He has not sold his office. BS! Those crimes where to old for the feds to prosecute him on. His slogan was "We get sh_t done." It should of read "We get Sh_t done for $10,000."
I've really appreciated the Ink doing a live blog of this trial. There were trolls for Fumo, but there was enough space for the little guy also to come on line and say, hey, Philly Democrats, are you Rhianna? Get a life! Don't go back, you idiots!
Fumo didn't just sell his office, and participate in theft of and conspiracy to commit theft of public services, and other high crimes and misdemeanors. He sold his affections. Women cost money, but men made money for Fumo. Fumo's secret man love and contributor is the kind of lurid downplay of the normally PC Dems in this town that shows how deep the denial of the dirt is. Fumo would take all comers if there was a dollar to be made. There are more scrupulous ladies of the evening.
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Is Mr Cogan delivering a defense for Fumo,or presenting his argument for his sainthood? Someone should tell him he's not at the Vatican.
term limits. vote all incrumbents out
Gotta have term limits. Look at the GOP afraid of bloated Rush Limbaugh and his statement that he hopes O'Bama fails.
Fumo is a lawyer and knows what he did is wrong. To commit a crime you need "mens rea" criminal intent and "actus rea" which means an act. Just remember that equine faced mensa member laughing when the bill came as he was using other people's money "OPM." Intent and act = GUILTY.
"A person who in good faith honestly believes that what he is doing is not wrongful" is not guilty." . . . oh is life were only this simple.
Is this a nomination speech for President of the U.S.? Fumo was out to get ALL he could at others expense. He did everything and more. It's amazing Cogan never mentioned ANY of these points during the trial but now that no one can object to his fantasyland closing remarks, he is reciting a speech written by Fumo!
cogan asks "what was he thinking" i'll tell you what he was thinking, how fast can iget my hands on that 17mill. no cover=up bull!! mr.mensa thought he could out smart the feds. i wonder who took the mensa test for him certainly not ruth arno.
Fumo would never accept normal accounting standards, much less the law governing elected officials' use of contributions, what constitutes a gift, or the reality that shake downs kill the interest of good businesses coming into Philly to provide jobs. No wonder the locals feel the "government" must provide all the jobs -- the local economy is that blighted by the expectation of pay to play, of old-time graft. Philly's Fumo belongs in film noir.
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Vince and Cogan don't seem to be on the same page. Vince says "I'm an enormously sophisticated person who's moving so fast and so effectively, that the little guy can neither see nor comprehend my ninja-like ability to serve the public." Cogan is saying that Vince is unable to comprehend the dictates of normal office policy in a climate of legal requirements to preserve or answer to inquiry associated with public office, or any office, and relied upon continuous but conflicting instruction which is clear to the rest of the world, but a hopeless muddle in Fumo world. Which is it?
Fumo criticized the good government advocates who cried foul over Fumo's requirements for huge contributions to the closed Citizen's Alliance charity for his reversal of seeming whimsical opposition to things that benefited the area, like Ikea. Fumo called those good government advocates "naive" in his newsletter explaining first his total opposition, then his total support of PECO and Ikea doing work in South Philly. No matter how hard you tried, you couldn't shake Fumo's assertion that it was "naive" to "squander" an opportunity to get a business to "show" how committed it was to "doing business." Until Harrisburg breaks this with real legislation with teeth, the FBI will still have a lot of work do to here. In honor of Fumo, the bill should be named after him.
I don't know every detail about Sen.Fumo but what I do know is that Philadelphia is a better place because of him. No one realizes how much he has done for his city..my city..my home. It is very sad when I read the paper and the negative comments posted on this site. He was not just a Senator..he was a great Senator who provided all that he could for his city...and people forget that. I'm not saying he is right or wrong, all I'm saying is that people should sit and think about all the great things he has done for Philadelphia instead of just immediately turning their backs on him. His job as a Senator was to make Philadelphia a better place. However, he far exceeded that role. He made his job his life..providing as much as he could for Philadelphia..he went above and beyond what his job required..and I hope people read this and remember that.
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About Inquirer Breaking News
Live from the courtroom, the Inquirer is blogging the federal corruption trial of State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo and his longtime friend and associate Ruth Arnao.
Highlights of testimony, rulings and the courtroom scene will be posted here regularly. Fumo, a Democratic state senator since 1978, is accused in a 139-count indictment of conspiring to defraud the Senate, a South Philadelphia nonprofit, and the Independence Seaport Museum; obstruction of justice; and tax violations. The fraudulent activity totaled $3.5 million, prosecutors allege.
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