FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

I just received this comment from award winning investigative reporter Larry Shook of Camas Magazine & Girl from Hot Springs – The True Story of a Political Innocent in a City of Secrets (The Tragic Death of Jo Savage in the infamous RPS Parking Garage & Related RPS Bond Fraud in a book soon to be published).  I have edited this slightly to remove private email addresses.

Mr. Shook also refers to a letter I just sent to WA Ast. AG Scott A. Marlow who reviewed the material on behalf of the AG Office submitted to their office by Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker in the death of Jo Savage in the RPS Parking Garage owned by the Cowles Co.

Both former Sheriff Tony Bamonte of Pend Oreille Co, WA of Breaking Blue fame and I, both career law enforcement professionals, believe that there was extraordinary evidence to file charges of First Degree Manslaughter against the owners of the parking garage re the tragic and preventable death of Jo Savage. Sheriff Bamonte and I also believe that the evidence proves that Jo Savage died as the direct result of this public corruption [Emphasis added][See further note below]

(Left) Spokesman-Review archive photo circa 1991 showing a RPS Parking Garage vehicle barrier that failed in similar fashion as the one that broke in 2006 causing Jo Savage to fall – screaming all the way to her horrible death on April 8, 2006.  (Center) Savage’s vehicle as it came to rest on the garage ramp apron.  (Right) Spandrel that failed causing Savage’s death

As I said in my letter to Mr. Marlow I discovered in the Attorney General’s case file via a public document request (PDR) explosive letters by the former husband of Jo Savage, David Savage, a prominent personal injury attorney and former president of the Washington State Bar Association, Rob Rembert’s letter to Tucker (Rembert of the Savage’s law firm handled the $1.6M successful wrongful death action against the Cowles Co) and Sally Savage’s email  (David Savage’s current wife) a former Senior Assistant WA Attorney General to her former Attorney General colleagues on behalf of the Savage family.

As David Savage wrote in his letter of 03-19-09 to Attorney General Rob McKenna:

. . . it is important, however, that all those responsible for this matter understand I firmly believe the information placed in Mr. Tucker’s hands, and now yours [WA AG McKenna](which includes the fruits of my work, the work of the United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and a Grand Jury), clearly describes culpable criminal conduct [Emphasis added].  The owners of the garage knew for years prior to Jo’s death of the very structural infirmity that resulted in it.  Nevertheless, they chose not to correct the problem.

From Rob Rembert’s letter to Tucker of 09-17-08:

. . . I write to offer assistance from our files which support the settlement we achieved on the claims of one million six hundred and ten thousand dollars ($1,610,000.00) with the insurers for the Cowles.  Based upon our investigation, it is clear that the owners of the parking garage had longstanding and detailed knowledge that the spandrels were likely to fail as the result of foreseeable vehicular contact.  Despite this knowledge, the owners took no corrective action notwithstanding the fact that several engineers recommended it well prior to Ms. Savage’s death. . . . [Emphasis added]

Given these facts, I trust you can understand why we feel strongly that this matter warrants a     careful criminal investigation.  Because of the Cowles’ prominence and the City’s involvement with the garage [it] is imperative that your investigation be supported by the Washington State Patrol, a law enforcement agency of the highest integrity. . . [Emphasis added]

From Sally Savage’s email to the Attorney General’s Office on 03-19-09:

I also conveyed to you our desire to meet with one of you or an appropriate representative of the Attorney General’s office after the review of this case is complete.  It is important to us to feel that at the end of the day we have carried out our responsibility to Jo, Jesse and the rest of our family by ensuring that we have conveyed our own feelings about this matter and that we understand the process and the conclusions reached by those who will decide the final disposition of this case.  I trust you understand that our request is motivated by a desire the [sic] ensure that we have done all that we reasonable and responsibly should, and that at the appropriate time this matter is brought to closure, whatever the outcome may be.

As I said to Mr. Marlow:

. . . I trust you see the implication here as this relates to the ongoing criminal enterprise led by the Cowles Co. In my opinion Tucker succumbed and deferred to the interests of this criminal enterprise [Led by the Cowles Co] by his setting the Savage case up to fail.  Tucker threw this case as a prizefighter would throw a rigged title fight.  While Tucker could fool the fight crowd, Sheriff Bamonte and I were not fooled and know exactly what he did – he took a fall [My emphasis].

For further information and reference, these previous posts are useful to understand how this systemic and insidious public corruption led to the horrible death of Jo Savage on 04-08-09 in the RPS Parking Garage.  The as yet unanswered question is whether the RPS Parking Garage is safe for continued public occupancy?  The citizens of Spokane don’t know and their government won’t tell them:

‘Fraud: Scam Capital of America’ vs. an ‘Army of Davids’

SPOKANE, WA – Is the Associated Press (AP) covering up a manslaughter death? Why? You decide –

Ron T. Cop takes on Spokane City Council

‘O. Yale Lewis’ Documents finally released by City of Spokane, WA

Det. Ron Wright (Retired)
Professional Vitae

Note:

Sheriff Bamonte and I concluded, independently of each other, that there was extraordinary evidence to charge the owners of the RPS Parking Garage with First-Degree Manslaughter  (RCW 9A.32.060), Tucker failed to follow up on the material given his office by the US Attorney’s Office to review under existing state law involving negligent homicide.  Tucker failed to ask the necessary probative questions of percipient witnesses that would have in our opinion obtained the requisite criminal knowledge of the owners to file criminal charges that he found so conveniently lacking.

The legal elements and burden of proof for manslaughter involve the concepts of ordinary care and/or due diligence that is due all patrons by business property owner(s).  Specifically First-Degree Manslaughter in the State of Washington requires, ”. . . recklessly causes the death of another person” (RCW 9A.32.060).   General requirements of culpability under WA state law (RCW 9A.08.10) defines reckless as:

RECKLESSNESS. A person is reckless or acts recklessly when he knows of and disregards a substantial risk that a wrongful act may occur and his disregard of such substantial risk is a gross deviation from conduct that a reasonable man would exercise in the same situation.
The owners of The Station bar in the Providence, RI were held to a similar standard when criminally convicted for the tragic fire that killed 100 patrons.  In my opinion the complicity and guilty knowledge of the RPS garage owners is even more compelling and egregious than in this bar fire.

The mitigating defense as expressed by Tucker for his decision not to file any criminal charges that these parking barriers met any building code is specious, a red herring and fails the common sense or reasonable man test [Emphasis added].  Whether these barriers met any building code standards is not relevant.  The simple fact remains these barriers were failing and the owners knew it.  The tragic death of Savage was a foreseeable and likely event for fifteen years running. Tucker by his lack of action ensured the Savage case was buried from public view and scrutiny. The Spokane County Prosecuting attorney made sure that no impartial jury would ever see and hear the very damning evidence and testimony to decide the guilt or innocence of the owners.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Larry Shook <lwshook@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 10:08 AM
Subject: Re: RPS fraud & new Idaho lawsuit
To: rocketsbrain <nar9350@gmail.com>,

Detective Wright: I agree with “Bill,” referred to in your correspondence below. The new taxpayer lawsuit in Idaho, referred to in this link, seems on point regarding the unhealed RPS fraud and attendant RPS garage death of Jo Ellen Savage.

October 28, 2009

Lawsuit Filed Against North Idaho College & Foundation

Filed under: Probable Cause — Bill @ 6:10 am

“This morning’s Coeur d’Alene Press article by Maureen Dolan is headlined “Taxpayers sue NIC.”  She reports that on Tuesday, October 27, 2009, north Idaho residents Larry Spencer, Tom Macy, and Bill McCrory filed a lawsuit in First District Court naming North Idaho College and the North Idaho College Foundation as Defendants.  This matter relates to Article VIII, Section 3 of the Idaho Constitution.  The Plaintiffs allege that the Defendants entered into a certain lease agreement in contravention of Article VIII, Section 3 of the Idaho Constitution and that the lease should be declared void by the Court.  The factual allegations are included in this complaint filed with the Court.  According to the Court Clerk, the case has been assigned to Judge Mitchell.”

As Sheriff Bamonte has repeatedly noted, the violative donative intent of the RPS deal is abundantly documented. And, as the city’s first RPS special counsel, O. Yale Lewis, has also repeatedly noted, discovery in the RPS securities fraud case documented that. When the state Supreme Court allowed RPS to go forward, deferring to the “legislative authority” of the Spokane City Council, it did not have the benefit of those subsequently exposed facts, as Mr. Lewis has noted. That’s why he continually recommended that the RPS transaction be returned to the state’s high court for review of the new evidence. (Supreme courts, notes Mr. Lewis, tend to be very protective of the constitutions entrusted to them.) Mayor Verner, and her city attorney, Jim Craven, refused to do that. They also refused to let Mr. Lewis openly address the public about his perspective. One can only presume that their refusal was based on their reluctance to present sordid evidence to the state’s highest court that public corruption in Spokane–specific affirmative acts by specific public officials–led to the violation of the state’s constitutional prohibition against giving public money to private parties for improper uses. Similar acts after the fact saw to it that Spokane’s citizens would never understand what had been done to them. (Please see, inter alia, “The Mayor’s Confession,” and “A New RPS Fraud?” at www.camasmagazine.com.) Since that time, of course, the governor of Washington, the state attorney general, the Spokane County Prosecuting Attorney, the mayor of Spokane, Spokane’s Chief of Police, the Spokane County Sheriff, the office of the U.S. Attorney General, and the FBI have all refused to conduct the criminal investigation requested of them. (Please see “Deathtrap” at www.girlfromhotsprings.com.) As Mr. Lewis has repeatedly noted, this is an unresolved legal matter that will inevitably fester until it is openly and honestly addressed. (For further reference, please see other reporting at www.girlfromhotsprings.com)

A note: as they will see, many recipients of this message have been blind-copied. Every now and then some well intentioned person will let me know that the public “is tired of RPS.” I understand. I request that anyone who does not wish to receive these messages just let me know. Unless you are a public figure implicated in the RPS scandal, I will honor your request. I intend to continue to report on, and comment on, the RPS scandal until it is resolved. Here’s the thing. As a door gunner on a helicopter gunship in Vietnam, I witnessed the battlefield deaths of countless young men who had been sent on an ill-advised errand to defend our country’s way of life. There’s something about seeing young men converted to dead bodies wrapped in their own poncho liners that leaves a lasting impression, and sense of obligation, on one. Like other surviving Vietnam veterans, I returned home with life, but not life without personal memories of Vietnam and the devastating costs of corruption and cowardice in high places. RPS is one of the most repugnant assaults on American democracy that I have personally experienced. I will no more walk away from this story than I would have gone up to my old gun platoon leader and said, “I don’t want to fly today, sir. I don’t feel good.” I didn’t go looking for the RPS story. It found me. We will remain companions until there is resolution. I think my old buddies expect that of me. Thanks again for sharing the above interesting story, Detective Wright. And thanks again for your tireless efforts on the public’s behalf.

Sincerely, Larry Shook
P.S. As always, recipients are welcome to distribute this message however they choose.

On Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 7:56 AM, rocketsbrain <nar9350@gmail.com> wrote:

Interesting from Berne’s friend over in CDa.

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Berne M. Indahl . . .
Date: Wed, Oct 28, 2009 at 6:59 AM
Subject: Law Suit and Bill McCrory
To: nar9350@gmail.com

—–Original Message—–
From: Bill McCrory . . .
To: Berne M. Indahl . . .
Sent: Wed, Oct 28, 2009 3:14 pm
Subject: Re: This should cause some heartburn:-)

Berne,So should this.

Bill
On Oct 27, 2009, at 10:53 PM, Berne M. Indahl wrote:

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: rocketsbrain <nar9350@gmail.com>
Date: Tue, Oct 27, 2009 at 4:39 PM
Subject: Savage Case (CMS 10420893) – Mr. Marlow – Several questions for you

Dear Mr. Marlow,

You never responded to my letter of 04-21-09.  If you would be so kind to answer the questions in my attached letter of 10-27-09.  This letter is also stored on my server in a MS Word .doc file that has my sources and references “hotlinked.”

Det. Ron Wright (Retired)

SCROLL DOWN FOR UPDATES 

I just received this from a source of mine.  I’m posting it here for it’s information value.  You decide what the truth is and vote accordingly

Here’s Ten Good Reasons to Vote NO on Spokane Proposition #1

1.)    Proposition #1 is a fire levy request for thirty-three million dollars in exaggerated needs as claimed by the Spokane Fire Dept. Administration.   It’s a windfall akin to a winning lottery ticket and it will be spent with the same reckless abandon.

2.)    Spokane already has new fire stations and facilities that were built in the last two bond issues.   The two new proposed fire stations would be built well outside the existing city boundaries.  So, city taxpayers would be expected to fund city growth into Fire district’s 8 & 10 that have already built brand new stations in the proposed areas.  Why not share existing facilities and save millions in construction cost?

3.)    There was around 2 million dollars left over from the 1999 bond issue.  These funds were used to buy four new pumpers that were purchased in 2008.  The fire apparatus are being worn out running on EMS calls.  Today’s cardiac save rate in Spokane is 8%. Back in the mid 1980’s, four smaller and faster squads were used yielding a save rate of 27%.  Today the SFD has twice as many paramedics on seven slow fire apparatus so reduced staffing is not the real reason.  It’s a management problem where the local fire service is more concerned with saving property than saving lives.

Spokane Advised to Quicken Response

4.)    In sworn court documents filed on behalf of the Ambulance overbilling lawsuit in Spokane (9-24-2007) – it was discovered that the original overbilling excuse appeared to be a hoax and the fine levied against AMR could have exceeded $80 million dollars.   Instead the city fined them about 1/1000th of this amount.  This bond levy would be totally unnecessary if the ambulance company was fined the correct amount.

5.)    The 911 dispatch center is divided into police and fire dispatch.  Both have computer aided dispatch (CAD) software.  The police system already has the fire dispatch software in their CAD system.  So, you will be expected to pay for system redundancy in this bond issue that might be in the millions.

6.)    The current fire CAD software never went out to bid and it was purchased from a former co-worker and friend of Fire Chief Bobby Williams.  This friend used to be the Fire Chief in Clovis New Mexico where Bobby also worked.  As reported by a Clovis FD employee in 1999, “Bobby’s friend was later fired for driving a fire department vehicle while intoxicated.”  Hence, he went on to sell CAD systems.  The NW Edition of the WALL STREET JOURNAL reported the bungling by the Spokane City Council in 1999, as they awarded another no-bid contract to his friend based upon a ten year old consultant report.

7.)    The proposed Proposition #1 involves the purchase of new breathing apparatus.  Despite the fact that the SFD received a Federal Grant to buy new breathing apparatus earlier this year.  So, why wasn’t this mentioned?

8.)    Golden parachutes for fire bond managers:  In the 1999 fire bond, Chief Williams hired both his deputy and assistant chiefs to manage the bond construction project upon their retirement from the SFD.  They were paid a very generous salary to work part time doing work that was already being performed by the architectural firms.  So, indirectly the past bond issue was used via a revolving door to pay SFD employees.  It has not been disclosed with whom he will appoint should Proposition #1 win.

9.)    Why build huge fire stations like the one at the South end of the Maple Street Bridge?  The reason is simple, “because they have the money to waste”.  This station cost between 3-4 million dollars and it doesn’t really do anything different from the ones that cost $650,000.   A no vote on this bond issue is a vote against wasteful spending.  If failed, Prop #1 will not have any effect on current fire department operations.  A failed bond issue will send the city back to the drawing board and cut the fat out of the next proposed bond levy.

10)  The true cost to each citizen for this bond issue is about $163/capita*.  For a family of four, that would be about $650 dollars.  Six hundred and fifty dollars is about the same cost of a medium sized HD television.  One would expect that the average family would spend the same time and effort studying the details about this bond issue as they would before buying a new TV.  But they can’t, because all the details are not being disclosed.  Study the fine print and vote NO on Proposition #1.
*202,000 people divided into 33 million = $163 per person.

UPDATE I:

Larry Shook of Camas Magazine and Girl from Hot Springs replies to Mayor Verner’s response re the Fire Bond

———- Forwarded message ———-

From: Larry Shook

Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 6:02 PM
Subject: Fwd: Mayor Verner & the Prop 1 Fire Bond
To: “Verner, Mary” <MVerner@spokanecity.org>, CityCouncil@spokanecity.org, Terri Pfister <TPfister@spokanecity.org>,

Dear All: The email exchanges below relate to the Prop. 1 Fire Bonds on the upcoming ballot. Rich Magney, a retired Lt. firefighter and emergency medical technician with Spokane International Airport, and Lt. Bill Jackman, an active duty Spokane Fire Dept. fireman and emergency medical technician, believe the bond is deeply embedded in Spokane’s public corruption. As relates to Spokane’s fire service, they say, this corruption concerns the city’s refusal to appropriately penalize AMR for its ambulance over-billing. That refusal, they say, implicates city government, former Mayor Dennis Hession, and Spokane’s current fire chief. Prop. 1, say Lts. Magney and Jackman, has nothing to do with saving lives. It’s pork barrel, they say, pure and simple. To save lives, they say, you want to get accident victims under the care of a physician as quickly as possible. This should be easily done in Spokane, medical hub that the city is, but it isn’t because of the corruption of our ambulance service, they say. I am sharing this email, with Lt. Magney’s permission, because I believe the public deserves to hear what he and Lt. Jackman have to say. Sincerely, Larry Shook

———- Forwarded message ———-
From: Richard Magney
Date: Mon, Oct 26, 2009 at 4:43 PM
Subject: Re: Mayor Verner – Questions re the Fire Bond?
To: Larry Shook

Larry:

Thank you for the E-Mail.

There is absolutely no reason for Proposition 1 to be on the ballot at this time.

Mayor Verner is correct . She was not the mayor when AMR was penalized for the over-billing.   But Verner and the other city council members were well aware of the Causey Demgen & Moore Report and its financial potential.   Verner and the other members of the city council failed to exercise their policy making and oversight authority in the behalf of the public interest.   Instead they chose to cooperate with Mayor Hession and AMR and look the other way.   Please keep in mind that the Consumer Protection Action was taken because the mayor and the city council deliberately failed to do their job and stand up for the unsuspecting and vulnerable citizens of Spokane.   Verner was part of that council.

There is an unholy alliance between the mayor, the fire department administration, AMR, SAFO and Local #29.   As you will find out when the Abaris Report comes out, they are the real stake holders here while the resident tax payer-rate payer get left behind.   Their needs will be taken care of before the public need and the citizens of Spokane will hold on to their status as a needed financial resource.   When Mayor Verner acknowledged “the well known dilemma” of sending paramedics on large vehicles, she was not completely truthful.   Instead she was deliberately vague.   The real problem is much greater and more important than the financial considerations of sending large fire trucks to medical emergencies.   The most important consideration is the quality of emergency medical care.  The most important aspect of public safety is to save life and limb and promote quick and complete recovery to the sick and injured.

Local #29 President Greg Borg has told me and the city council that the fire departments most important job is fighting fires.   Accordingly, emergency medical service has been relegated to kind of a second fiddle job that the fire department has to do to look busy while delaying patient transport to the hospital.     This is confirmed by the resistance of the fire department administration and the unions to provide immediate patient transport.   This is also confirmed by the reluctance of the mayor to aggressively bargain with the unions in and for the public interest.   Even-though other fire departments  with similar budgetary constraints provide emergency medical transport, it is beyond the comprehension of our mayor and our local fire department.   Part of the problem is the sticky web created by the unholy alliance.

Last April I sent a proposal to the mayor and the city council to create an EMS Department separate from the fire department.   The new EMS Department would respond in ambulances and not fire trucks.   This would provide better patient care and deliver patients to the hospitals more rapidly than the current system.   The current system is structured around the AMR system status management which means that life saving transport = whenever we get there.   The highest quality EMS system will provide immediate and rapid ambulance transport in conjunction with emergency medical treatment. The best basic and advanced life support is provided by the doctor in the hospital and not the paramedic in the field.   It is not when the fire department arrives on the scene but when the patient arrives at the hospital that saves lives and improves recovery.    As a bonus this system would drastically reduce fire department expenditures and the need for $33-million and proposition 1.

Proposition 1 has nothing to do with providing good service, its about spending your money.

Rich

 Was Barry Russell being made the scapegoat?  Here’s the back stories.

Jonathan Brunt has a very informative article in today’s S-R:

October 11, 2009 in City

Park deal’s failure rankles

Land swap near Albi falls apart, triggering finger-pointing

[Note:  Clink on “print” in the header to view the entire article]

I posted this comment in today’s article thread to give some of the back story reasons why Barry Russell, the Parks director, may have been given the boot.  My sources indicate the main reason for  Russell’s leaving had more to do with the pending MOBIUS Project than anything else.  He was not a happy camper re this lease deal and was told to suck it up by the Park Board.  See the letters below to the S-R editor by a source of mine that the S-R that have not run even though Ast. Editor Doug Floyd  has run similar pieces without the mention of the Cowles family connection.

There may be more reasons why Mayor Verner canned Russell.  Check these other related issues and you decide whose interests are being facilitated.  All may not be as it appears to be.

Ron the Cop

Previous post here:

The Secret Dahlia Society, the MOBIUS Project, and the Cowles family connection

*****
Ron_the_Cop on October 11 at 4:41 a.m.

Good article Mr. Brunt.  My sources also say also brewing in the background of why Mr. Russell may have “resigned” or became the scapegoat. Mr. Russell was in a very difficult position serving too masters. There was a component of the MOBIUS Project too.:

The Secret Dahlia Society, the MOBIUS Project, and the Cowles family connection
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

Mr. Russell was not a fan of the MOBIUS lease and was told to suck it up by the Park Board. A regular commenter at S-R’s Community Comment had said:

“I think the Park Director knew way too much and wanted out while he could still salvage his career and indeed, his life and self respect. Nobody wants to wake up from a cold cocking in the night to find their hands duct taped to the steering wheel of a minivan parked in the RPS parking lot on the top level. Then hearing the engine suddenly revving way, way up”

http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2009…

Another source has written several letters to the editor on this topic too. I will post his letter later this morning in my piece on the Secret Dahlia Society:

Hello, I have now submitted two letters to the Spokesman Review revealing the facts about the Mobius lease on the north bank of Riverfront Park for $1.00 a year. My first letter was not printed. I then submitted another letter last Wednesday October 7th leaving out the Cowles’ names, and no response at all from the newspaper. The Mobius group knows the science center will lose big bucks. That’s why on their website there is a parking garage and several larger buildings. They think that will absorb their losses. NOT A CHANCE. With 15% of what ever they have planned as far as businesses to give back to the City or Park Board, they would have to contribute 1.5 to 2.0 million a year to break even. That’s not going to happen. In the case of the Riverpark Square Parking garage the tax payer really got stuck in the wallet and purse for 100 million dollars. This will happen again with this Mobius lease. THIS GROUP WILL NOT ACCEPT ANY FINANCIAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR LOSSES. It will again go back to the Park Board or City to suck up the debt. A blatant land heist for personal use with no responsibilty for financial losses is what the Park Board has approved and the City Council is about to lay it’s blessing on the robbery. Something must be done to stop this process. Any ideas?

Then of course there is the running battle between the Park Board, the Mayor, the Council and the special citizens committee appointed to advise on the last park bond chaired by Mr. Crow. This includes the adult softball league that has exclusive use of Franklin Park thanks to the Park Board and for the most park Joe Albi too at taxpayer expense. The Little League was used as a pawn to shill for the park bond but was aced out of Albi in favor of adult softball and was sent packing to the Northside Landfill:

Northside Landfill Little League Project – Spokane, WA
http://friendsofmarkfuhrman.org/blog/…

I have an equity issue with adult softball being heavily subsidized at taxpayer expense when other youth sports are precluded from using these same public facilities. To some degree an argument can be made that the voters were misled in the last park bond election.

The exclusive use lease of Franklin Park by the adult softball league expired at the end of December 08. Now that adult softball has most of the fields at Albi, Franklin Park should be made available for other youth sports. I’m not sympathetic to this may interfere with tournament play that there are bids out by adult softball for the 2010 season. A transition schedule between Albi and Franklin could be worked out.

BTW Ms. McLaughlin, my councilperson, should quit riding the fence on this issue. Ms. Kearney her opponent in the upcoming election has taken a clear position on these issues.

*****

Letter to the S-R Editor re the MOBIUS Project that was not run:

MOBIUS LEASE WILL COST SPOKANE RESIDENTS

Mr. Camden’s article left out some important facts about the MOBIUS Project Group draft lease. Voters rejected this project over a decade ago. The proponents spent over $150,000 campaigning for it and still lost. It was the most expensive single campaign in Spokane history. Why was it defeated?
Science centers lose money. My research estimates $1.5 million in red ink annually for the Spokane Science center. The proposed fifty-year lease at $l per year also allows for subleasing to other parties. This lease confers valuable parkland to a group that will have no financial responsibility when it fails.  Who will pick up the tab? Not MOBIUS.  It will leave the taxpayers stuck paying the bills. Sound familiar?

MOBIUS Board Members, Wanda and Anne Cowles, are from the family that stuck the public with the RPS parking garage.  The RPS bailout will eventually cost the taxpayers of Spokane $100 million.  Can Spokane take another hit like this? No!

The unelected Park Board approved this lease.  The City Council will now review this draft lease agreement. This is a heist of public property with no recourse. “Halt before default” is the cry. Demand the City Council put this to a public vote.

Interestingly enough S-R Assistant Editor/OP-ED Mr. Floyd later chose to run this letter.  You decide what the difference is between these letters:

Letters / Aug. 28, 2009

Mobius will be money loser

Regarding articles about the city contracting with Mobius for $1-a-year lease for a science center:
When the citizens voted in 1999 to acquire the north bank land for development, we were under the assumption that an amusement center was going there. Something money-making. The Review and TV had stories about the city maybe contracting with Disney to build Disney-type rides there; and a people mover would be built along the Howard Street corridor.
Not that I’m against a science center. However, it will NOT make money, like an amusment park would. Let’s say kids are $5 and adults $7.50 admission, family with two kids would cost $25. Most people will go once, and that’s it, whereas an amusment park will draw people over and over.
So, put an amusement park on the north bank, and if Mobius wants to spend $29.5 million, then put the science center in the Pavilion (half of the Pavilion is empty from a previous failed science center) and leave the IMAX where it’s at. The aging Pavilion would then be saved from the wrecking ball, as it’s falling apart, and it’s either that or the Park Board will want millions of dollars to save it.

Richard Trerise
Spokane

[Spokesman-Review archive photo circa 1991 showing a RPS Parking Garage vehicle barrier that failed in similar fashion as the one that broke in 2006 causing Jo Savage to fall – screaming all the way to her horrible death on April 8, 2006 – see more photos below.  These barriers were failing on average of  one to three time per year in the decade preceding Savage’s death.  The owners, the Cowles Co and owners of The Spokesman-Review, knew this for some fifteen years and yet did nothing to remedy this imminent public hazard]

                                                                                           *****

Award winning investigative reporter Larry Shook shares his opinion regarding the Associated Press’ [AP] failure to report the RPS Bond Fraud, the Jo Savage Manslaughter death at the hands of the Cowles Co and their subsequent cover ups:

Here’s what’s so troubling to me about AP’s handling of the RPS scandal. The blurb below is the agency’s boast about it’s work. When I apply this statement to AP’s RPS reporting, particularly given Spokane AP reporter Nick Geranios’s recent statements about it, it’s hard for me not to conclude that AP is instrumental in a cover-up that helps insulate Cowles activities from “more than half the world’s population.” For the Cowles family, that’s a pretty good insurance policy [Emphasis added].

On Fri, Oct 2, 2009 at 7:35 AM, Larry Shook <lwshook@gmail.com> wrote:
Detective Wright:

Here’s what’s so troubling to me about AP’s handling of the RPS scandal. The blurb below is the agency’s boast about it’s work. When I apply this statement to AP’s RPS reporting, particularly given Spokane AP reporter Nick Geranios’s recent statements about it, it’s hard for me not to conclude that AP is instrumental in a cover-up that helps insulate Cowles activities from “more than half the world’s population.” For the Cowles family, that’s a pretty good insurance policy. Unfortunately, it puts AP in the same skeleton-hiding business as the Cowleses and public officials at various levels who do their bidding. This is a story about the power of an American publishing dynasty to corrupt government all the way up to the highest levels. It’s the story of the role played by that corruption in the death of an innocent woman. (See documentation at www.camasmagazine.com and www.girlfromhotsprings.com. The American journalism establishment is simply ignoring this story. The story will never go away, but the longer American journalism ignores it, the more it becomes part of the story. The moral seems to be that society’s watchdogs aren’t very good at watching themselves. I think public resignation about that is what sustains the Cowles family’s Wizard of Oz status. Larry Shook

“The Associated Press is the essential global news network, delivering fast, unbiased news from every corner of the world to all media platforms and formats. Founded in 1846, AP today is the largest and most trusted source of independent news and information. On any given day, more than half the world’s population sees news from AP.”

*****

Mr. Shook:

I concur with your analysis.  We all know these intertwined stories are of great significance – The RPS Bond Fraud, the manslaughter death of Jo Savage in the RPS Parking Garage, the underlying reasons these occurred and their subsequent cover ups.  In a normal political/governmental environment this story would be Page One Above the Fold in the paper of record.  The catch here is the perpetrators own or control Spokane’s regional media.  In a normal political environment the press as a governmental watchdog by its reporting would drive public opinion that in turn would hold those elected/appointed officials accountable for their actions.

AP’s Spokane based reporter Mr. Geranios’ disingenuous dismissive characterization of these stories as “booooooring” and that he lacks the resources to report these stories is simply an outright lie:

SPOKANE, WA – Is the AP shilling for the Cowles Co in its efforts to conceal a manslaughter death? You decide

In my profession I was held to the standard, “To tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.”  In my opinion The Spokesman-Review and the AP have lied by omission.   They have failed in their journalistic responsibility to inform/educate their readers.  The AP as you quote has the corporate resources to report these stories.

Why isn’t the AP reporting? 

To me the answer is quite clear unless the AP engages and objectively reports these stories an impartial jury reviewing the evidence that Tim Connor and you have amassed will infer the AP’s motivation and intent.   Just as you have concluded as a professional journalist, the AP is deferring to the interests of the Cowles Co media dynasty.

. . . AP is instrumental in a cover-up that helps insulate Cowles activities from “more than half the world’s population.”

I wasn’t so generous in my opinion:

SPOKANE, WA – Is the AP shilling for the Cowles Co in its efforts to conceal a manslaughter death? You decide

Nick [AP Reporter Geranios] this story will break eventually.  The truth seeks to be free. The AP and other media outlets have been playing catch up to breaking stories by the new/alternative/social media.

Will the AP go down with the Cowles Co’s ship?  Bottom line the survival of the Mainstream Media is dependent upon regaining the trust and credibility of your readers.  Ball’s in your court Nick.

Again thank you for engaging in this fascinating discussion.  This is an example of the power of the new alternative media where members of the old media can engage in dialogue with its readers in a symbiotic manner that in the end is beneficial to the readers and the public.

The horrible death of Jo Savage in the RPS Parking Garage is a story that will eventually break.  The truth always seeks to be free.   If the mainstream media (MSM) can’t or won’t report,  these stories will eventually be discovered by the new media.  The photos speak for themselves (see below).   Many recent breaking stories were first reported by the new media.  The MSM et al is playing catch up to the new media e.g., the unvetted Obama czar story, the ACORN debacle and the 9/12 DC demonstration.  With the advent of the new media where the medium of expression is essentially free, the MSM can no longer control or filter the flow of information, news, or lead what the public concerns of the day should be e.g., Hugh Hewitt’s book, Blog, Glenn Reynolds book, An Army of Davids, and most importantly Clay Shirky’s book Here Comes Everybody.

Both former Sheriff Bamonte of Breaking Blue fame and I are seasoned law enforcement professionals who have reviewed the evidence surrounding the death of Jo Savage in the RPS Parking Garage.  We have professionally concluded, independently of each other, that there is extraordinary evidence to charge the owners of the RPS Parking Garage with First-Degree Manslaughter.  An impartial jury should have been allowed to hear this case to decide guilt or innocence of the owners of the parking garage.  County Prosecutor Steve Tucker by his failure to ensure that a complete, thorough, transparent and impartial criminal investigation was done that followed the evidence that the US Attorney’s Office gave him wherever it would lead, ensured the Savage case was buried from public view and scrutiny.  No jury would ever see and hear the very damning evidence of the death of Jo Savage.  I filed a formal criminal complaint against Steve Tucker with Governor Christine Greogoire alleging Steve Tucker rendered criminal assistance to the ongoing criminal enterprise headed by the Cowles Co. Sheriff Bamonte and I are again breaking blue in publicly exposing our law enforcement colleagues for their failure to do their sworn duty in turning a blind eye to Savage’s death.  Why did they fail to act?

The owners of the parking garage knew full well that these parking barriers were failing on average one to three times per year in the decade preceding Savage’s tragic death.  The defense that these parking barriers met any building code is specious, a red herring and fails the “common sense”  or “reasonable man” test.  Whether these barriers met any building code standards is not relevant, the fact remains as built these barriers were failing and the owners knew it.  The tragic death of Savage was a foreseeable and likely event for fifteen years running.  Yet the owners did nothing to remedy this imminent public hazard.  See the explosive civil deposition by former RPS Parking Garage Manger Rex Franklin.  Why? [Emphasis added]

The Cowles Co.’s motivation is entwined in the original RPS Bond Fraud.  The RPS Parking Garage was fully depreciated by the Cowles Co in preparation to offing this accumulating liability onto the City of Spokane with the much-touted RPS expansion project.  The owners did not want to put any more money into the garage.    Title of the garage would eventually pass to a nonprofit public foundation formed that the original RPS bonds were issued on behalf of by the City of Spokane with the convoluted and contorted public financing of the garage’s expansion.  The IRS would later rule and castigated all the players by saying this deal was a fraud and a sham, “The Casino Was Rigged.”    Further once title of the garage was passed back to the Cowles Co in the RPS Bailout, the owners still did nothing to mitigate this imminent public hazard until the death of Savage [Emphasis added]. 

The question remains is the RPS Parking Garage safe for continued occupancy?  See the quote below by Steve Rudd a highly respected construction fraud expert, “This is the most dangerous public facility I have ever seen.” [Emphasis added]  The City has failed to act on my demand for an immediate inspection of the RPS Parking Garage to ensure that it is safe for public occupancy. Why?

The legal elements and burden of proof for manslaughter in the Savage case are the “ordinary care and/or due diligence” standard of care any owner owes to their patrons.   First-Degree Manslaughter in the State of Washington requires,”. . . recklessly causes the death of another person” (RCW 9A.32.060).  As defined “reckless” is the:

(c) RECKLESSNESS. A person is reckless or acts recklessly when he knows of and disregards a
substantial risk that a wrongful act may occur and his disregard of such substantial risk is a gross
deviation from conduct that a reasonable man would exercise in the same situation. [RCW 9A.08.10]

The owners of The Station bar in the Providence, RI were held to this standard of care when criminally convicted for the  tragic fire that killed 100 people.  In my opinion the complicity and guilty knowledge of the RPS garage owners is even more compelling and egregious than in the bar fire case [Emphasis added].   The Spokesman-Review owned by the Cowles Co has conspicuously avoided educating and informing the public on the Savage death while at the same time with the investigative zeal characteristic of the free press has doggedly followed the death of Otto Zehm at the hands of the Spokane Police Department.  In fact Gary Graham Gary Graham, S-R Editor, emailed Larry Shook of Camas Magazine  requesting that he remove the very damning Franklin photo (lead photo above) from the Girl from Hot Springs site for copyright infringement. Why?  As I said previously:

. . . To me when I first saw this photo I immediately recognized it as critical evidence in the Savage manslaughter case.  This photo is direct evidence that this was a serious imminent public hazard, that the owners were well aware and did nothing to mitigate this hazard over the ensuing years (Hinzman engineering report and Franklin sworn depo statement) [Emphasis added]

In the case of the Jo Savage manslaughter, the RPS Bond Fraud and their subsequent cover ups,  the perpetrators and all whom have aided and abetted the perpetrators, all now have guilty knowledge e.g., for the purposes of a federal civil RICO action.  The burden of proof in such a civil RICO case is only by preponderance.  All complicit parties must now decide whether the liability they are incurring in continuing to aid and abet in this cover up to avoid the wrath of Cowles Co’s is financially worth it.  Mind you the RPS Bond Fraud alone will approach a  loss to the citizens/taxpayers of Spokane of some $100M.  A successful federal civil RICO action would result in treble damages plus attorneys’ fees and costs [18 U.S.C. Section 1964(c)][Emphasis added].  While it would be ludicrous for the citizens of Spokane to sue themselves for recovery by naming as a defendant the Municipal Corporation of the City of Spokane of which they are stakeholders, the Spokane officials both appointed and elected complicit in this fraud and cover up, are exposed to personal civil liability as the normal grant of governmental immunity will not shield them.  This RICO case is now ripe for action.  The financial deep pockets in such a civil action are the Cowles family trusts and now potentially the AP.

I will formally write AP CEO Mr. Tom Curley, who previously responded to correct a previous factual error and under reporting by Mr. Geranios in the Savage case, to clearly put this  “on the record.  Mr. Curley, who has the fiduciary and moral obligation to his board of directors and stockholders, will have to make this financial decision.  Is it financially worthwhile to continue to defer to the interests of the Cowles Co, a story that could break at any time, or absolve the AP of civil liability in the cover up of the manslaughter death of Jo Savage and the RPS Bond Fraud by simply reporting these stories in a fair and objective manner [Emphasis added]?

This is the bottom line.

Yours,

Det. Ron Wright (Retired)

[S-R archive photo circa 1991 showing RPS Parking Garage vehicle barrier that failed in similar fashion as theone that broke in 2006 causing Jo Savage to fall to her deathon April 8, 2006 – see below.]

[Evidence located found that these barriers failed in the same manner on average of two to three time per year since 1991 with full knowledge of the owners and yet they chose to do nothing until after the death of Jo Savage in 2006.  Why?]

[NOTE:  This is from an earlier post that goes beyond the cover up of Jo Savage’s death and begs the question – Is the RPS Parking Garage safe for continued public occupancy?  Are you and your loved ones at risk?  Neither I nor my wife will be parking in the RPS Parking Garage until this question is answered.

So far the City of Spokane has not responded to the formal demand by Sheriff Bamonte and I for an immediate inspection of the RPS Parking Garage last February.  Again why?]

Detective Wright:

Yes, I saw I saw Mr. Camden’s acknowledgment of his paper’s unethical reporting about the owner’s business affairs. I consider it a repeat of the same bomb disposal acknowledgment that was in the “audit” of the paper’s RPS reporting.  “We did this bad stuff but we don’t do it any more.” (See “Invitation to an Audit” at www.camasmagazine.com.)

The bad stuff, of course, facilitated the unremediated multi- million-dollar RPS public funds fraud, the death of Jo Ellen Savage because of unsafe conditions in the RPS garage, and the possible continuing risk to members of the public who park in the garage. And then, of course, there’s the issue of what the public’s financial exposure might be if there’s another death or injury.

Do you think an aggressive plaintiff’s attorney might want to reach into the pockets of Spokane’s taxpayers? Worst case scenario would be a serious injury–say a chunk of concrete falling on a baby’s head from the RPS ceiling, as Steve Rudd fears (see “Deathtrap,” and “Death by Parking” at www.girlfromhotsprings.com). That would enable an attorney to stand before a jury and say, “Look at what public officials in Spokane tolerated, and look at what this community’s passive citizens allowed to happen. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you must make them pay enough so they will fix this problem and not permit such innocent suffering in the future.”

It’s the Gerry Spence/Ford Pinto scenario. (”If you can’t give me back my daughter’s life I want you to pay enough so you don’t consider it economical to kill anyone else’s daughter.”) Do you think such an attorney might want to give a jury the opportunity to listen to former Mayor Talbott explain why he thinks many people have Ms. Savage’s blood on their hands, or listen to former real estate manager Dennis Beringer testify about the issue of the garage’s non-inspection? Do you think such an attorney might enter into evidence the email and pictures below that I distributed broadly last spring?

The pictures show why construction fraud expert Steve Rudd is so worried about the public’s safety in the RPS garage. I can tell you that there are many other people who go to bed worried every night that Ms. Savage’s tragedy might be repeated. Once again, you will notice that I have copied this message widely in order to build the public record.

Sincerely,

Larry Shook

[Shook’s email from last spring he referred to above]

Dear All: I have had many messages since the announcement yesterday by Spokane Prosecuting Attorney Steve Tucker that he would not press first-degree manslaughter charges in the April 8, 2006, death of Jo Ellen Savage in the Cowles-owned River Park Square parking garage in downtown Spokane, WA. Former sheriff Tony Bamonte filed those charges in August 2007. (See “Deathtrap” and “Death by Parking” at www.camasmagazine.com.)

As I responded to one person who wrote me: “Found myself thinking of John Donne (’For Whom the Bell Tolls’) and Dostoevsky (’Crime and Punishment’) yesterday. I think this area has plenty of Roskolnikovs walking around today, although Jo Ellen Savage wasn’t a greedy pawn broker but a woman much loved by many. Poor Jesse Savage. What a memory to carry about how his mother died. Ah, life…”

Clearly, one of the most troubled observers  of the failure of the county prosecutor and state attorney general to prosecute Ms. Savage’s death is her former husband, David Savage. In one of the supreme ironies of the River Park Square scandal, Mr. Savage (who has long been divorced from Ms. Savage) happens to be an attorney with special expertise in wrongful automotive death. He is also past president of the Washington State Bar Assn. Mr. Savage represented Jesse, the son he and Jo Ellen had together, in Ms. Savage’s death.

In September 2008, Mr. Savage told Spokesman-Review reporter Jonathan Brunt that he turned over to investigators records produced during civil litigation over Ms. Savage’s death. Those records contained “substantial grounds for a criminal prosecution for manslaughter,” said Mr. Savage.

Of Mr. Tucker’s decision not to prosecuted his former wife’s death, Mr. Savage told KXLY TV reporter Eric Loney: “We don’t feel it’s the product of a full, fair, impartial and robust review of the evidence. We continue to have grave concerns about the safety of the garage because of professional input provided to us.”

That quote did not make it into the story Spokesman-Review reporter Jim Camden wrote yesterday about Mr. Tucker’s decision not to prosecute the Savage death. Instead, Mr. Camden ended his story by giving Cowles real estate/First Amendment attorney Duane Swinton the last word: “The River Park Square project has been looked at from different angles on a variety of issues. I can’t imagine what else is left to be investigated.”

Mr. Swinton played a central role in the RPS scandal, acting to suppress public records both as the Cowles family’s RPS real estate attorney and its newspaper attorney. (See, inter alia, “Under the Influence,” “Swinton v. Swinton,” “The Verdict,” “Duane Swinton and Cowles, Inc.,” and “Swinton Cleared” at www.camasmagazine.com.) (The City of Spokane handed over to Camas magazine  $415,000 of taxpayer money because city officials violated state public records law along the way to allowing the Cowleses the dubious ability to leverage some $100 million in public funds to re-develop River Park Square. The city’s first RPS special counsel, O. Yale Lewis, raised the possibility that Spokane officials had entered into a civil conspiracy with the RPS developer to “improperly divert public money for private purpose.”)

Neither was Mr. Savage’s quote included in the AP story that went out to the world. This, too, is part of– but only part of– the Jo Ellen Savage memorial. Photographs of another part of the memorial are included below.

Because Mr. Swinton used to be a newspaper reporter himself, he should have known that at least one thing “left to be investigated” by Mr. Camden in yesterday’s story was how Mr. Savage felt about the failure to prosecute his former wife’s death. But Mr. Camden didn’t even seek comment from Mr. Savage. At least, if he did, he didn’t note it in his story, as journalistic convention required. This is exactly the kind of suspiciously selective reporting that has led former sheriff Bamonte and former economic crime detective Ron Wright to accuse the Cowles family of using its newspaper as an instrument of its ongoing criminal activity. I personally have come to think of Cowles reporting about Cowles business affairs as a kind of bomb disposal. It takes steely nerves… or something else.

For me, one of the most seriously disingenuous aspects of Mr. Camden’s story yesterday was its assertion that the Cowles garage is safe because it passes building code.

“After Savage’s death, garage officials said the facility exceeds code and insisted it was safe,” Mr. Camden reported. (This has always been an interesting argument to me. The building was “safe” because it passed building code. Thus, a safe building killed Jo Ellen Savage.) Continued Mr. Camden: “Swinton said Cowles Co. has always asserted the garage met building standards, but he couldn’t speculate if Tucker’s decision will end questions about the structure, or any other controversy surrounding the project.”

It does not end questions Steve Rudd, a highly respected construction fraud expert, has about the garage’s safety. Mr. Rudd worked on the Cowles garage and brought concerns about its safety to the attention of former Cowles KHQ TV anchorman Randy Shaw, whose superiors, as Mr. Shaw confirmed, wouldn’t let him report the story. Mr. Rudd says he has been troubled ever since about the facility’s condition. After I quoted Mr. Rudd in “Deathtrap” at www.girlfromhotsprings.com, he wanted to take me on a tour of the Cowles garage and point out what worries him. He asked me to bring a camera and take pictures. I did. As we walked, water dripped from the garage’s ceiling on our heads and splashed on parked cars.

Photos taken February 26, 2009

Mr. Rudd considers cracks and water staining like this found in the garage’s ceilings to be a bad sign.

Everywhere I looked up I saw sights like this…

… and this…

… and this.

A “repaired” barrier on the floor from which Ms. Savage fell. Note the lateral cracks.

This is what you see when you stand at the place where Jo Ellen Savage fell.

This is what you see when you look up.

When I asked Mr. Rudd what sights like this meant, he said simply: “This is the most dangerous public facility I have ever seen. If the roof in my house was leaking, I’d fix it. Wouldn’t you fix your roof if it was leaking? The structural integrity of this building depends on the bond between the concrete and the rebar inside. These cracks and stains suggest you’ve got water on rebar. Not good.” [Emphasis added]

But does that mean the Cowles garage is still dangerous? Mr. Rudd told me that regard for public safety leads him to conclude that the building is dangerous until extensive testing completely independent of the public corruption that led to its construction proves otherwise. Taxpayers paid the Cowleses more than $30,000 per stall for their garage at a time when the national per-stall average for such facilities was $9,000.

The irony, of course, is that if the Cowles garage does kill again, Spokane County Prosecutor Steve Tucker and the state attorney general’s office have provided the Cowles family with an alibi: The building meets code. Such  legal doctrine suggests that the purpose of building codes is not to protect human life but to protect building owners whose indifference to the sanctity of human life causes its loss.

Whether that’s a good enough reason for you to park in the River Park Square garage, or recommend that your friends and loved ones do, is up to you. You might want to forward these pictures and let them decide for themselves. [Emphasis added]

Sincerely, Larry Shook

To All:

As I said along time ago, Dominic de Villepin is an asshat who sucker punched and pulled the rug out from under Colin Powell  the day before he was to address the UN.  As we in the Blogosphere know the French were not our friends in the UN Security Council re the vote on Iraq.  In fact behind the scenes they were actively working against our interests.  Of course this has nothing to do with the French being on both ends of Suddam’s oil for food scam receiving the most payouts followed by the Russians and the Chinese.

It’s not a stretch of the imagination that former Ambassador Joe Wilson could have been an active participant or at least a stooge of a French Intel’s disinformation campaign to discredit Bush while covering the asses of de Villepin and Jacques Chirac (*).  Mind you there is information that it Chirac and de Villepin were dangling EU membership in front of the Turks who at the last minute denied the US access to Iraq from the North and shut their airspace.  Perhaps if the US Army could have invaded from the North, the insurgency would have been crushed early instead of bogging us down.  Now throw into the mix the infamous “yellow cake’ fiasco that was seized upon by the MSM in Bush’s State of the Union address, this may be more true than not.

See this latest in this AFP article on deVillepin’s criminal trial:

New revelations add twist to ex-French PM’s trial

(AFP) – Sep 6, 2009

PARIS — The upcoming trial of former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin took a new twist Sunday with fresh revelations that the top politician knowingly plotted to smear President Nicolas Sarkozy.

Villepin goes on trial on September 21 on charges of conspiring to slander Sarkozy in the so-called Clearstream affair, a complex case dating back to 2004 when the two men were locked in a bitter rivalry for the French presidency.

The former prime minister and foreign minister, who led the charge against the US invasion war of Iraq at the United Nations, has denied any wrongdoing and struck back, accusing Sarkozy of meddling.

But a leading newspaper at the weekend quoted an affidavit from a key defendant, Imad Lahoud, as saying that Villepin was behind the conspiracy targeting Sarkozy.

Lahoud told French investigators in December that he had added Sarkozy’s name to a bogus list of Clearstream account holders who had allegedly received kickbacks from arms sales to Taiwan, the Journal du Dimanche reported.

“By doing this, I was contributing to sidelining Nicolas Sarkozy,” Lahoud, a former employee of European aerospace giant EADS, told investigators, according to the report . . .

[NOTE – see also this video]

AFP – France – Explosive politically-charged trial – the Clearstream affair [Via Breitbart]

*****

[*]  Related links re French Intel campaign to discredit President Bush at a key juncture in the Iraq War.

July 06, 2007

Chirac, de Villepin used dirty tricks, forged documents to frame Sarkozy

April 10, 2006

Missing the Big Story: The CIA’s War with the White House

November 07, 2005

Joseph Wilson IV: The French Connection

UPDATE – Plame/Wilson Affair – The French Connection