MR. GRANT: Well, I woke him up. So the first thing was, was this a joke? But I’ll leave the rest--you know, he tried to make sure this was an honest call. So . . .
QUESTION: How about his family? Was his wife there when this happened? And his children, did they wake up?
MR. GRANT: They did not wake up that I know of. They were beginning to stir as we left, but they were not awake and not aware. But his wife was awake.”
Perhaps a group of FBI agents and attorneys was too shocked by all that reiteration of a four-letter word to think clearly. If only the late great George Carlin were still alive. Meanwhile, any parent who could find this narrative credible—the bit about arriving at dawn to evade the children’s notice, for instance--should probably be reported to Child Social Services.
Following press reports of the favorable attention given to the Tribune in the charging document and the press conference, Fitzgerald’s people then leaked to the Wall Street Journal that really the arrest was because the Tribune broke the story of the investigation (wiretapping) rather than to prevent a crime spree.
Revising that item promptly, a day or so later the NDIL office exonerated the Tribune: “The specific timing of the arrest of Rod Blagojevich wasn’t affected by a Chicago Tribune article revealing that the Illinois governor was being secretly recorded.”
These are the times we live in. Prominent reporters sit on stories of significant public concern, timing their release for political effect—or lack of same, as in that Sen. Bob Packwood sexual harrassment matter some years back—or holding them for publication in books.
Litigators sit on settlements in civil cases, timing them in the attorney’s financial interest rather than the client’s interest, as described in A Civil Action, Jonathan Harr’s nonfiction book about attorney Jan Schlichtmann, played by John Travolta in the movie.
Evidently prosecutors can also sit on cases, timing them in the interests of political or professional strategizing.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
