Opinion: Bryant, Shoar, McClure and FBI tapes
Posted: September 18, 2010 - 11:34pm
Advertisement
By PETE ELLIS
Last Sunday we ran a two-story package outlining both the FBI's exploration of possible legal and ethical violations by former St. Johns County Commissioner Jim Bryant and the extent of the FBI's probe into corruption in the county, which was greater than the public previously knew.
The reaction surprised me.
First, I was criticized for not running the story before the Aug. 24 election, in which Bryant lost to Jay Morris for a seat on the St. Johns County Commission.
And, second, people asked me why Sheriff David Shoar and development attorney George McClure haven't yet answered the questions I put in the newspaper on June 20. After all, they said, it has been almost three months.
We received the FBI surveillance tapes on Bryant in early August. In those tapes, the FBI informant, Jacksonville public relations company owner Paul McCormick, was trying to get information on whether Bryant had violated the law when he rented an airplane numerous times from the president of the company developing Nocatee.
Here's why we didn't run these articles before the election. First, we don't run potentially explosive articles within 10 days of an election because that doesn't give the accused candidate enough time to respond. This is a rule common to most newspapers, not just us.
That meant that we had a little more that a week to report the story, deal with our attorneys, write the articles and edit them. With all the election articles we had to do then, compounded by staff members taking vacations, we just didn't have the time to get the articles done in time. In fairness to Bryant, I see our job as getting the story done correctly, and if that means we didn't get it published before the election, then so be it. I'd rather be fair than fast.
And, yes, we have run articles critical of candidates during an election cycle, but not within that 10-day window before an election.
On the second point -- why haven't the sheriff and attorney McClure responded to questions from The Record -- we're still waiting to hear from the sheriff, although McClure did respond to Ron Davidson, my publisher and boss.
The sheriff has told the publisher and me that he will meet with us, then he has said he won't, and, most recently, he has said he will. We've been asking for an interview with him since mid-January. I hope to be able to tell you soon that the sheriff has agreed to answer our questions. If you'd like to see those questions, please go to www.staugustine.com and read my blog.
McClure's response
Shortly after my June 20 column ran, McClure called the publisher and gave this response:
* He is not a public figure and does not have to answer our questions.
* He did offer an answer to a question we posed to Shoar about FBI confidential informant Bruce Robbins of Atlantic Beach, the man who offered two bribes totalling $60,000 to former Commissioner Tom Manuel. We asked if the FBI granted Robbins any leniency for any potential charges that could have been brought against him.
* And he told the publisher that he thought The Record had a special relationship with Manuel and was working to help him.
Here are my responses: -- McClure is a public official, even though he is not an elected official. Here's what the law says, based on the Times v. Sullivan case (1964) that defined the difference between public and private citizens. A public figure is either a public official (i.e., an elected official) or any other person pervasively involved in public affairs. As one of the leading land development attorneys in St. Johns County and a frequent representative before local planning boards and St. Augustine and St. Johns County commissions, he is a public official. Cementing the deal is what's called a "limited purpose public figure." These are people who have "thrust themselves to the forefront of particular public controversies in order to influence the resolution of the issues involved." McClure did that in the Manuel case.
* McClure said that any deal with Robbins would have to be part of the court record. That's true -- if Robbins had been arrested. Remember, Manuel agreed to wear a wire for the FBI after he was detained -- but not arrested -- in June 2008. He was not arrested until October.
n We did have a relationship with Manuel because he gave us almost all of the FBI surveillance tapes that we ran in our coverage in February and March. But that's it. We made no promises to him other than we would not run any articles using the tapes until he was sentenced in January. The coverage we ran was highly critical of him and included an in-depth look at his achievements as a New York banker as well as his personally destructive behavior, his larger-than-life ego and his precipitous fall from grace. No one could say these articles were positive to him. And, no, we're not working to help him. He's in prison doing a 21-month sentence. Even if we wanted to, what help could we give him?
Let me add this. I liked Manuel. When I was a young reporter, I covered Yale University and got used to dealing with people like Manuel, who had robust self-images. I also like Sheriff Shoar, a friendly man with a good sense of humor; George McClure, a gracious and charming man; Bruce Maguire, the man whom Manuel defeated in 2006; former Commissioner Karen Stern, who lost an election bid in August; Commissioner Ken Bryan and former Commissioner Jim Bryant, both earnest men with very different personalities; and almost everyone else in public life in St. Johns County. I am friendly with all these people and many more, but not one of them is my friend and none of them has been in my house. In a job like mine, I have to keep my distance, and I do.
Why we keep asking
Let me end with a question for me: Why do we keep trying to get the sheriff and McClure to answer our questions?
Here's why: The public has a right to know the extent of the possible corruption in the county, the veracity of its public officials, the relationships local law enforcement agencies have with other agencies, and any behind-the-scenes deals. Was this just about Manuel, or is there more to this?
It's the job of The Record and all serious media outlets to ask questions like these. We look forward to talking with the sheriff about the questions that remain, and hope to get McClure to answer our questions as well.
*
Pete Ellis is editor of The Record. He may be reached at (904)819-3517 or peter.ellis@staugustine.com. As always, he welcomes your comments and suggestions.
No comments:
Post a Comment