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To: TobagoJack who wrote (34773)	6/6/2003 4:39:21 AM
From: elmatador	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 74559

I wish I had. But do you have a CART champion in your family? Da Matta, a 29-year-old Brazilian, won seven races, seven poles and clinched the CART title with three races remaining in the 19-race season. His 73-point margin over second-place Bruno Junqueira was the biggest in CART history. Cristiano Da Matta is descendent from the same branch of my grand father Cyrillo Coelho Da Matta. Then there is Tony Coelho: Tony Coelho. What? You mean, Tony Coelho, the ex-Congressman who resigned in disgrace ten years ago rather than face any investigation of his sweetheart loan deal with an S&L executive to buy junk bonds from Drexel Burnham Lambert? Tony Coelho, the man who ran the Democrats' House campaign committee in the 1980s by taking favors from the top S&L crooks and then pressuring the S&L regulators to take a hike? Tony Coelho, one of the top 22 check-bouncers at the House Bank, with more than $300,000 in hot checks? Tony Coelho, the man who stuck up for Jim Wright aide John Mack, after it was revealed this beast brutally assaulted a woman, almost killing her? Tony Coelho, the political mastermind under whose leadership the Democrats lost the House in 1994? " The Securities and Exchange Commission is currently probing Coelho's business ties to New Mexico prescription-by-mail millionaire Nunzio DeSantis, including charges that Coelho and DeSantis "diverted company assets for their own enrichment." The National Journal recently reported that Al Gore's campaign chairman, Tony Coelho, is the subject of a criminal investigation by the State Department, related to his work as the commissioner general of the United States Pavilion at the 1998 World Expo. Investigators found numerous financial irregularities when Coelho was head of the U.S. exhibition at the World's Fair in Portugal in 1998. While Coelho listed 85 sources of income and a net worth of more than $10 million in his financial-disclosure forms, he leased an $18,000-a-month apartment at U.S. taxpayer expense in Portugal and hired his niece as a $2,500-a-month assistant to his deputy. Ironically, Coelho's wide-ranging corporate connections include a very lucrative directorship with Service Corporation International, the huge funeral conglomerate whose regulatory troubles in Texas have embroiled Gov. George W. Bush in an embarrassing lawsuit. Indeed, Coehlo has extensive business ties with Republicans, including several of Bush's major contributors and advisors. Departing Speaker of the House Tom Foley appointed former Congressman Tony Coelho to the commission. He was an odd choice. Coelho had left Congress under a cloud and had gone to New York and made millions in the commodities markets. . . . Tony Coelho was nothing if not an interesting character. He had been in so much trouble as a congressman that more than one book and many articles had been written about him. He had been the subject of several, albeit unsuccessful, federal criminal probes. Hiring Coelho to serve on the Intelligence commission was taking the protection of national security to a new low. The Coelho investigation was received on 7 March 1995. It was to be completed by 27 March "without fail." To order that we finish the investigation in what amounted to fifteen working days was an outrage and impossible-and that's what I advised my supervisor, in writing.... But he still harangued me with calls to meet the deadline. . . . Among the allegations against Coelho - some of which he freely confessed - were the following: >> Taking daily doses of methaqualone or phenobarbital for medical reasons >> Prior alcoholism and considerations of suicide. >> Illegal, unethical, or inappropriate lobbying of the new Clinton administration. >> Personal conflicts of interest. >> Resigning from Congress of 15 June 1989 after multiple accusations of serious wrongdoing, including violations of federal laws. >> Failing to correctly report income on a federal income tax return. >> Failing to report a loan of $50,000 in violation of House ethics reporting requirements. >> Issuing, in less than one year, 316 personal checks - for a total of more than $293,000 - all drawn on a bank account for which there were insufficient funds. >> Accepting a "sweetheart" junk bond deal from Michael Milkin (later convicted and sentenced by U.S. Federal Judge Kimba Wood). >> Accepting a $4,000 gift from a savings and loand banker later indicted and convicted of federal violations. >> Using inappropriate influence to protect owners of failing savings and loans. >> Accepting illegal political contributions aboard a 112-foot yacht owned by a savings and loan businessman who was later indicted and convicted of fraud. >> Improperly appointing a friend and large contributor to the finance chair of the DNC (the friend owned a failing Texas savings and loan). >> Alleged improper contacts with employees of the Clinton Department of Agriculture for the purpose of influencing decisions made with respect to farm chemicals being produced by a leading manufacturer, also a big contributor to politicians. This list is by no means complete. These are just some of the public, media-reported allegations against Coelho, most of which have never been investigated fully for one reason or another. Now there was a reason to fully investigate these allegations, but I wasn't being allowed to. While it was true that Coelho was never charged with any crime, the Department of Justice Office of Public Integrity only declined to prosecute him, and anyone in law enforcement and the political arena knows that declining to prosecute is not the same as declaring someone innocent. The deeper I dug, the more cynical were the questions I posed to myself. How much were Coelho's chances for an important position enhanced by the fact that he was engaged in fundraising for the president's defense against the sexual harassment lawsuit brought by Paula Jones? Could Coelho's opportunity to join the commission have anything to do with the fact that he defended Hillary Clinton's celebrated windfall profits in cattle futures? What about the public speculation that the Clintons wanted Coelho "cleared" to work on the commission in order to rehabilitate him so he could run the president's reelection campaign? I was not in charge of standards, nor was I in charge of the Coelho investigation; I was just asking questions, and I was only the lead agent covering the U.S. House of Representatives. Ultimately, Coelho got his security clearance from the Clinton administration and gained access to some of the most sensitive information our government has. If you ask me why, I don't know....