The Big Kerfuffle
Just hearing the four words Grand Jury and FBI Investigation is enough to make a politician’s blood run cold and the Governor’s got both on his hands, a Grand Jury investigating the Department of Health and the FBI investigating the Prisons Department but after reading the morning newspaper story he tore into not the FBI but the News and Observer for reporting he’d helped a donor who gave his campaign $12,000 get a $3 million state contract.
There were nine people in the room when the Governor and the donor met with Prisons Department officials and according to the newspaper, right off, the donor, Graeme Keith, said he’d given a lot of money and it was time he got something in return.
Keith later said he’d never said any such thing but four prison department officials said he had and the Department Secretary, who’s a retired FBI agent, who was sitting at the table said he heard Keith say it, himself, and that Keith said the same thing to him two other times – once in another meeting and once on the phone.
The Governor told the newspaper he didn’t hear Keith say it but added he believed the Prison Department folks were telling the truth.
Years ago, at the request of another Senator, Jesse Helms met with a businessman who sat down in his office and explained he wanted a bill passed and he’d sure be happy to make a contribution if it did; Jesse leaned back in his chair, hooked his thumbs in his belt and drawled matter-of-factly, I’m not in the business of selling favors.
Tom Ellis, who was also in the meeting, was blunter: He banged his pipe on the ashtray knocking out the ashes, relit it, and said, You know it’s illegal to trade government favors for cash?
Graeme Keith got his contract from the Prisons Department and there’s been a lot of squabbling over whether it was a good deal or a bad deal for the state but, at the end of the day, only one fact matters: Did Keith really say he’d made his donations and now it was time for the quid pro quo? Because if he did, that should have been the end of that meeting. And of that contract.
The Big Kerfuffle
Just hearing the four words Grand Jury and FBI Investigation is enough to make a politician’s blood run cold and the Governor’s got both on his hands, a Grand Jury investigating the Department of Health and the FBI investigating the Prisons Department but after reading the morning newspaper story he tore into not the FBI but the News and Observer for reporting he’d helped a donor who gave his campaign $12,000 get a $3 million state contract.
There were nine people in the room when the Governor and the donor met with Prisons Department officials and according to the newspaper, right off, the donor, Graeme Keith, said he’d given a lot of money and it was time he got something in return.
Keith later said he’d never said any such thing but four prison department officials said he had and the Department Secretary, who’s a retired FBI agent, who was sitting at the table said he heard Keith say it, himself, and that Keith said the same thing to him two other times – once in another meeting and once on the phone.
The Governor told the newspaper he didn’t hear Keith say it but added he believed the Prison Department folks were telling the truth.
Years ago, at the request of another Senator, Jesse Helms met with a businessman who sat down in his office and explained he wanted a bill passed and he’d sure be happy to make a contribution if it did; Jesse leaned back in his chair, hooked his thumbs in his belt and drawled matter-of-factly, I’m not in the business of selling favors.
Tom Ellis, who was also in the meeting, was blunter: He banged his pipe on the ashtray knocking out the ashes, relit it, and said, You know it’s illegal to trade government favors for cash?
Graeme Keith got his contract from the Prisons Department and there’s been a lot of squabbling over whether it was a good deal or a bad deal for the state but, at the end of the day, only one fact matters: Did Keith really say he’d made his donations and now it was time for the quid pro quo? Because if he did, that should have been the end of that meeting. And of that contract.