(Former Dem PA State Senator Vincent ) Fumo Claims He Was Targeted By Bush Administration

[sabra]

Source: AP

PHILADELPHIA (AP) ―

A former Democratic state lawmaker fighting corruption charges told jurors he destroyed computer files because he feared partisan investigations by the Bush-era Justice Department.

Ex-Sen. Vincent Fumo endured a fifth day on the witness stand in his federal fraud and obstruction case, and will return Wednesday for a sixth, and perhaps final, day.

A federal prosecutor grilled Fumo about e-mails that suggest the senator ordered his staff to destroy old e-mails even though he knew the FBI was investigating a $17 million gift from a utility company to a Fumo-linked charity.

Fumo said he had implemented the e-mail security policy—which also wiped clean a state server where backup copies were stored— because of concerns about Justice Department surveillance.

"They were going after Democrats all over the country," Fumo testified. "I was a target because I was the most prominent Democrat in Pennsylvania."

He added, without elaborating: "We're talking about Karl Rove here, we're talking about Alberto Gonzales, who specifically asked about me at the White House."

Read more: http://cbs3.com/local/vincent.fumo.former.2.937678.html

[MNDemNY]

1. This guy is nothing but a wanker.

[rudy23]

2. But let's just "move forward" and I'm sure this will never happen again.

:sarcasm:

[annabanana]

3. Umm.. If he was "the most prominent Democrat in Pennsylvania" . .

How come I never heard of him?

I will need to see more if I'm going to jump on his bandwagon.

[Demit]

6. Because you don't live here & don't read Pennsy newspapers every day?

He's been a force here for 30 years. He's a godfather type—power broker, loves to make deals, loves to rig things so that he's pulling the strings in all directions. Brings home the bacon, but always makes sure to keep a little for himself.

Don't bother jumping on his bandwagon. He's going down. And he did it all to himself.

[uberblonde]

7. Just because he's a crook doesn't mean he's wrong.

In the last eight years, the DOJ only targeted prominent Democrats in NE cities. (Notice they never found any corruption at all in NYC? Right.)

Fumo is corrupt, no question. But US Attorney Pat Meehan (who, as Delaware County D.A., never noticed any corruption at all in the GOP-controlled cesspool), the man who indicted him, recently resigned to explore a run for governor. Coincidence? Nah.

We could have an interesting discussion about singling out one group of corrupt politicians and ignoring another....

[Demit]

10. I have been watching Fumo for 30 years. He's wrong in every sense of the word.

He has been running his game for a long time. This is Philadelphia, remember? The "corrupt but contented" place.

Your discussion might be more interesting to you if you look up Fumo's history of being a player. Long before there was a Pat Meehan.

Fumo is playing one of the last angles he's got, the "poor me, they're targeting me because I'm a Democrat" angle. This trial's been going on for a month. I suggest you start there with your research, then work your way back 30 years.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. I agree with Demit

Fumo has pretty much admitted to being guilty and has become more and more of a "drama queen" with the excuses. He lived fat and happy - houses at the Jersey shore and on the Florida coast and even a big farm (complete with a bulldozer <--- this was insane) in Central PA. I mean it's been literal day after day of unbelievable stuff that this guy has accumulated and done over the decades.

[wroberts189]

4. Whether you believe him or not he has a good point - The AG was politicized

And this sounds a lot like the Seigalman case.

How can you trust justice when justice itself has been corrupted?

[Barack_America]

5. Oh great, another Blago.

Complete with hyper-inflated self-importance and conspiracy theories.

Waiting for him to compare himself to Ghandi and Mother Theresa.

:eyes:

[midnight]

8. I wonder why Karl and Alberto were interested in this guy?

[BumRushDaShow]

9. Fumo is one of the last of the old-school politicians

This man's trial has literally been a many months-long soap opera! Houses, boats, women, junkets, staff handling his personal business, people hired to tail former lovers - all on the tax payer's dime. But he brought the bacon home for his district. Ironically, Fumo was the replacement for another crook "Buddy" Cianfrani, who himself took a detour to jail.

Blago's stuff was nothing compared to this guy because Fumo was deep in politics back when Blago was a kid. You couldn't make this stuff up. Literally every day, there is some new unbelievable outrage that comes out at Fumo's trial. As I drive home from work every day, I hear the news reports with the audio excerpts from the trial and all I can think is OMG this is a friggin' soap opera - it keeps getting more and more outrageous.

I am waiting for a movie-of-the-week version when it is all over - IF it ever ends! :popcorn:

[HopeHoops]

12. Oh Bullshit with a capital "T"! I've followed this story since it came out - he's a crook. Ptthhhh

THAT SAID, I'm quite certain the Bush administration used any and every means at their disposal to target (and/or hit) opponents, but Fumo is simply a crook and of no significance that would register him for abuse. His damage is self-inflicted.

[MrSlayer]

13. The "Vince of Darkness" is going down hard.

Fumo might be the most corrupt politician ever. He's a crook through and through and if Bush was actually going after him it might be the one justified target they had in their entire administration. Fumo is not a good guy, never was and he will finally pay for his crimes.