Notes on Surviving a Scandal.
You’ve read the Twardy Report. Now follow the Twardy Rule.
In the late 1990s, the investigation of a scandal in former Republican State Treasurer Paul Silvester’s office sent once-influential people to jail. Christopher Stack, a Darien financial consultant, paid Silvester bribes in bundles of cash. Silvester went to jail. Stack did not. Stack went to Stanley Twardy, a former U.S. Attorney and well-known criminal defense attorney, at the start of the scandal. Twardy negotiated a plea deal with federal investigators that won his client immunity from prosecution in exchange for cooperation.
Twardy last week completed a devastating report initiated by Governor Ned Lamont’s office on Chief State’s Attorney Richard Colangelo’s hiring of the daughter of former deputy state budget director Kostantinos Diamantis while Colangelo was lobbying him for raises for himself and others. Lamont on Thursday called on Colangelo to resign.
The bombshell report revealed a federal grand jury has been meeting and federal enforcement officials are investigating Connecticut’s financing of school construction and plans to expand New London’s state pier.
For anyone who may be drawn into the muck, here are four words to live by: Get Stacked, not sentenced.
Navigating a federal corruption scandal is a tricky business. If you have reason to think you can get through it on your own, you are not as smart as you think you are. Seek proper legal advice. That means consulting with a lawyer with experience dealing with federal criminal authorities. The lawyer who handled your divorce can calm your nerves and refer you to someone else.
Tell the truth or say nothing. A false statement to an FBI agent is its own crime. You are ignorant of how much they know. It’s probably more than you think.
Do not destroy or alter records. Assume every document you have is available somewhere else. Emails and texts are documents.
Assume your colleagues and friends have already spoken to investigators.
People you once trusted may lie to you, including whether they have been interviewed by investigators.
The Wire is more than television’s greatest crime drama. People in a jam—and some not—do wear them.
You cannot be sure where this will lead. The college cash-for-admissions scandal came from a tip offered during a securities fraud investigation.
Do not ask anyone to lie for you.
Do not involve your children. If you already have, make a deal. The most excruciating pain law enforcement officials can inflict is moving against your greatest treasure, your children. Remember New York’s Skelos & Son scandal. A powerful state senator got his son a series of no-show/low-show jobs. Both went to jail.
It’s too late to destroy gifts. They will know. This is not the time to bury gold doubloons in your yard.
Avoid WhatsApp groups and other chat platforms but do not tidy up your Facebook page or Twitter feed.
Resist the temptation to contact the girlfriend or boyfriend you dumped—-after you were indiscreet in sharing details of choices you now regret.
A federal criminal investigation can put relationships under more pressure than they can endure.
It’s a good time to stop drinking. In vino veritas, too much Blabbitas.
Paying cash is not a cover for malfeasance.
Do no favors in the hope someone will not disclose what he or she knows. Finding a job for someone with knowledge of crimes, for example, can be obstruction of justice.
Federal investigators assume everyone in politics is corrupt. Charm possesses no power to persuade.
If you noticed something unusual in your local school construction project, call (800) CALL-FBI. (Or e-mail kfr@dailyructions.com.)
Act your age. Side-sitting at a restaurant with a work colleague means you are not working. Side-sitting is an international sign that someone should be home with family.
Do not have meetings in West Hartford Center. On any night there’s a higher concentration of state employees there than anywhere else in Connecticut.
Remember wisdom of the noble Gloria Burgle in season three of Fargo: You think the world is something and then it turns out to be something else.
Published February 6, 2022.