... the Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said the gift had to be motivated not only by the recipient's position, but by some official act, either a reward for a past act, or an inducement for a future one. ...
Ted Wells, one of Espy's lawyers, sought to demolish Smaltz's case during closing argument to the jury that the prosecution presented no witnesses who testified his client ever made a decision based on anything he ever received.
Sounds like the prosecution didn't make their case, Les. Innuendo isn't usually considered evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, is it? You want to ban politicians from the luxury boxes, good luck. It might crimp the income of all those sports franchise owners, who, being rich guys and good Republicans mostly, might object. Aside from which, this is all pretty mundane money compared to the general campaign finance cesspool. Everybody feeds at that troth, but one side seems to always come out way ahead. Oink Oink.
Cheers, Dan. |
