Categories: Courtroom Buzz
      Date: January 29, 2009
     Title: Vince's Former Counsel Breaks Down on Witness Stand

A live report from the Vince Fumo political corruption trial

By Ralph Cipriano


Vince Fumo's former chief legislative counsel broke down in tears on the witness stand today while being cross-examined about his reluctance to disclose Fumo's lucrative side deal with PECO that ultimately cost the utility $17 million.

Christopher Craig acknowledged to prosecutor John Pease that he had deliberately avoided telling representatives of Enron Corp. the truth about a side deal Fumo had struck with PECO that resulted in the utility donating $17 million to Fumo's favorite charity, the Citizens Alliance for Better Governments. As if lying to Enron was a crime.

"I did not want to give it to them, that was correct," Craig told Pease. Craig said he knew that if he released the information to Enron about Fumo's side deal with PECO, the information would have been fed to the Philadelphia Inquirer, where reporters were hot on Fumo's trail. And all of the work Craig had put into the PECO negotiations would have been lost in the political fallout over the $17 million donation.

"I was upset that the Inquirer was taking years of my work and crapping all over it," Craig told the prosecutor with a red face and teary eyes. Craig said Fumo's "passion was about utility rate hikes," and how to stop them, and not about how to extract money from PECO. Craig previously has spoke glowingly about how effective he and the former state senator had been in hearings before the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, when they secured rate reductions from PECO on behalf of every energy customer in the state. So why give up the store to Enron?

"To this day, I see nothing wrong with what I did," Craig told the prosecutor, his voice breaking.

Craig covered his face with a document, so the jury could not see him. He then turned his back on the jury while he attempted to compose himself. Judge Ronald L. Buckwalter called a lunch recess. As the jury filed out of the courtroom, Craig was still facing the back wall of the courtroom.
 
Defense lawyers Dennis Cogan and Edwin Jacobs rushed over to comfort Craig, as did Fumo. The former state senator, who has known Craig since he was a college student, draped an arm around him.

"I'm fine, I'm fine," Craig kept telling his comforters. "I've got a grip."

The defense lawyers seemed surprised by the breakdown of the lawyer who had previously testified that he was a political junkie who followed politics with a passion others reserve for football or baseball. "There's no crying in baseball," Cogan was overhead saying in the defense huddle.

Later, after lunch when he was more composed, Craig told Cogan on re-direct that representatives from Enron had written to him, asking to divulge any side deals Fumo had struck with PECO, including any "legally enforceable contracts." That phrase was the key for Craig.

The lawyer explained that Fumo's side deal with PECO had been struck in a hallway in a private conversation between the state senator and a PECO executive. There were no witnesses. It was strictly a "he-said, she-said deal," Craig explained, that would never stand up in court.

"Any good attorney confronted with an interrogatory he doesn't want to answer," Craig explained, will end up "dodging the question." And that's just what he did, Craig testified.

Earlier, prosecutor Pease had displayed an email in court where Craig was reporting the press was on the boss's tail. In the email, Craig reported how Inquirer reporter Craig McCoy was asking utility lawyers a lot of nosy questions about Fumo's dealings with utilities.

"Clearly someone is feeding this shit to the Inquirer," Craig wrote in his email. Craig explained in the email to his boss that he was "blocking the paper trail." In another email displayed by Pease, Fumo wrote that he didn't really need to give the newspaper any further information that its reporters could turn into more "bullshit," to aid them "on their next Pulitzer quest."

After Craig broke down on the stand, prosecutor Pease clearly shifted tactics, apparently not wanting to be perceived by the jury as a bully. Pease's questions after lunch were more gentle and low key, and the prosecutor went out of his way to compliment Craig on his accomplishments as Fumo's legislative counsel, especially with his work with utilities.

Craig had previously told jurors how much he had dedicated himself to Fumo's effort to stand up to utilities such as PECO and Verizon. "Bell Atlantic was my white whale," the lawyer told defense lawyer Cogan.

Craig also testified that while working for Fumo, he had always followed an office policy to keep the senator's often profane messages confidential. "I was always told when done with the (Fumo) email, to delete it and purge it," Craig told Cogan.

Craig was testifying for the defense, which contends that Fumo's office always had a policy of deleting the state senator's emails. In contrast, the government has accused Fumo in a 139-count indictment of orchestrating a coverup that attempted to obstruct an FBI investigation by systematically destroying evidence.

On a lighter note, the defendant looked healthier and engaged in light bantering with the press today. The former state senator's color has noticably improved since he turned white and suffered shortness of breath and an anxiety attack in the courtroom last week, and had to be rushed to a hospital by ambulance.

"I'm feeling better," Fumo told reporters. "They changed my medication." Fumo said he has to take "so much shit," clearly referring to prescription medicine, that he also tries to drink plenty of water.

"I recommend scotch," one reporter cracked to Fumo. The former state senator, however, said that with all the medication he has to take, drinking isn't much fun. After a couple of drinks, the senator told reporters, he gets giddy and then he just nods out.