
June 23, 2008
NEWS RELEASE:
BROWARD SHERIFF’S DEPUTIES AND TWO OTHERS CHARGED IN UNDERCOVER CORRUPTION PROBE
Broward Sheriff’s Deputies Richard V. Tauber, 37, and Kevin D. Frankel, 38, and two co-defendants, Robert Thomas Baccari, 38, and Christopher C. Provenzano, 37, were charged in complaints filed today with conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right and conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute fifty kilograms of cocaine, announced R. Alexander Acosta, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Florida, Jonathan I. Solomon, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Miami Field Office, and Al Lamberti, Broward County Sheriff. Specifically, one complaint charges Tauber, Baccari, and Provenzano with conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right by accepting bribes to protect and facilitate the interstate transportation of krugerrands and diamonds, which had been represented to them to be the proceeds of drug transactions, and by transporting fifty (50) kilograms of purported cocaine, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 and Title 21, United States Code, Section 846. A separate complaint charges Frankel with conspiring to commit extortion under color of official right by providing countersurveillance for the transportation of fifty (50) kilograms of purported cocaine, in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1951 and Title 21, United States Code, Section 846.
Approximately one year ago, BSO brought this matter to the attention of the FBI. The resulting 10-month undercover investigation was jointly conducted by the FBI and BSO. According to the complaint, Tauber, a 14-year veteran of the Broward Sheriff’s Office and the City of Pompano Beach Police Department, Frankel, a Broward Sheriff’s Deputy since October 2006, and Baccari and Provenzano, long-time friends of Tauber not employed by the BSO, provided a variety of illegal services to individuals who represented that they were involved with a high ranking member of an organized criminal group purportedly operating out of the New York/New Jersey area and a purported Colombian drug distributor whose organization operated out of Miami. In reality, the individuals were undercover FBI agents, and the purported criminal activities were all staged operations conducted as part of the investigation.
According to the complaint, in exchange for cash payments, the defendants were involved in the following criminal activities, among others:
Tauber and Baccari transported krugerrands purportedly worth $125,000 to $150,000 from South Florida to Connecticut that were represented to have been the proceeds of narcotics transactions. For this service, Tauber received $5,000 in cash, plus an additional $2,000 for expenses.
Tauber and Provenzano transported diamonds from New Jersey to South Florida that were represented to be the drug proceeds of a Colombian drug trafficker. For this service, Tauber received $5,000 in cash and Provenzano received $2,000 in cash.
Tauber, Baccari, and Provenzano transported diamonds purportedly worth $500,000 from New Jersey to South Florida. For this service, Tauber received $5,000 in cash, Baccari and Provenzano each received $2,000 in cash, plus an additional $3,000 in expenses.
Tauber, Baccari, and Provenzano transported fifty (50) kilograms of purported cocaine from Miami to the Pompano Beach Municipal Airport, where it was loaded on a plane purportedly destined for the New York/New Jersey area. Frankel did countersurveillance around the perimeter of the Pompano Beach Municipal Airport. For this service Tauber, Frankel, Baccari and Provenzano received a total of $20,000.
The defendants would be paid in cash at the conclusion of each criminal episode in which they participated. As a result of their criminal activities, Tauber, Baccari, Provenzano, and Frankel received a total of approximately $51,500. All meetings were video and audio recorded.
U.S. Attorney Acosta stated, “Today, we announce another prosecution of corrupt police officers, who have sold their badges and betrayed their colleagues. Like two weeks ago, today’s prosecution was the result of close cooperation between the federal and local authorities. I want to thank the Broward Sheriff for bringing this matter to the attention of the FBI. I also want to take this opportunity to thank all the honest men and women of law enforcement. This is a time to remember the many officers who have risked, and even sacrificed, their lives in the line of duty, and to be glad that the actions of these few can no longer diminish the hard work and dedication of the many dedicated police officers who serve honestly here in South Florida.”
FBI Special Agent in Charge Jonathan I. Solomon added, “Corrupt police officers who misuse their position to protect what they believe to be criminal organizations must be dealt with swiftly and severely. The community expects and deserves law enforcement officers with the highest integrity, who will not be swayed by monetary gain. In addition, the FBI specifically thanks the BSO for their quick referral of this matter and their continued cooperation throughout this sensitive investigation.”
“I want to make it clear to the residents of Broward County that this investigation was initiated by members of the Broward Sheriff’s Office. When we realized the complexity of the violations we immediately sought the assistance and participation of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. I am particularly proud of the BSO investigators who did this investigation and of their efforts to root out corruption in our ranks,” said Broward Sheriff Al Lamberti
All defendants face maximum sentences of life in prison and fines of up to $4,000,000 if convicted of the conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute cocaine. In addition, they face up to 20 years in prison for the alleged conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, and fines of $250,000.
Mr. Acosta commended the efforts of the numerous special agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the detectives of the Broward Sheriff’s Office Organized Crime Unit who worked on this investigation. In addition, Mr. Acosta thanked Broward County Sheriff Al Lamberti for his cooperation during this investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jeffrey N. Kaplan and Paul F. Schwartz.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Florida at www.usdoj.gov/usao/fls. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Southern District of Florida at www.flsd.uscourts.gov or on http://pacer.flsd.uscourts.gov.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)