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Celebrated trial
lawyer Geoffrey Fieger and his legal cronies have done
everything possible to turn a serious criminal investigation of
potential campaign-finance abuses into a soap opera.
It's enough to make
you suspect they hope to divert the public's attention from what
could be a serious abuse of the democratic process.
But let's not cast
stones.
Instead, let's get
back to the facts.
In the final days of
the 2004 election campaign, a mysterious group called Citizens
for Judicial Reform led by a mysterious treasurer named Herb
Charbonneau launched a last-minute smear campaign against state
Supreme Court Justice Stephen Markman.
This wasn't a
nickel-and-dime operation.
These allegedly
concerned citizens spent nearly $500,000 on TV and radio ads
telling the rest of us to "Vote No" on Markman's re-election --
not exactly small potatoes.
Some of us, however,
smelled a rat.
As a veteran of
dozens of hard-hitting campaigns in Michigan, I know that
last-minute attacks are part of the business. I know that many
of these attacks are conducted by groups with virtuous-sounding
names cooked up to hide the true identity of the attackers.
But I also know you
have to follow the law, even when you're playing hardball.
A casual inquiry
revealed that this anti-Markman organization didn't really
exist, even on paper. Its underwriters had never bothered to
register the group with the Michigan Secretary of State, which
is required by law. A closer look revealed that its treasurer
was a ghost.
Enter Geoffrey Fieger,
who eventually admitted that this group was his baby, right down
to its nonexistent treasurer.
By his own admission,
it was Fieger, or Fieger's law firm, not a group of concerned
citizens who spent a half million dollars for the sole purpose
of defeating the judge.
Sleazy, yes. But
illegal? Let's look at the law.
Under Michigan's
campaign-finance laws, Geoffrey Fieger could have emptied his
considerable personal bank account to fund these ads.
But it is illegal to
use corporate money, including funds from the Fieger, Fieger,
Kenney and Johnson P.C. Law Firm, to advocate the express
election or defeat of a candidate for office.
Were corporate funds
used illegally to push for Justice Markman's defeat?
That's one of the
issues the Secretary of State's Office asked the Michigan
Attorney General's Office to find out.
Yet the closer the
AG's office has gotten to the truth, the harder Fieger -- and
his lawyers -- have fought to impede the investigation. He has
filed several lawsuits, including attempts to block
investigators from executing legitimate subpoenas and search
warrants. He's even called on Attorney General Mike Cox to
resign.
One could almost come
to the conclusion that he has something to hide.
Fortunately, a
Michigan judge last week lifted a Fieger-requested stay on the
inquiry. As a result, investigators finally will be able to look
at accounting records and interview employees at Fieger's law
firm to find out exactly what happened.
But now a Fieger
attorney, Richard Steinberg, is arguing that it doesn't matter
whether Fieger obeyed Michigan law because he's just standing up
for his First Amendment rights.
Sorry, but wrapping
Fieger in the Constitution just won't wash.
There is no
constitutional right to flout state campaign laws by shoveling
corporate funds into illegal attack ads.
Besides, once the
investigation is concluded, all the facts are in and any
criminal charges are filed, Fieger and his legal team will have
ample opportunity to challenge the constitutionality of
Michigan's campaign laws.
Until then, Fieger
and his gang ought to stand aside and let the investigation run
its course.
Geoffrey Fieger has
spent years proving to Michigan voters that he holds himself
exempt from any ordinary standards of common decency.
Now he wants us to
believe that he's above the law as well.
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