Tag: Bruce Thompson

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Politics Politics Feature

Thompson Takes On Fox News

From Huffington Post: In a heated exchange this morning on Fox News Sunday, former Sen. Fred Thompson took host Chris Wallace to task for what he claims is a “constant mantra” of attacks on Thompson from Fox News.

Thompson reacted to two clips from Fox News contributors Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes sharply criticizing Thompson’s candidacy.

“I don’t know if Fox has been going after you,” Wallace said, defending his network’s coverage.

But Thompson insisted — “From day one, they said I got in too late –” only to have Wallace interrupt. “Well, there are a lot of people besides Fox who said that.”

For more, check out HuffPost.

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Politics Politics Feature

POLITICS: New Game, Different Name

When Bruce Thompson, freshly charged with extortion and mail fraud, called a press conference last week to respond, the former county commissioner struck an unusual note of defiance, chastising My Harrison, the FBI’s local agent in charge, for the “same game, different name” remark with which she had characterized his place in the ever-burgeoning series of federal indictments of local officials.

His life was no game, Thompson said, making the issue personal, and since the distinguished defense attorney Leslie Ballin stood at his elbow when he said it, lending his considerable legal imprimatur to the statement, what Thompson said smacked less of pique than of considered strategy. Indeed, it seemed overtly political, the response of one contender to another in a heated public debate.

And make no mistake: Though both Thompson’s legal defenders and the prosecutorial team representing U.S. attorney David Kustoff will presumably offer abundant briefs, proofs, and exhibits in evidence as they join the issue, there is something political about not only this trial but the whole series of recent ones based on operations with catchy code names like Tennessee Waltz, Main Street Sweeper, and suchlike.

There had already been sporadic, mainly sub rosa efforts within the ranks of local Democrats to challenge the series of Justice Department prosecutions as partisan ones aimed at their party’s power structure. The presence of a nominal Republican, former East Tennessee legislator Chris Newton, among the Tennessee Waltz indictees, had done little to dispel the accusation, since Newton’s GOP colleagues had always considered him a fellow traveler with the General Assembly’s Democrats.

The conservative Thompson, a bona fide upscale Gucci-wearing Republican with strong connections in the local business community, would seem to be a different matter. Yet it can be argued, at no prejudice to the legal merits of either case, that both Thompson’s prosecution and that of former MLGW head Joseph Lee, currently under indictment for improper collusion with city councilman Edmund Ford Sr., are inherently political.

Rather than instances of out-and-out bribery, conveniently staged and videotaped by the government itself, these two cases are not stings but the results of real ex nihilo investigations of actions initiated by the principals themselves. What connects them to the prior cases is that they expressly target the freedom-of-action of public officials.

The prosecutions of Thompson and, even more obviously, Lee are aimed at what had previously been a no-man’s-land of politics, the domain where favors are done in return for favors, where one hand washes the other, and where if you scratch my back, I’ll sure as hell scratch yours.

Did MLGW president Lee choose to look the other way at Ford’s thousands of dollars’ worth of unpaid bills because the councilman changed his mind on Lee’s acceptability as the utility’s head, and because, even more crucially, Ford headed Lee’s oversight committee? It might once have been said: That’s just politics. But Harrison and Kustoff have now declared that statement inoperative, as chief prosecutor Tim DiScenza shortly will in court.

Thompson’s case is even more ambivalent. Before he went to work on getting the Memphis school board to approve a school-construction contract for a West Tennessee company (for an ultimate fee of $250,000 for himself), the then commissioner sought — and got — the formal sanction of county attorney Brian Kuhn.

No conflict of interest, said Kuhn, who reaffirmed again Monday his belief that Thompson, distanced by the state’s funding formula both from city-school spending per se and from oversight of specific school construction, was within his rights to act as an advocate for the company.

That was on pure conflict-of-interest grounds, stressed Kuhn, who eschewed any judgment about various potential illegalities associated with other aspects of the case. Asked whether the Thompson and Lee cases could be interpreted as incursions by federal authorities onto turf previously regarded as exclusively and flexibly political, Kuhn allowed — unofficially and informally, you understand — that he understood how somebody could see it that way.

In an interview with the Flyer back in 1994, when he was first running for the Senate, current presidential hopeful Fred Thompson mused on the then ongoing Whitewater investigation into President Bill Clinton‘s private finances and, at some passionate length, expressed regret at what he saw as the creeping criminalization of politics.

Locally as well as nationally, what Thompson then lamented seems now to be the very name of the game.

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Politics Politics Feature

Is the Thompson Case About Politics or Law? Or Both? And Does It Matter?

Why is this man smiling? Is it because he suspects that his indictment for extortion and maul fraud lies smack dab on the borderline between politics and law? And that he can prove it? Hmmm. Maybe so. Maybe no. Of course, it may not do former county commissioner Bruce Thompson much good, either way.

See what you think about what’s said here.

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Politics Politics Feature

New Game, Different Name

When Bruce Thompson, freshly charged with extortion and mail fraud, called a press conference last week to respond, the former county commissioner struck an unusual note of defiance, chastising My Harrison, the FBI’s local agent in charge, for the “same game, different name” remark with which she had characterized his place in the ever-burgeoning series of federal indictments of local officials.

His life was no game, Thompson said, making the issue personal, and since the distinguished defense attorney Leslie Ballin stood at his elbow when he said it, lending his considerable legal imprimatur to the statement, what Thompson said smacked less of pique than of considered strategy. Indeed, it seemed overtly political, the response of one contender to another in a heated public debate.

And make no mistake: Though both Thompson’s legal defenders and the prosecutorial team representing U.S. attorney David Kustoff will presumably offer abundant briefs, proofs, and exhibits in evidence as they join the issue, there is something political about not only this trial but the whole series of recent ones based on operations with catchy code names like Tennessee Waltz, Main Street Sweeper, and suchlike.

There had already been sporadic, mainly sub rosa efforts within the ranks of local Democrats to challenge the series of Justice Department prosecutions as partisan ones aimed at their party’s power structure. The presence of a nominal Republican, former East Tennessee legislator Chris Newton, among the Tennessee Waltz indictees, had done little to dispel the accusation, since Newton’s GOP colleagues had always considered him a fellow traveler with the General Assembly’s Democrats.

The conservative Thompson, a bona fide upscale Gucci-wearing Republican with strong connections in the local business community, would seem to be a different matter. Yet it can be argued, at no prejudice to the legal merits of either case, that both Thompson’s prosecution and that of former MLGW head Joseph Lee, currently under indictment for improper collusion with city councilman Edmund Ford Sr., are inherently political.

Rather than instances of out-and-out bribery, conveniently staged and videotaped by the government itself, these two cases are not stings but the results of real ex nihilo investigations of actions initiated by the principals themselves. What connects them to the prior cases is that they expressly target the freedom-of-action of public officials.

The prosecutions of Thompson and, even more obviously, Lee are aimed at what had previously been a no-man’s-land of politics, the domain where favors are done in return for favors, where one hand washes the other, and where if you scratch my back, I’ll sure as hell scratch yours.

Did MLGW president Lee choose to look the other way at Ford’s thousands of dollars’ worth of unpaid bills because the councilman changed his mind on Lee’s acceptability as the utility’s head, and because, even more crucially, Ford headed Lee’s oversight committee? It might once have been said: That’s just politics. But Harrison and Kustoff have now declared that statement inoperative, as chief prosecutor Tim DiScenza shortly will in court.

Thompson’s case is even more ambivalent. Before he went to work on getting the Memphis school board to approve a school-construction contract for a West Tennessee company (for an ultimate fee of $250,000 for himself), the then commissioner sought — and got — the formal sanction of county attorney Brian Kuhn.

No conflict of interest, said Kuhn, who reaffirmed again Monday his belief that Thompson, distanced by the state’s funding formula both from city-school spending per se and from oversight of specific school construction, was within his rights to act as an advocate for the company.

That was on pure conflict-of-interest grounds, stressed Kuhn, who eschewed any judgment about various potential illegalities associated with other aspects of the case. Asked whether the Thompson and Lee cases could be interpreted as incursions by federal authorities onto turf previously regarded as exclusively and flexibly political, Kuhn allowed — unofficially and informally, you understand — that he understood how somebody could see it that way.

In an interview with the Flyer back in 1994, when he was first running for the Senate, current presidential hopeful Fred Thompson mused on the then ongoing Whitewater investigation into President Bill Clinton‘s private finances and, at some passionate length, expressed regret at what he saw as the creeping criminalization of politics.

Locally as well as nationally, what Thompson then lamented seems now to be the very name of the game.

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News The Fly-By

Same Game, New Name

Former county commissioner Bruce Thompson was indicted by a federal grand jury this week in connection with a city schools construction contract.

Under the indictment, Thompson, 48, faces one count of extortion and three counts of mail fraud. According to the document, Thompson received more than $260,000 from H&M Construction Company, Inc., to purportedly influence a contract to build three city schools.

H&M joined with minority contractor Salton-Fox Construction to contract with the Memphis City Schools system.

“[Thompson] would falsely represent to representatives of the joint venture described above, that by reason of his position as a Shelby County Commissioner, he had the ability to control the votes of members of the Memphis City School Board,” read the indictment.

The indictment also said that Thompson, who served on the commission from 2002 to 2006, told representatives of the joint venture that he had made commitments to give campaign contributions to members of the city school board and that without those payments the venture would not get the contract for the three schools.

In 2004, Thompson gave Kirby Salton a check for $7,000 purportedly for campaign contributions to school board members.

“What can I say? What can I possibly say? Same game, different name,” FBI special agent in charge My Harrrison said. “Those persons who feel they are entitled — whether you are North, South, East, or West — we’re here and we’re watching.”

Last month, the grand jury subpoenaed Memphis City School documents relating to building projects begun between 2000 and 2004.

“We will continually, aggressively prosecute these matters,” said U.S. attorney David Kustoff. “The grand jury investigation is ongoing.”

Thompson did not run for re-election in 2006.

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News

Thompson to Feds: This Is No Game

Less than an hour after pleading not guilty to federal corruption charges Wednesday, former county commissioner Bruce Thompson, who is a competitive tennis player, took a few swings at the style and substance of the government’s case.

“This is not a game,” Thompson said in media appearance in attorney Leslie Ballin’s office. “This is my life. This is my freedom that is on the line here.”

That was a swipe at FBI Special Agent in Charge My Harrison who said Tuesday, “Same game, different name,” after the indictment was handed up.

The phrase proved irresistible to print and broadcast media outlets, and Thompson said he resented it. He said his case has nothing in common with Tennessee Waltz, that he is entitled to the presumption of innocence, that he plans to go to trial, and that he expects to be found innocent.

“I have done nothing wrong, as I have said from the beginning,” said Thompson, who was a commissioner from 2002-2006.

The indictment alleges that Thompson extorted $263,000 from H&M Construction by “falsely representing” that he could influence school board members to award the company a $46 million contract, and that the company would stand little chance without his influence.

Thompson, 48, left the media appearance without taking questions.

He and Ballin made it clear that part of their defense will hang on an opinion issued by Shelby County Attorney Brian Kuhn in a memorandum in 2004. The opinion, which was actually given twice in slightly different form in February and again in August, was requested by Thompson.

“In my opinion, it would not be a conflict of interest for you to act as a consultant for a large public company in aiding them to try to get business and/or contracts with the Memphis City Schools or the Shelby County Schools,” Kuhn wrote.

The opinion does not say whether or not it would be legal. Ballin told reporters that if he had been asking for the opinion as an attorney he would have gotten Kuhn to be specific about the legality as well as the conflict of interest question.

Ballin said the dollar amounts reported as being paid to Thompson in the indictment are accurate. But he disputed the part of the indictment that involves Thompson in the payment of $7,000 in apparent campaign contributions or other payments to school board members via minority contractor Kirby Salton.

Ballin said that $263,000 would be a reasonable fee — roughly one half of one percent of the contract — for helping H&M get the business. He said Thompson had other consulting clients at the time, but he declined to name them.

The case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Jon McCalla. Ballin said he thinks it could go to trial as early as next February.

Earlier Wednesday afternoon, Thompson formally entered a plea of not guilty in a brief appearance at the federal building. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years on each of the four counts on which he was indicted.

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News

Burning Questions After the Bruce Thompson Indictment

Ten questions in the wake of the indictment of former Shelby County commissioner Bruce Thompson. Sorry, the questions are better than the answers at this stage of the game.

Is Memphis in some kind of Gilded Age of Corruption? Or are federal prosecutors just looking harder and calling them closer?

I would say both. Statistically, there were more indictments for political corruption from 2003-2007 than any period I can remember in my 25 years as a reporter in Memphis. It seemed like everyone had some kind of deal going. Big contracts for FedExForum, school construction, and Tenn-Care services opened the door to self-styled consultants.

Some politicians and government employees became envious when they saw what people they considered less influential than themselves were making off of those projects. Remember the taped comments of Roscoe Dixon and Barry Myers on this subject. And, as I wrote last week, I think minority participation was perverted from a worthy goal to an excuse for corruption.

On the other hand, I think federal prosecutors are calling them closer. The office runs in cycles, from high-volume, quick-turnover cases to time-consuming public corruption cases. We’re in the latter stage now. No way do I believe the indictments of former MLGW chief executive Joseph Lee (for cutting Edmund Ford some slack on his utility bill) and Michael Hooks Jr. (for perjury and rigging invoices for less than $10,000 to Juvenile Court) would have been sought in other years.

What’s the difference between John Ford and Bruce Thompson?

Media villain and media darling, for one thing. Ford allegedly got more than $800,000 from Tenn-Care contractors. Thompson allegedly got more than $260,000 from H&M Construction. It’s interesting that the federal indictment of Ford, which came out of Nashville, not Memphis, says the public was deprived of his honest services. But the indictment of Thompson makes it sound like H&M was the victim because Thompson “falsely” purported to be able to influence votes on the Memphis school board. U.S. Attorney David Kustoff did nothing to clear this up in his brief press conference announcing the Thompson indictment.

Did the Feds need to get a white Republican?

They’ll never say it, but of course they did. At the national and Memphis level, the Feds are under pressure for allegedly (hah!) having a bias against blacks and Democrats and those who are not loyal to George W. Bush. I’m not saying there is a quota system or anything, but prosecutors are human like the rest of us.

Did the FBI “miss” Thompson in Tennessee Waltz?

There are indications that Thompson got a hard look in the Tennessee Waltz investigation. His name came up in a taped conversation between an E-Cycle Management executive (in reality, an FBI agent) and Charles Love, a Chattanooga bag man. If you look at the timeline, 2004 was a critical year. Tennessee Waltz got underway in 2003 and became public in May, 2005. After May, 2005, any public official who took chances had to be reckless or crazy.

Who is the victim?

Again, I think that is one of the questions that Thompson and his attorneys are likely to raise. Thompson allegedly got $263,000 for helping H&M get a $46 million contract. Real estate agents and investment brokers can relate to that kind of “commission.” Thompson got an opinion from Shelby County attorney Brian Kuhn that it was all right for him to consult for H&M, although the specifics of what Kuhn was told about the arrangement by Thompson are likely more complicated than that. And I’ll bet Kuhn hedged his advice.

From 2002-2006, Thompson was a high-profile commissioner and an up-front advocate of privatization. After his term ended, he continued to stay in the public eye on politics and do occasional commentary. He didn’t act like someone with something to hide. And to my knowledge, he is pretty well-to-do and doesn’t need money. In other words, I don’t get it.

When is a campaign contribution a bribe?

n the minds of some people, they’re synonymous. But a contribution within the legal limit that is reported is not a crime, as far as I can see. Even if it’s in cash. In a sense, every contribution is intended to buy some access, influence, or official action (or inaction) down the road. When prosecutors start going after campaign contributions just because their timing was suspect or they weren’t reported, they will have gone too far in my opinion.

What happened to the $7,000 to Kirby Salton?

Salton was H&M’s minority partner. He has been quoted fairly extensively in The Commercial Appeal and apparently cooperated with prosecutors. The Thompson indictment is vague about the $7000 — and so was Kustoff in the press conference. It still is not clear whether any or all of it got to school board members and/or their associates. And there is an obvious imbalance if Thompson got $263,000 for consulting and one or more board members who actually voted on the construction contract got $7000 in campaign contributions. I would think H&M has to be savvy enough to ask what the hell was going on with their money.

Would Thompson’s actions have been illegal if he were not a commissioner?

The way the indictment reads, I would say no. The indictment uses the word “extortion” in a way that is probably unfamiliar to most people who associate it with guns, fists, and dirty looks. This came up in the John Ford trial, where the jury was puzzled by it and ultimately didn’t convict Ford on some counts. As used in the Ford and Thompson indictments, extortion (to oversimplify and avoid legalese) means using your official position unlawfully to get someone to do something.

There’s a pretty simple test for public officials. Would anyone consult with you for money if were not a public official? Is what’s right for you also right for all of your colleagues? And were you (or are you) a consultant before (or after) your political career?

What’s the deal with mail fraud?

Part of me thinks prosecutors use this junky charge to complicate the lives of reporters. Come on, say what you mean, Feds. We know you have to make it a federal case, but tell us this, in plain language: What is the underlying crime? Nobody sets out to commit mail fraud by sending money or a check or letter through the U.S. mail.

Are school board members out of the woods?

Probably not. Kustoff said the investigation is “ongoing” and he sounded like he meant it. The board changed its mind on the contractor award for three schools, or, perhaps more accurately, went along with the administration’s recommendation to change to H&M. What went down between the first vote and the second vote? Thompson will probably get a chance to shed some light on this.

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News

Feds Indict ex-Commissioner Bruce Thompson

Former Shelby County commissioner Bruce Thompson was indicted Tuesday by a federal grand jury on four charges connected to his work as a consultant to a Jackson, Tennessee construction company.

The indictment was announced at a press conference by United States Attorney David Kustoff and FBI Special Agent in Charge My Harrison.

“What can I say? What can I possibly say?” said Harrison. “Same game, different name.”

Harrison warned that public officials who think they are “entitled” to more than their salary are on the FBI’s watch list.

“Whether you’re north, south, east, or west we’re watching,” she said.

The investigation of school construction contracts is ongoing, Kustoff said. A grand jury has been hearing testimony about campaign contributions and other matters. According to the indictment, Thompson did not actually have the power to influence votes on the Memphis school board but “falsely represented” to H&M Construction and its joint-venture partner Salton-Fox Construction that he could help them win a contract to build three city schools. The commission appropriates money to fund schools in Shelby County, including the Memphis City School system.

The indictment says Thompson, 48, received $263,992 from H&M in two payments in 2005 after the school board awarded the firm the contract, reversing a previous vote that gave the contract to another firm. The indictment says that Thompson “did cause to be placed a check in the amount of $7,000 addressed to Kirby Salton from H&M Construction in the custody of an interstate common carrier” on November 16, 2004. That is the technical description of a mail-fraud charge.

Both the wording of the indictment and Kustoff’s remarks, however, left it unclear whether the $7,000 was passed on to board members and exactly what Thompson was supposed to do for his $263,992, which is nearly nine times the annual salary of a county commissioner.
“Thompson would falsely represent to representatives of the joint venture that by reason of his position as a Shelby County commissioner he had the ability to control the votes of members of the Memphis City School Board in connection with the awarding of a contract to construct three schools,” the indictment says.

Thompson, a white Republican from East Memphis, was a commissioner from 2002-2006 when he decided not to seek another term. His name came up in the Tennessee Waltz investigation when FBI agents posing as executives of E-Cycle Management said they wanted to meet him. The first Tennessee Waltz indictments were made public in May of 2005, putting public officials on notice to be careful about their business dealings, especially with regard to consulting. Thompson’s contacts with H&M regarding the three school construction jobs began in 2004, according to the indictment.
Thompson initial court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.