Torricelli Captured on Crime Wire
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Just another stinking, lying, thieving Democrat on the take. Fancy suits, cars, women, vacations, and more all paid for by the very same big money people the Democrats always condemn. I am sure he was "doing it for the children" too. Did he ever lower YOUR taxes?
Politics - Associated Press - updated 6:37 AM ET May 4 Reuters | AP | ABCNEWS.com | Videos
Friday May 4 2:34 AM ET
By JOHN SOLOMON, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Just weeks before he was elected to the Senate in 1996, Robert Torricelli was recorded on an FBI (news - web sites) wiretap discussing fund-raising over the telephone with supporters at a Florida pizza restaurant under surveillance for ties with organized crime.
The intercepted conversation between Torricelli and two relatives of a convicted Chicago crime figure surprised FBI agents and they alerted the Justice Department (news - web sites). Prosecutors and agents reviewed the tape in the fall of 1996 and concluded there was no reason for further investigation (REMEMBER THE JANET RENO LEGAL SYSTEM?), law enforcement officials said.
But the call received new scrutiny two years later when allegations surfaced about thousands of dollars in illegal donations to Torricelli's campaign, the officials told The Associated Press, speaking only on condition of anonymity.
The New Jersey Democrat has steadfastly denied wrongdoing. On Wednesday, Torricelli said that when he hears about allegations against him, ``I have to smile to myself, knowing in the end the truth is going to come out.''
The operators of the Sarasota, Fla., bakery and pizza shop where the call was intercepted in early September 1996 eventually pleaded guilty to conspiring to defraud the government of taxes.
In the intercept, three supporters from Chicago, who were visiting the bakery, called and left a message for Torricelli in New Jersey, and the lawmaker returned the call. They discussed the need for donations to fuel his Senate bid down the stretch, according to law enforcement officials, who have listened to the tape or seen its transcript.
At one point, Torricelli makes a comment suggesting he needs individual donations, which by law are limited to $1,000. ``Each individual check,'' the soon-to-be senator is captured as saying, according to officials.
One of the supporters indicates he has raised or plans to donate a few thousand dollars. They also discuss that the Chicago area is a potentially good area for a Democrat like Torricelli to raise money, according to the officials.
Among those on the phone call are Chicago-area developers Francis and Sam Roti, a father and son who were nephews of Fred Roti, a colorful Chicago alderman whose association with organized crime ended with his imprisonment in the 1990s for racketeering and extortion.
Sam Roti helped raise money for Torricelli in Illinois, and both he and his father donated a total of $1,500 to the New Jersey Democrat. Sam Roti was indicted on tax charges in 1993 related to an investigation of federal housing grants, but the charges were dropped after only 17 days.
``We donated some to Bob,'' Sam Roti said in an interview Thursday. ``We don't have anything to do with New Jersey and there's no affiliation at all. It was just nice to see an Italian guy. That's all it was.''
Francis Roti said he later was asked to appear before a grand jury and was interviewed by prosecutors about his relationship with the Florida pizzeria owners and the donation to Torricelli.
``They (prosecutors) did mention Sen. Torricelli. I don't know exactly what I said. I did contribute to his campaign. They asked, do you know if there was anything. I don't remember the term they used, but it was about money. And I said I was not involved with that,'' the elder Roti said.
Both Rotis questioned whether they were singled out by authorities because of their uncle's conviction.
Sam Roti said the discussion of money during the intercept was supposed to be lighthearted. ``We were in a bakery that my dad had become friendly with - the guy that runs it - because he was Italian,'' he said.
``My dad gets on the phone and starts joking around about there being money here or something. I don't remember exactly what was said. It was one of my dad's off-handed jokes,'' he said.
Federal Election Commission (news - web sites) records show Torricelli's campaign received more than $30,000 in donations in September and October 1996 from donors in the Chicago area.
Guy Ackermann, a Chicago accountant, said he wrote Torricelli a check for $500 around that time as a favor to a friend who knew Sam Roti. Ackermann said he attended a wine-and-cheese reception that Roti held for Torricelli.
After the call was intercepted, the transcript was referred both to the New Jersey U.S. attorney's office and the Justice Department's public integrity division.
Prosecutors and the FBI jointly agreed in the fall of 1996 that the intercept was intriguing but ambiguous, and that there was no reason for further investigation, law enforcement officials said.
But when the Justice Department's campaign task force began receiving information in late 1997 and 1998 about possible illegal donations to Torricelli's campaign, they revisited the transcript, the sources said.
Seven people have pleaded guilty to making illegal donations to Torricelli's 1996 campaign. The FBI also is looking into whether supporters showered Torricelli with improper personal gifts.
A source close to Torricelli said the senator was notified that he had been ``coincidentally'' intercepted on the wiretap and that his lawyers ``inquired and were told there were absolutely no issues involving the senator, including the campaign contributions issue.''
Nicholas Castronuovo, who operates the Sarasota pizza and bakery shop, recalled talking briefly to Torricelli on the phone in September 1996. ``We exchanged salutations,'' he said.
Castronuovo said he used to be involved in local New Jersey politics before moving to Florida and ``I know Bob.'' He said one of the Chicago businessmen decided to call the lawmaker.
``He called from here. And when he called, Bob was not in. We left a message that 'when you come in, call your old friend' and he (Torricelli) called here,'' Castronuovo said.
Castronuovo's lawyer, Thomas Ostrander, said his client's pizza shop was being monitored in 1996 because the FBI thought it was ``being visited by big organized crime figures.''
Castronuovo, a grandson and a third man involved with the bakery pleaded guilty in 1999 to conspiracy to defraud the government on taxes. Castronuovo was sentenced to 24 months' probation, his grandson was sentenced to four months in prison and both were ordered to pay back taxes and cooperate with federal investigators.
FEDS: WE CAN BURN 'TORCH'
By BRIAN BLOMQUIST
LIGHT MY FIRE:
Robert "The Torch" Torricelli is famous for his quick wit, big ego, hot temper . . . and an assortment of high-profile girlfriends including Patricia Duff, ex-wife of Revlon chief Ron Perelman.
- Ron SachsMay 27, 2001
EXCLUSIVEWASHINGTON - Federal investigators believe they have enough evidence to indict Sen. Robert Torricelli (D-N.J.) for allegedly taking illegal gifts and lying about it - and could charge him soon, sources told The Post.
Torricelli, known on Capitol Hill as "the Torch", is "the most corrupt politician in America. We're going to indict him soon," one Justice Department investigator told an associate, according to a source.
The feds could charge Torricelli by summer's end to try to beat the five-year statute of limitations on allegations that Torricelli took an $8,100 Rolex watch from New Jersey businessman David Chang in November 1996 and money for a Mercedes in August 1996.
The probe could take longer if Torricelli agrees to waive the statute of limitations, but that seems unlikely since the feds and the senator are at war and negotiations between the two sides are nonexistent - despite Torricelli's recent order that his lawyers open a "dialogue" with Manhattan U.S. Attorney Mary Jo White.
Two lawyers recently hired by Torricelli are known for their scorched-earth defense tactics - Ted Wells defended Bill Clinton's Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy on illegal-gifts charges by winning at trial, and Mark Pomerantz ran White's own criminal division.
Sources say Torricelli still hasn't been told he's a criminal target. Such a letter usually - but not always - precedes an indictment.
Torricelli is under investigation for a variety of possible crimes, the most serious being that he allegedly took thousands in unreported gifts from Chang in exchange for helping his former friend and fund-raiser pocket millions of dollars in two business deals in Korea.
That Torricelli tried to help Chang is undisputed. He wrote to the North Korean United Nations ambassador on behalf of Chang in one case and traveled with Chang to South Korea to put pressure on officials in a second case, prompting U.S. diplomats to apologize to the South Koreans for the senator's behavior.
Earlier this spring, the feds searched Torricelli's home in Englewood looking for the alleged gifts from Chang. The search appears to have been done with Torricelli's consent - given that his lawyer, Wells, was present - and it's unclear what turned up.
White's office refused to comment on the case.
Chang, who pleaded guilty to giving the senator $53,700 in illegal contributions in the 1996 campaign, has told the feds he was basically Torricelli's personal money man for the past five years.
Chang claims he handed Torricelli envelopes stuffed with thousands in cash, bought him 10 Italian suits, a big-screen TV, cufflinks from Tiffany's, and $600 earrings for then-girlfriend Judy Balaban, a former fashion model.
Chang also put down several thousand dollars on a Mercedes, but Torricelli said he put a stop to Chang's attempt to buy the car for him when he found out about it from the dealer, and Torricelli paid for the car himself.
Each bribery conviction carries a penalty of up to 15 years in prison and disqualification from serving in public office.
Torricelli has repeatedly claimed he didn't break any laws.
But his defense that he took "no illegal gifts" from Chang could be seen as a toehold onto a strategy that Chang was his "personal friend" and therefore not covered by the strict rules that apply to senators accepting gifts.
But even if he claimed Chang was a "personal friend," the rules state that Torricelli would have been required to get permission from the Senate Ethics Committee to take a gift worth more than $250 - and still would have had to report it.
Torricelli didn't record gifts from Chang on the personal financial-disclosure statements he signed and filed with the Senate. Lying on the forms carries a penalty of five years in jail under the federal "false statements" law.
Further complicating that defense, Torricelli and his lawyers have blasted Chang as a "pathological liar" with zero credibility.
But the probe, involving dozens of investigators and prosecutors out of New Jersey and the Justice Department's public-integrity section, has only intensified and expanded.
The feds recently seized records from the Bergen County Democratic Party to determine whether it essentially was used by Torricelli as a slush fund in the 1996 campaign - taking money from contributors who were maxed out and couldn't give any more directly to Torricelli, and in turn paying Torricelli's campaign expenses.
Besides Chang, others have said they funneled money to Torricelli through conduits.
Just last week, New Jersey trucking company owner Joseph Supor told The Star-Ledger of Newark that he reimbursed seven employees who wrote $1,000 checks to Torricelli - after Torricelli pressured him to come up with more money for his campaign.
Torricelli is famous for his quick-witted intellect, big ego, hot-head temper, and his assorted high-profile girlfriends, including Patricia Duff, ex-wife of Revlon chief Ron Perelman, and Bianca Jagger, ex-wife of Mick.
On Capitol Hill, some senators have discreetly avoided Torricelli, and most aides believe he'll be indicted.
Most observers also believe the feisty senator will fight any indictment, as the Torch himself put it, "with every ounce of strength in my body."
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Copyright 2001 NYP Holdings, Inc. All rights reserved.A man above the law, a bully
Jewish World Review Oct/ 3, 2002 / 27 Tishrei, 5763Bob Tyrrell
http://www.NewsAndOpinion.com | So Sen. Robert Torricelli bows out in disgrace. As I watched his 30-minute farewell address and testimonial to himself, his wolfish head bent over the microphones, his dark eyes suspiciously darting from one camera to the other, I was reminded of Virginia Woolf's old line, "He's not as nice as he looks." At one point, he bawled, "I'm a human being." Alas, it is true. Genetic engineering might have more to recommend it than I had hitherto thought.
Torricelli is, despite all the love he has for himself, a nasty little man, given to delusions of grandeur. In his embarrassing speech of conge he blubbered, blinking back the tears, "Somewhere today in one of several hospitals in New Jersey, some woman's life is going to be changed because of the mammography centers I created." And more, "Somewhere all over New Jersey, some senior citizen who doesn't even know my name lives in a senior center that I helped build."
Oh, unfortunate senior citizen -- Sen. Torricelli cares for thee. Do you know how this loving public servant addressed the aging Sen. Frank Lautenberg, before a group of fellow Democrats at a closed-door caucus meeting in the Capitol in 1999? According to the May 7, 2001, New Republic, "The Torch" addressed him thus: "You're a f---ing piece of sh-t, and I'm going to cut your b-lls off."
Needless to say, this fat little butter ball of a foul-mouthed senator was not actually going to visit violence on the elderly Lautenberg. Lautenberg even in old age could stand his ground against this impostor.
Torricelli is a political bully who uses political power to do what he is physically impotent to do. As the months have passed since he was severely reprimanded by the Senate Ethic Committee for taking gifts from a former campaign contributor, the evidence of his coarseness mounts. For instance, there is the tape showing Torricelli accompanied by a shadowy thug hounding the aforementioned campaign contributor. Doubtless there was more evidence to come before he cut and ran.
I have had my own experiences with his bully-boy tactics. After The American Spectator published a well-substantiated report in 1998 that the New Jersey senator had received $136,000 in hard money from the Mujahedin-e Khalq, a group involved in the murder of American servicemen in Iran and in the subsequent takeover of our embassy in Teheran, he threatened us with a libel suit through his agile lawyer Abbe Lowell. I ignored his threat.
When empty threats of libel did not work, Torricelli led in ginning up a year-long government investigation of the magazine, complete with a grand jury to look into our revelations of the misbehavior of his friend Bill Clinton, another of Lowell's unsuccessful clients.
It all began on a gray Sunday morning in Washington on ABC's "This Week With Sam & Cokie." There, Torricelli denounced the Spectator, accusing us of money laundering, which is a felony. Then he wrote Attorney General Janet Reno and demanded an investigation. The charges they settled on were witness-tampering and threatening murder -- the last, perhaps, provoked by our deadly prose. Of course, unlike the senator and his friends in the Clinton administration, we cooperated fully with the authorities and were completely vindicated. Thus here I am today, a free and happy man, while Torricelli shuffles off into ignominy.
"There are times in life you rise above self," he said as he maundered on utterly absorbed with self -- not even sparing us the story about his patriotism as a 5-year-old. "When did we become such an unforgiving people?" he asked, his dirge taking on themes eerily reminiscent of the likewise disgraced Rep. James Trafficant bidding Congress adieu.
Despite the Senate's reprimand, he even boasted of his integrity, "How did we become a society where a person can build credibility their entire life and have it questioned by someone who has none?"
That reference was apparently to his former contributor whose testimony convinced prosecutors of Torricelli's guilt, as their recently divulged documents attest. In our 1998 piece on him, our writer Kenneth R. Timmerman noted: "Torricelli has never had a reputation for impeccable probity. During his stint on the House Intelligence Committee, he was several times accused of publishing classified intelligence information to suit his own political agenda."
Torricelli had no "credibility." That is why the Democrats forced him out of his re-election campaign with their anonymous leaks. He was losing badly, and despite his delusions of being a tough guy he did not have the courage to fight.
Now the Democrats, in keeping with their behavior in the 2000 presidential campaign, want to change the rules of the race. They feel that in New Jersey they should have two chances to beat the Republican candidate. New Jersey law says Torricelli withdrew too late for another Democrat to replace him, but the Democrats want to replace him with Lautenberg.
Perhaps if Lautenberg is doing badly in a week or so they will, notwithstanding the law, seek to run yet another candidate. In a way, the Democrats of New Jersey had in Torricelli a candidate just like them, a man above the law, a bully.
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JWR contributor Bob Tyrrell is editor in chief of The American Spectator. Comment by clicking here.
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