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Seduction
First Subtle As Politicans Go Bad
By RICHARD MEEHAN With ANDY THIBAULT
Connecticut Post - Page B3
September 24, 2006
EDITOR'S
NOTE: This column, excerpted from "Payoff: Tales Of Political
Corruption In Connecticut And Throughout The USA," is available for
reprint courtesy of The Cool Justice Report, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com
The
FBI recently revealed that in the post 9/11 era it has engaged in 2,000
investigations of public corruption, leading to more than 1,000
convictions of public officials.
The fact that corruption exists at every level of government is sadly
apparent from Connecticut's recent troubles to the Jack Abramoff scandal
that still echoes throughout the capitol. That it exists is not the real
issue. Apparently finding evidence of it is readily obtainable since
greedy pols are all too happy to bite on fed sting operations or take from
characters like Abramoff who eventually get caught and flip. The
"why" is the puzzlement?
Is public corruption the ultimate seduction or a revelation of some
innate, basic human personality flaw?
As a brand new lawyer I was offered the opportunity to run for office as a
city councilman. My entrée into politics was at the invitation of a
lawyer named Richie Pinto, who shared office space with me and my dad.
Richie was a powerful figure in local democratic politics, and an honest
man. He was a gregarious figure who loved to be viewed as a kingmaker.
Decades later I would spend over five days in a federal courtroom cross
examining his son, Paul, the government's star witness in the corruption
trial of former Mayor Joe Ganim.
Even at this small time level I found the lure of politics to be a very
heady drug. What amazed me most, however, was the number of people who
were willing to fight sometimes vicious battles to advance the party. I
have to confess to a large amount of naiveté in those four years that I
served. Bridgeport was several years removed from its first major
political corruption investigation. In the early 80's, after my
ignominious defeat at the polls, 17 people surrounding the City
administration were prosecuted and convicted. As a member of the defense
team that represented a major target of that investigation -- who was
never prosecuted -- I soon lost that naiveté and began to see the sordid
underpinnings of local politics.
Intriguingly I have found from personal experiences that there are
essentially two types of pols who ultimately go sour. The first is the
greedy individual who sees politics as a means of gaining or peddling
influence. From petty ward healers to national figures, these people see
public service as the public serving their own selfish interests. These
schemers rise to all levels. What amazes me about this type is the sense
of invulnerability that accompanies them. You can't line your pockets at
the public expense without casting a wide net and letting it be known that
you are for sale.
The second class of offender is the altruistic person who enters public
service with a genuine desire to serve the public good. Many stay focused
on that goal and often accomplish much to the benefit of their
constituency. When this type of pol turns it is generally the result of a
series of events, some accidents of fate, others the product of concerted
acts of seduction.
I am no sociologist but would wager that if a study were conducted
focusing on the good pol that turns bad one constant would probably
emerge: long tenure and lopsided political victories. The sense of
political invincibility must be a powerful agent in the fermenting of the
good pol gone bad.
The seduction is subtle at first. Millions of dollars in public contracts
create a battleground among corporations vying for influence and the
inside track to a bid award. Wining and dining pols was a long
acknowledged practice. After all, in corporate America lavish dinners,
limos to major sporting events, and gratuities have not, until recently,
been viewed as inappropriate or unethical. Even the IRS recognizes that
wining and dining for the promotion of business is a legitimate tax
deduction.
Look at the new sports venues being constructed throughout the country and
what you will find is an increase in the number and cost of luxury boxes
or suites. Major corporations don't spend hundreds of thousands of dollars
on such extravagances to simply benefit their own employees. They are
perks doled out to prospective or current clients to encourage continued
business.
So the seduction starts innocently enough with the acceptance of some
minor gifts, a dinner, tickets to the Yankees, limo rides to New York;
nothing that isn't done everyday in the private sector. Nothing is asked
for in exchange. It is the development of "good will."
The politician who is paid a moderate salary is expected to move
gracefully among the moneyed icons of business. Temptation starts to
develop. Now add to it a corporate attitude that influence is a necessity
in dealing with the public sector.
What has not received major focus in the national explosion of corruption
prosecution is that there would be no corruption without the corruptors!
Take time to study the expenses of companies seeking public contract bids
and among those are the costs of "consultants" and lobbyists.
Lobbyists have been receiving increased attention by law enforcement.
Legislative bodies at all levels are regulating lobbying activities.
"Consultants," on the other hand, are a different breed. These
are generally people of significant political influence who are paid big
front money to help quietly acquire face time or exposure with the public
decision makers. Many if not most of these consultancy agreements include
large "success fees," usually a percentage of the value of the
contract.
A typical scenario is the engagement of a "consultant" to work
the political landscape as an independent contractor. The hiring company
insulates itself and is in a position to disavow any later wrongful acts.
The consultant has inner circle access, maybe not to the ultimate decision
maker but to influential insiders who advise that decision maker. Small
gifts become larger gifts. Like feeding an addiction, the artful corruptor
senses when the heretofore honest person is now ripe for the suggestion of
some form of bribe.
Bridgeport
attorney Richard Meehan Jr. was the lead defense counsel for former
Bridgeport Mayor Joseph Ganim's corruption trial. Meehan has also obtained
multi-million dollar verdicts and settlements in complex medical and
dental malpractice and personal injury litigation. He is a past president
of the Greater Bridgeport Bar Association and appears regularly on Court
TV. Andy Thibault, author of Law & Justice In Everyday Life and a
private investigator, is an adjunct lecturer of English and a mentor in
the MFA writing program at Western Connecticut State University. Website, www.andythibault.com
and Blog, http://cooljustice.blogspot.com
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