Aghast at the river of sleaze oozing out of the Earle Cabell Federal Building in the past two months, reformers on the Dallas City Council have called for a system of registration for local lobbyists. Great idea. Much of the testimony in the Dallas City Hall corruption trial in federal…
Five Dallas City Council members want the city to think about requiring people to register as lobbyists if they get paid to influence the council. The ongoing Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial has brought a series of revelations about so-called consultants — a broad term apparently meaning anybody who…
This morning at the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial at the Earle Cabell, we are getting insight into the involvement of Ann Lott, former CEO of the Dallas Housing Authority, in this whole sorry mess. I’m not sure where we’re headed. But so far, an hour into it, let…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Found this Josh Hamilton interview from Rangers’ spring training. March 18, 2009 to be exact. In other words, about two months – give or take – after his full-throttle, alcohol-laden night with half-naked…
Today at the Dallas City Hall federal corruption trial at the Earle Cabell, defendant John Lewis, who has pleaded guilty and is testifying for the government, is being cross-examined by the defense. Lewis says he was part of a plot to buy votes from former Dallas Mayor Pro Tem Don…
Right about now, I’m flippin’. This has got to be one of the last time-windows for co-defendants to flip in the 2-month-old Dallas City Hall corruption trial in federal court. If I were any one of them, with the possible exception of former city council member Don Hill, I think…
Dear Mexican: My family hasn’t been long in this country, came here because of lousy treatment by other Europeans, and didn’t live close enough to the southern U.S. border to have exposure to Mexico or Mexicans. So, anyone looking down on Mexicans can be mysterious to many of us who…
Big news. Doug Greene has just revealed the core strategy of the defense in the federal Dallas City Hall corruption trial.Entrapment.He has also just been administered a smart spanking from the judge for wasting her time.I missed this morning’s proceedings in federal district court. I kept up, though, via Jennifer…
As Unfair Park has dutifully informed you, The Trinity Trust this week debuted an advertising campaign for the Calatrava signature bridge “under construction” (or not) on the Trinity River, called “Suspense is Building.” Oh, yeah?The purpose is to convey the impression that all is well with the bridge project and…
Civic duty!…
Victor Vital, attorney for Sheila Farrington, began the morning’s proceedings in the federal Dallas City Hall corruption trial by asking affordable housing developer Bill Fisher several questions about whether he hoped the jury in this case would render a “just and merciful” verdict. Finally the judge told him to move…
Today’s testimony from Bill Fisher, the government’s wire-wearing witness in the City Hall corruption trial in federal court, brings us an even more explicit bribery-extortion scenario than we have seen before in this two-months-old trial.Fisher is alleging a series of events that followed a meeting with hair-care magnate Comer Cottrell…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Lots of you asking for a breakdown of the latest Arbitron PPM radio ratings for July. Not worth a separate item these days because – yawn – The Ticket’s dynasty just…
No, no, no. You got me all wrong. Am I skeptical? Cynical? Inquisitive? Smart-assy? Guilty. But bitter? Hardly. I consider myself more tell-it-like-it-is realistic rather than jump-off-the-high-five negative. I don’t think the Rangers will make the playoffs. I think Josh Hamilton should’ve come clean before he was caught. And I absolutely despise…
There’s a point I want to make about the Dallas City Hall corruption/bribery trial going on now in federal court. It’s simple. The trial probably seems impossibly complicated—14 defendants, lots of lingo, events scattered over several years. But look. It’s not, not if you put yourself in the position. Let’s…
Dear Readers: We begin, as we do each week, with cojones, although the huevos in question deal with my column a couple of semanas ago on why gabachos prefer the former term for testicles as opposed to the latter. I gave a rough etymology of the two (cojones comes from…
I realize we are a society of cheaters: Steroids and corked bats in baseball. Spying in the NFL. Fudging our taxes. Speeding. Rosie Ruiz in the Boston Marathon. Foot wedges in golf. NASCAR crew chiefs altering specifications. Ponzi schemes. Our spouses. I get it. Cut a corner here or tell…
Victor Vital, Sheila Farrington Hill’s attorney, is cross examining Allen McGill, Darren Reagan’s partner in the Black State Employees Association of Texas (BSEAT), which prosecutors have characterized as a fake union and extortion scam. McGill, a defendant in the City Hall corruption case, has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with…
Whether you’re at the end of your rope or merely the end of your week, welcome to Whitt’s End: *Sunday is the NFL’s annual Hall of Fame Game in Canton, Ohio. More importantly, it’s the induction of my first Dallas Cowboys hero – Bob Hayes. I’ll be watching. For one…
Today’s proceedings at the City Hall federal corruption trial opened with a determined attempt by the Dallas city attorney, once again, to bar witnesses from talking about anything that may have happened in a closed “executive” session of the Dallas city council. Basically, Judge Barbara Lynn told the city’s lawyer…
Laura Miller has begun testifying in the federal City Hall corruption trial, giving the jury her history in politics. She’s poised, of course. Prosecutor Sarah Saldana began by addressing her as “Ms. Miller,” then caught herself and asked, “Is that how you address a former mayor?”Miller smiled and said, “Yes…
Believe it or not—and I’m actually trying to talk myself into it—there may be a way to look at this terribly depressing City Hall corruption trial now under way in federal court and come away feeling optimistic. And I’m not talking about watching the trial while drunk. There’s sort of…
