Yes! The first FELONY indictment has now been handed down in the Kentucky Republican hiring scandal. The indictment involves witness tampering. This is a great story that keeps unfolding, showing exactly how partisan the Republican hacks are here in Kentucky. The story is here:
Felony Indictments
The money quote:
Yesterday's indictment of Druen is a Class D felony, punishable by one to five years in prison.
Specifically, Druen is charged with attempting to influence the testimony of Cheryl Casey, his former secretary, who resigned from state government this month. Casey made her third appearance before the grand jury yesterday -- a 64-minute stint that wrapped up just before the indictment was announced.
The charges say Druen "knowingly made false statements or practiced a fraud or deceit with the intent to affect the testimony" of Casey between May 13 and July 8.
Some additional quotes/info/commentary below.
The worst thing about the BlackBerry Jam (so called because many of the incriminating e-mails were sent via BlackBerrys) is how the Republicans (who took over the Governorship a year and a half ago) have treated long-time merit job employees. Virtually
anyone in the state who ever voted Democrat or donated to a Democrat was at risk of being fired or transferred (with the belief that a transfer would lead the person to resign). 'Hit lists' were comprised of "D's" who could/would be fired in order to hire an "R". Amazingly, some Republicans were fired who were merely
sympathetic to some Democrats who held jeopardized merit jobs.
Most of the earlier indictments were for misdemeaners. From a related article linked to the one above:
And critics of the investigation -- including Fletcher and the Republican Party -- have defended the eight current and former Fletcher aides who are charged by insisting that misdemeanors are minor offenses.
"Misdemeanor is jaywalking," Fletcher said Thursday on a Lexington talk-radio show. "And, I guess, public drunkenness."
Fortunately, the Lexington Herald-Leader calls them on this bit of nonsense:
Actually, misdemeanors are prostitution, shoplifting, terroristic threatening, domestic violence, drunken driving and animal cruelty, among dozens of other offenses that can bring up to a year in jail, a $500 fine and a lifetime criminal record.
(Jaywalking is not a misdemeanor. It's a violation, punishable by no more than a $100 fine. Nobody goes to jail for it.)
The charges filed against Fletcher's current and former aides are a mix of Class A and Class B misdemeanors, including official misconduct, criminal conspiracy and complicity.
(Gov Fletcher is a doctor, not a lawyer.)
Of course, no one involved in this hiring scandal needs to be afraid of jail time. In that secondary article is this:
While Carla Blanton, Fletcher's communications director, said "it's premature to discuss pardons at this point," she said the administration is leaving the door open.
"Our founding fathers included pardons in the constitution for situations where prosecutorial power has been abused for political or other reasons," she said.
Democrats have been fired for no other reason than that they are Democrats, and the Republican think that the resulting prosecutions for these illegal acts are politically motivated. Hopefully, Kentuckians will remember all this in a couple of years.
This is a story that really deserves much much wider attention. Now that a FELONY indictment has been handed down, perhaps it will be.