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Politics : PRESIDENT GEORGE W. BUSH -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: CYBERKEN who wrote (165056)	7/27/2001 11:58:05 AM
From: Mr. Palau	Respond to of 769670

Good morning Base Commander Ripper. >>Now, they not only "own" these guys, they ARE these guys...<< I guess that means the GOP is this guy, who ran against Lieberman last time: "Waterbury Mayor Arrested On Federal Sex Charges Associated Press and ctnow.com July 26, 2001 WATERBURY Conn. - Mayor Philip Giordano of Waterbury was arrested this morning on federal charges of using an interstate facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, and conspiracy to use an interstate facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity. He is being held without bail. Each count is punishable by up to five years in prison. FBI Special Agent Michael Wolf said there were multiple victims under the age of 16, but said the charges involved only one youth. Investigators would not provide any other details on the victims. Giordano, 38, was charged with using an interstate facility to entice a minor to engage in sexual activity, and with conspiracy to commit that act. If convicted, Giordano could be sentenced to a maximum of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. State and federal officials, including representatives from the Internal Revenue Service and the state Department of Children and Families, held a midday news conference but provided scant detail. Investigators would not define the "interstate facility" or say why the IRS was involved. "If the allegations in fact are true, this is a huge violation of the public's trust and of the trust of these children," DCF Commissioner Kristine Ragaglia said. The three-term mayor announced last week he would not seek a fourth, two-year term. FBI agents were searching Giordano's office Thursday Giordano, a Republican, made an unsuccessful bid for U.S. Senate last year against Sen. Joseph Lieberman. He ran despite public warnings from Gov. John G. Rowland, a fellow Waterbury Republican, and encountered financial problems in the campaign. The Federal Election Commission threatened to audit Giordano's campaign finances. The agency said he did not properly identify numerous donors and failed to list a host of expenditures. The agency also said the campaign had failed to clear up questions about a $300,000 loan that made up the bulk of his campaign war chest. Giordano was elected in 1995 and has served three, two-year terms. He also was a state lawmaker. Earlier this week, the owner of a towing company filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the city claiming Giordano is choosing towing companies based on political contributions and race. J.C. Curry, who is black, claimed the mayor excluded his Harry's Auto Body from the city's towing list despite his qualifications and longtime presence in the community. In February, the city filed a lien against Giordano for failure to pay sewer and water fees on property he owns with his brother, Rocco. Shortly before the 1997 mayoral election, Cheshire police found Giordano and a female staffer parked in a Chevy Blazer in a nearly empty parking lot at an industrial plant. Giordano said he met the woman on a Sunday afternoon after she called him, distraught about rumors she would be fired over suspicions she was leaking information to his opponent's campaign. He said his aide drove him to meet the woman, then he and the woman drove off together so they could talk privately. He said no physical contact took place. Waterbury, known as the Brass City, is the fifth largest city in the state with just over 100,000 people and has a history of political corruption. Giordano's predecessor, Joseph Santopietro, is serving time in a federal halfway house on corruption charges. Santopietro, a Republican, was 26 years old in 1985 when he beat the popular incumbent Democratic mayor, Edward D. Bergin Jr. In 1992, Santopietro and six others were convicted of conspiring with bankers and land developers to trade favors on land deals for bribes and kickbacks disguised as loans. Bergin had his own legal problems. He was was arrested in 1988 on a charge of taking a bribe over towing contracts. He was acquitted three years later. Fifty years ago, the Waterbury Republican-American won a Pulitzer Prize for helping put Mayor T. Frank Hayes and more than a dozen of his Democratic cronies in prison for raiding city coffers. Absentee ballot fraud was common enough years ago that the newspaper published the names of voters requesting absentee ballots, and their reasons, in an effort to keep the vote honest. Widespread fraud in a 1986 gubernatorial primary resulted in 10 arrests in Waterbury. A local prosecutor was imprisoned in 1985 for taking bribes to fix cases. The same year, the chief clerk of Waterbury Superior Court resigned after being charged with tampering with his son's court record." ctnow.com