THE DEVIL MADE ME DO IT!

Monday United States Magistrate Judge Earl Hines will preside over perhaps the most infamous case alleging fraud by a public official in Liberty County history. The case should feature the evidence brought forth by U.S. Attorney John Bales alleging former Liberty County Judge, Phil Fitzgerald and former Liberty County Commissioner, Lee Groce used their elected positions to fraudulently influence and award debris removal contracts to a company in return for sub-contracts being awarded to Fitzgerald’s brother-in-law, Mark Miksch. It should also feature a vigorous defense focused on how those charges are not valid. But it may not. What Judge Hines may not be prepared for is the attempt to shift this case away from the devastating events emanating from the Hurricane Ike’s landfall on September 13, 2008 to the world of backroom wheeling and dealing that KSHN’s Bill Buchanan and Fitzgerald have been living in for decades.

Liberty Dispatch has been told Phil Fitzgerald is represented by Beaumont attorney Lum Hawthorne, but we have reason to wonder if Lum has taken a backseat to Buchanan and Fitzgerald. Rather than take an opportunity to defend himself, once again Fitzgerald through KSHN radio is claiming innocence and blaming this all on his political opponents. Rather than take the opportunity to explain why a county official is entitled to have $612,000 of taxpayer money in his bank account, Buchanan and Fitzgerald are behaving more like the November 2010 general election is at stake. KSHN seems intent on a media campaign that simply repeats that “the former county judge did nothing wrong and will be vindicated in court”. Less than 100 days ago efforts like that put Fitzgerald and Groce on the list of unemployed former public officials. Liberty County voters have a history of almost always re-electing incumbents, but both men got trounced on election day. There have been plenty of political prosecutions around here, but in order for it to be a legitimate defense the person claiming to be a victim better be armed with reasons why they are innocent.

Up until now Fitzgerald seems to think the efforts made by Buchanan and KSHN, along with his own denials (“can’t wait to tell his side of the story”), is a valid defense. Liberty Dispatch can’t help but wonder out loud if a very experienced highly paid attorney like Lum Hawthorne would himself direct the defense towards this kind of strategy. But Hawthorne to this point seems to be endorsing the media campaign. KSHN (with their special access to Fitzgerald) is reporting that Lum Hawthorne has written a letter on behalf of his client that asserts the FEMA fraud charges “originated with Judge Fitzgerald’s political opponents who fed the U.S. Attorney information” that was incomplete or incorrect. Liberty Dispatch wonders why Hawthorne would go along with such rhetoric. The results of the last election would seem to suggest that voters do not believe there is any “incorrect or incomplete information”. Why not tell us what it is? Or is the defense hoping that just the idea of politics being involved will help absolve them of any wrongdoing?

Taxpayers in a federal court may not be impressed by the “shoot the messenger” strategy that Liberty County politicians and Bill Buchanan have used for years to intimidate challengers to their agendas and to do whatever they wanted to do around here. Most of us do not appreciate any attempt to put a whistle-blower on trial, nor will we fail to ask the pertinent question: “Is politics relevant to the guilt or innocence of a public official who has been proven to have used a FEMA generator illegally and who appears to have tried to hide the financial trail of over $3,000,000 worth of FEMA contracts that lead back to him?”

The political system is adversarial by design and the public depends, in part, on being informed by the people that want their opposition out of office. Most should hope for more public officials and political activists that speak out against practices like the ones alleged in these indictments.

If anything, by the end of it the Fitzgerald case should point to that part of our system that really is broken in Liberty County, the media. The importance of the first amendment’s protection of press is so people in positions like Bill Buchanan can vigorously expose wrongdoers without being shut down, not so they can try and redirect potential jurors. Buchanan by his relentless campaign on behalf of Fitzgerald and other behavior through the years is viewed by some as an enabler at a minimum. Fitzgerald and Buchanan have depended on politics to have their way on many things and they have made a great deal of money through politics. Now what do they want to say? Is the political world they have used to create their own little worlds is no longer working for them? How is that a defense against these charges?

Are they now going to complain about the same the politics of the courthouse or the rules in an investigation or the process of indictment? Look at this “reporting” by KSHN for example: “The lawyer also points out that government attorneys refused his offer to speak with them before they presented the case to a grand jury.” Buchanan knows there is nothing unusual about this but he will saturate the public airwaves with this kind of stuff as if it is a legitimate defense. His spin on stuff like this is legendary. But does it explain away all of the money that came his friend’s way?