The June 22 public corruption trial of former Dallas City Council member Don Hill, state Rep. Terri Hodge and others promises to be the biggest political spectacle this city has seen in recent years.
The witness list includes such politicos as former Mayor Laura Miller, former San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, City Manager Mary Suhm, U.S. Rep. Eddie Bernice Johnson and many others.
With everything else, the trial should bring into focus the ways deals were cut at City Hall and whether they were legal or illegal.
Lawyers involved expect the trial to last for months.
Rep. Hodge steadfastly maintains her innocence, but she has never publicly explained away seemingly strong evidence that she received free rent for many years from a developer for whom she allegedly did favors in an official capacity. (See details in the indictment, a 166-page pdf file, beginning on p. 26 of the pdf.)
This summer's trial will either finally give Hodge a chance to respond publicly and clear her name once and for all, or sink her political career for good and maybe send her to prison. I wish her luck, but mostly I hope she didn't do what she's been accused of by the US Attorney and a federal grand jury.
MORE: From Kuff.
Guilty. Again passed legislation that helps crooks get out of prison early. Veto.
ReplyDeleteAnd this is one of the people in Austin making and passing laws!?!
ReplyDeleteThe question now is how many others were involved....
and as to letting crooks get out of jail early.. what bill do you speak of?
I hope the court shows her the same level of respect she shows people who dare testify before her in the legislature.
ReplyDeleteHB 93. Dead.
ReplyDeleteWhat's your source for saying HB 93 is "dead," 6:55? Perhaps the same instinct that has you declare someone "guilty" without a trial? Sayin' it don't make it so.
ReplyDeleteIn reality, HB 93 is not dead. It passed the Lege, had a GOP sponsor in the Senate, and neither the Governor nor his people have said a word about it. It's main purpose is not to "help crooks get out of prison early," since we no longer have mandatory parole when good time and time served equals the sentence, but in fact is about giving prison staff more disciplinary tools for managing inmate behavior. That's why it had bipartisan support, but it's easy to ignore issues like guard safety when you're only interest is smearing your enemies and spreading misrepresentations. Stop trolling and get a life.
HB 93. Dead. If I am wrong, I will stop posting here.
ReplyDeleteWhat has our country come to when the federal government goes after legitimate businessmen/women who help the poor with housing and have to do it in such a way as by dealing with a corrupt government system. Federal government loans for housing to people who couldn’t pay them back is what brought us into the economic crises our country faces today.
ReplyDeleteShould we persecute everyone who worked in that business, everyone who dealt in section 8 housing, everyone who helped people get into decent housing and out of the 50’s era slums, who played by the actual rules on the ground of the game? It’s common knowledge that this is how doing business with the government is done. Why should these developers be punished for something as natural as the sun coming up in the east? Have I missed something in this indictment against these heroes of philanthropy who are forced to work within the bureaucracy of the government officials and politicians?
Look at tyc, talk about a corrupt agency that’s been chastised by the federal government on many occasions for corrupt practices and it’s still in bad shape and still doing business as usual. And cps, tdcj, and the list goes on and on and on…
I would be willing to bet at the root of this expense to the American tax payers there is some petty person who got their feelings hurt and is out for some sort of revenge.
Sheldon
I was one of the poor soles who had to testify before her. If she would get rid of the higher-than-thee attitude and concentrate on her own moral behavior maybe she would not be in this situation.
ReplyDelete