By Klaus Rohrich
Thursday, January 11, 2007
This week the media had a heyday, gleefully reporting that additional charges were filed against Conrad Black in U.S. Federal Court in Chicago relating to his business dealings. This new set of charges allege that Lord Black manipulated Hollinger stock in an effort to keep speculators from short-selling Hollinger issues, a practice that while it is legal, can be devastating to a company's value. The charges also claim that Mr. Black attempted to ramp his shares on line.
Public reaction to the new charges is a nearly universal condemnation of Mr. Black, despite the fact that he has not actually ever been convicted of any crime. On several talk radio call-in programs the vast majority of callers referred to Mr. Black as a "criminal" or "dirtbag". To their credit, the hosts of the programs reminded callers that Lord Black has yet to stand trial and pointed out that the information that convinced them of Mr. Black's guilt actually came from the media.
I cannot comment on Lord Black's guilt or innocence, as I have no first-hand knowledge as to what actually transpired. That's for a jury to decide at the upcoming trial.
What I can comment on is prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald's blatant use of public relations to bolster what appears to be a weak case and the media's ready acquiescence in making Fitzgerald's claims known. The filing of these additional charges against Lord Black is what is referred to in the legal profession as "piling on". It's a practice usually employed by unscrupulous prosecutors who know their evidence isn't exactly rock-hard. So they lay on scads of additional charges to complicate the case and encourage conviction through a plea-bargain.
While Fitzpatrick claims to be "non-partisan" in his legal dealings, his track record belies any claim to impartiality. Fitzgerald is relentless in pursuing corruption, so long as the corruption he pursues is among Republicans and/or conservatives. During his tenure as U.S Attorney for Northern Illinois, Fitzpatrick prosecuted over 60 Republicans and only two Democrats. This is also the same Mr. Fitzpatrick, by the way, who charged Vice President Dick Cheney's Chief of Staff, Scooter Libby, with perjury after a three year witch hunt, during which time Fitzgerald knew perfectly well who made Valerie Plame's identity public.
Fitzgerald is prosecuting Mr. Black under provisions of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, one of the Bush Administration's less than Constitutional statutes, which allows the government to go after any and all corporate executives if the prosecution can convince a grand jury that the executive intended to bilk investors. Given the level of class envy that currently runs rampant in North American society, that's not an overwhelming task. The case is compounded by the fact that the initial complaint came from a minority shareholder, Tweedy Brown LLC, who some believe brought about the complaint as a precursor to a hostile takeover of Hollinger International.
Since the indictments against Lord Black and several other Hollinger executives were filed, Hollinger International has been virtually gutted by the carrion-eaters currently fighting over the Hollinger carcass. Hollinger's new board of directors has so far spent over $100 million in legal fees in efforts at recovering $84 million it claims that Mr. Black wasn't entitled to.
But that isn't the worst of it. Mr. Black's corporate empire and his reputation have been totally destroyed, his personal properties are being sold off through court-ordered auctions and his personal possessions have been confiscated without Mr. Black having been convicted of any crime. In the words of Washington DC lawyer, Alykhan Velshi
"The trial by attrition of Conrad Black has exposed the dark underbelly of the legal system, where the government can ruin a man, take his property, his means of livelihood, and make him a social pariah- all without the hassle of securing a conviction. There is an insidious little worm that has crept into the legal system, an iconoclastic mentality that is distorting the rule of law. Focused less on securing justice than on bringing down the high and mighty, all the while pandering to the politics of envy, it affects the entire system of corporate governance."
What Mr. Velshi is really saying is that if the government can do as it pleases with any one of us, it can do what it pleases with all of us. It would be in our own self-interest to consider Conrad Black innocent until such time as is proven otherwise.
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