-Caveat Lector-
NYPOST EXCLUSIVE
FEDS: WE CAN BURN 'TORCH'
By BRIAN BLOMQUIST
May 27, 2001
EXCLUSIVE
WASHINGTON - Federal investigators believe they have enough evidence
to
indict Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) for allegedly taking illegal
gifts and lying
about it - and could charge him soon, sources told The Post.
Torricelli, known on Capitol Hill as "the Torch", is "the most corrupt
politician in America. We're going to indict him soon," one Justice
Department investigator told an associate, according to a source.
The feds could charge Torricelli by summer's end to try to beat the
five-year statute of limitations on allegations that Torricelli took
an
$8,100 Rolex watch from New Jersey businessman David Chang in November
1996 and money for a Mercedes in August 1996.
The probe could take longer if Torricelli agrees to waive the statute
of
limitations, but that seems unlikely since the feds and the senator
are
at war and negotiations between the two sides are nonexistent -
despite
Torricelli's recent order that his lawyers open a "dialogue" with
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White.
Two lawyers recently hired by Torricelli are known for their
scorched-earth defense tactics - Ted Wells defended Bill Clinton's
Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy on illegal-gifts charges by winning at
trial, and Mark Pomerantz ran White's own criminal division.
Sources say Torricelli still hasn't been told he's a criminal target.
Such a letter usually - but not always - precedes an indictment.
Torricelli is under investigation for a variety of possible crimes,
the
most serious being that he allegedly took thousands in unreported
gifts
from Chang in exchange for helping his former friend and fund-raiser
pocket millions of dollars in two business deals in Korea.
That Torricelli tried to help Chang is undisputed. He wrote to the
North Korean United Nations ambassador on behalf of Chang in one case
and traveled with Chang to South Korea to put pressure on officials in
a
second case, prompting U.S. diplomats to apologize to the South
Koreans
for the senator's behavior.
Earlier this spring, the feds searched Torricelli's home in Englewood
looking for the alleged gifts from Chang. The search appears to have
been done with Torricelli's consent - given that his lawyer, Wells,
was
present - and it's unclear what turned up.
White's office refused to comment on the case.
Chang, who pleaded guilty to giving the senator $53,700 in illegal
contributions in the 1996 campaign, has told the feds he was basically
Torricelli's personal money man for the past five years.
Chang claims he handed Torricelli envelopes stuffed with thousands in
cash, bought him 10 Italian suits, a big-screen TV, cufflinks from
Tiffany's, and $600 earrings for then-girlfriend Judy Balaban, a
former
fashion model.
Chang also put down several thousand dollars on a Mercedes, but
Torricelli said he put a stop to Chang's attempt to buy the car for
him
when he found out about it from the dealer, and Torricelli paid for
the
car himself.
Each bribery conviction carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison
and disqualification from serving in public office.
Torricelli has repeatedly claimed he didn't break any laws.
But his defense that he took "no illegal gifts" from Chang could be
seen
as a toehold onto a strategy that Chang was his "personal friend" and
therefore not covered by the strict rules that apply to senators
accepting gifts.
But even if he claimed Chang was a "personal friend," the rules state
that Torricelli would have been required to get permission from the
Senate Ethics Committee to take a gift worth more than $250 - and
still
would have had to report it.
Torricelli didn't record gifts from Chang on the personal
financial-disclosure statements he signed and filed with the Senate.
Lying on the forms carries a penalty of five years in jail under the
federal "false statements" law.
Further complicating that defense, Torricelli and his lawyers have
blasted Chang as a "pathological liar" with zero credibility.
But the probe, involving dozens of investigators and prosecutors out
of
New Jersey and the Justice Department's public-integrity section, has
only intensified and expanded.
The feds recently seized records from the Bergen County Democratic
Party
to determine whether it essentially was used by Torricelli as a slush
fund in the 1996 campaign - taking money from contributors who were
maxed out and couldn't give any more directly to Torricelli, and in
turn
paying Torricelli's campaign expenses.
Besides Chang, others have said they funneled money to Torricelli
through conduits.
Just last week, New Jersey trucking company owner Joseph Supor told
The
Star-Ledger of Newark that he reimbursed seven employees who wrote
$1,000 checks to Torricelli - after Torricelli pressured him to come
up with
more money for his campaign.
Torricelli is famous for his quick-witted intellect, big ego, hot-head
temper, and his assorted high-profile girlfriends, including Patricia
Duff, ex-wife of Revlon chief Ron Perelman, and Bianca Jagger, ex-wife
of Mick.
On Capitol Hill, some senators have discreetly avoided Torricelli, and
most aides believe he'll be indicted.
Most observers also believe the feisty senator will fight any
indictment, as the Torch himself put it, "with every ounce of strength
in my body."
=======================================================
Kadosh, Kadosh, Kadosh, YHVH, TZEVAOT
FROM THE DESK OF:
*Michael Spitzer* <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
The Best Way To Destroy Enemies Is To Change Them To Friends
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