The Sun-Sentinel's John Holland and Ihosvani Rodriguez have their first version of the Wasserstrom bombshell on the website. Holland is a driven reporter who has been following this thing closely so it's no wonder it's a helluva start (though it is rather vague on how the investigation started). It's worth reading. The most interesting part:
"The charging document also said that Mayor Mara Giulianti twice filed false conflict-of-interest forms when she refused to vote on the contract. Prosecutors said Wasserstrom "corruptly caused'' Giulianti to file the false forms, but did not elaborate."
The same information is on the official SAO press release, which I received an hour ago. Here's the quote the Sentinel got from Mara, who the reporters note, "distanced herself from Wasserstrom and the contract the two helped secure":
"We had a hard struggle though this. (Wasserstrom) said some things that sounded foolish, but we didn't know what he was trying to say. He said the man was his uncle, then he said it wasn't his uncle, it was someone who was married to an aunt. I don't think it would be appropiate of me to comment any further on one of my colleagues.''
Mara is so full of
it!
Anyway, he was charged with official misconduct and unlawful compensation. UNLAWFUL COMPENSATION. One of the most beautiful statutes in Florida -- one I've been preaching relentlessly as the best law enforcement tool against corruption -- has finally been utilized by Satz. Wow, they're blaming Wasserstrom for Giulianti's actions. Interesting. I thought she was a big girl. It also flies into the face of sources' telling me that she was named an unindicted co-conspirator. Trying to confirm now and will update.
And compare photographs of Wasserstrom from the previous post and the mug shot on this one. Scary.
UPDATE: Mara isn't officially an inindicted co-conspirator, since Wasserstrom was actually "charged" rather "indicted." She's named in the complaint as someone who was involved in Wasserstrom's crimes and she may wind up testifying against him, so it's basically the same thing under a different name. As for her being duped into doing Wasserstrom's criminal bidding, well, we'll see what's that all about soon enough.
