Posted on 04/24/2007 7:24:54 AM PDT by SmithL
It's his show now. Prosecutors finally rested Monday after two full weeks making a bribery case against him, and John Ford's reaction was a smile.
Like a seasoned showman with a sense of suspense, the former state senator wouldn't say if he'll testify when the defense presents its case today.
Advertisement "I don't know,'' Ford teased as he emerged from the Clifford Davis Federal Building. "That's tomorrow. We'll get there and see.''
As he climbed from the curb into a waiting car he said with a nod, "I feel good.''
Hard as it may be to tell from his perkiness, Ford, 64, is accused of taking $55,000 in bribes in the FBI's Tennessee Waltz undercover sting.
Ford contends he was a legitimate business consultant entrapped by an overzealous sting.
Before resting their case, prosecutors finally introduced the diamond-studded Rolex wristwatch that Ford got from Memphis real estate developer Rusty Hyneman.
Ford isn't accused of any crimes in connection with the watch that a government witness said is worth as much as $70,000 retail. Yet prosecutors are using it to claim Ford was in the habit of taking payoffs before the Waltz probe.
Ford's defense appears ready to counteract prosecutors' assertions that Ford got the watch in exchange for using his influence to try to reduce state environmental fines levied against Hyneman.
Sitting in the hallway Monday was Hyneman lawyer Allan Wade, who testified in a pretrial hearing that he flew with Ford on the developer's private jet to Nashville to meet with state officials. Wade testified then that Ford didn't say much in the meeting and certainly didn't twist any arms.
Also seen sitting in the hallway was Mina Knox, a Memphis woman and former cheerleader who appeared on an FBI yacht in Miami with Ford and others in July 2004.
A Memphis Democrat, Ford is accused of taking cash bribes from an undercover agent posing as an executive with E-Cycle Management Inc., a sham company the FBI set up in the Waltz sting. E-Cycle paid cash to Ford and other lawmakers in exchange for filing legislation to help the firm get an exclusive state contract.
The prosecution concluded its case Monday by calling its ninth and 10th witnesses. One, FBI agent Mark Jackson, appeared as a summary witness whose testimony gave jurors a wrap-up presentation of the government's case. Jackson recapped how Ford took an initial $10,000 cash payment in August 2004 to draft legislation for E-Cycle and then took a series of $5,000 payments as he tried to push the bill into law.
As with other prosecution witnesses, Jackson underwent lengthy cross-examination by defense lawyer Michael Scholl. The two locked horns often, particularly when Scholl asked if Ford didn't have a right to simultaneously earn a living as a consultant and serve as a lawmaker.
"You can call it consulting but it's still bribery,'' Jackson said of the fees E-Cycle paid Ford.
Scholl contends that Ford was initially cool to the FBI's inquiries about E-Cycle. Scholl asked Jackson about the FBI's first Waltz encounter with Ford at an April 19, 2004 E-Cycle reception in Nashville.
Showing up uninvited, Ford bragged about payments from state contractors and suggested that he could deliver other contracts because he had brothers on the Memphis City Council and Shelby County Commission.
When Scholl asked why agents focused on Ford after the meeting, Jackson said statements at the reception by Ford and then-Rep. Brenda Turner, D-Chattanooga, alarmed agents.
"Their conversations to them seemed criminal at the time,'' Jackson said. But when agents checked FBI files that night they found no prior involvement with Turner, who hasn't been implicated in the Waltz probe.
"However, there was at least one case involving then-Senator Ford,'' Jackson said. He didn't explain what the case was.
The agent also said the Waltz case nearly spun apart after Ford allegedly threatened an FBI informant in February 2005.
"He was very scared. We almost shut down the operation,'' Jackson testified.
Well, if I didn't already know Ford was a Democra#, I would have there. Typical fawning MScuM, you know?
Of course they evenually mention that he is a Democra# -- well over half way through the story. Now, if it was a Republican, the HEADLINE would say "REPUBLICAN CULTURE OF CORRUPTION!" And instead of being a "seasoned showman," he'd be an "experienced pervaricator."
THE Republican caught in TN Waltz was Chris Newton. He admitted “What I did was wrong there’s no doubt about that,” while pleading guilty, without having a plea deal. He has already completed his sentence, while the Dems are still claiming that they were set-up, etc. John Ford’s trial was delayed until after the `06 election to avoid damaging the Senate hopes of his nephew, Harold Ford, Jr.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.