No One Seems Terribly Interested in Confirming or Denying Feds' Search at Parkland Wednesday

Part of what we do in the reporting biz is look for the anomalous response. I emailed Parkland Hospital earlier this afternoon asking about information I received that the FBI showed up there last night with search warrants related to the Commissioner John Wiley Price investigation.Candace White of the Parkland...

By Jim Schutze

July 7, 2011

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Part of what we do in the reporting biz is look for the anomalous response. I emailed Parkland Hospital earlier this afternoon asking about information I received that the FBI showed up there last night with search warrants related to the Commissioner John Wiley Price investigation.

Candace White of the Parkland PR staff just emailed me back: "Because of the nature and importance of FBI inquiries, we would not be at liberty to disclose the existence or nonexistence of such an inquiry." I emailed her: "As important as they may be, it's easy to deny them if they have not happened. I must take this email as your decision not to deny."

I also attempted to confirm through FBI spokesperson Beverly Esselbach, who just told me, "I can't confirm or deny it right now. You can read that as you will."

The feds, of course, are looking at several people and businesses related to Dallas County-run Parkland, among them lobbyist Willis Johnson, who has multiple contracts related to the construction of the new hospital, among other things.

Me, I smell smoke.

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Jim Schutze has been the city columnist for the Dallas Observer since 1998. He has been a recipient of the Association of Alternative Newsweeklies’ national award for best commentary and Lincoln University’s national Unity Award for writing on civil rights and racial issues. In 2011 he was admitted to the Texas Institute of Letters.

Contact: Jim Schutze