Rogue's Gallery

Not all Rogues this Ugly

Periscope noted the plaintive tsk-tsk of Chronicle reporter Allan Turner on this morning's front page.  

Clearly, space limitations precluded treatment of the entirety of our fair city's crooked politicians.  Helpful commenters (those without out a Chronicle W-2 but merely a web connection - the bar is low...) pointed out his misses.  Chuck Rosenthal, Tommy Thomas...  I could continue but why?

Anyone can rifle the news morgue and populate a rouge's gallery - the fun part is in predicting whose snout will be snapped off next by those with the handcuffs and bullets.

And so...

We note with keen interest after a comprehensive reading of Mr. Eversole's Yule-tide indictment that almost none of the projects for which he was allegedly bribed by Mike Surface were even in his precinct.

Murworth (I & II) were in Precinct One.  The Commissioner for that Precinct, El Franco Lee, seems to have benefited from these projects much more than Jerry Eversole.  The sole mention of a bribe-fueled project in the 31 page indictment which was, in fact, located in Eversole's Precinct 4 was very likely the least valuable (from a roast pork standpoint).

So Periscope has to wonder...  will El Franco be walking the plank the next time a Christian Holiday rolls around?

The investigation of Eversole began under Bush II.  Was this a simple case of a Republican Justice Department losing its bearings and pursuing the indictment of an upstanding GOP'er like Eversole? Or  was something a bit more complex afoot?  We can't prove this (without $20 or $30 million to investigate, subpoena power and a badge and gun) but we suspect most anyone sitting on Commissioner's Court could (like the fabled ham sandwich) be indicted if the right prosecutor, with the right motive, set out to do so.

Why Jerry?

Periscope believes nothing is as dangerous in politics as making the wrong enemies.  Some of Eversole's enemies - for instance, uber-fixer Jack Raines - have some veeeeerrrrry long memories.  When Raines and Eversole were blood-feuding some years ago about the Houston Sports Authority  some Texas sized resentments were constructed that a boy from Port Arthur would have had a hard time forgetting.

Assange Analog?

All Politics is Local  

                      Loco

Julian Assange and Jerry Eversole - more in common than strange last names?

Here's a Fluxus riddle:  What do WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole have in common?

Answer:  a lot more than you might think.

In addition to the fact that both were recently indicted (Assange for rape, Eversole for bribery); locked in irons and dragged before magistrates for arraignment (Assange in the UK, Eversole in Houston); both men also sport a mean Silver Fox do (Assange from worrying about 'a Jack Ruby style assassination',  Eversole from being 67 years old.)

OK, ok.  Periscope admits to playing the old Separated@Birth? game made popular by pioneer snarkzine Spy in the 90's.  We could go on, but Spy's been shut down over a dozen years now and S@B gets boring quickly.

So what do WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange and Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole have in common?  Really?

How about this: both of them really, absolutely, completely pissed off the wrong people (more about that tomorrow).

Our Answer above notwithstanding, here's one interesting thing Assange and The Commissioner definitely don't have in common:  Assange seems to have exerted masterful control of the media as he exited a jail cell in London a week ago. Whereas Periscope has observed that Eversole's mouthpiece, Houston criminal defense legend Rusty Hardin, found it necessary to retain legal PR whiz Mary Flood for his client - and yet Eversole was still described as "chewing gum and flush-faced " by Houston journalist without an editor Chris Moran.  

And while Moran may have not gotten his journalism training at Harvard, Flood got her law license there and only practiced three years before becoming a media practitioner.  She's smart, well regarded and (assuming she can coax Eversole into forgoing the Juicy Fruit when a lens is present) will no doubt do an effective spin job for him.

If Periscope were doing her job (alas, no one asked us...) we'd certainly think about the Julian Assange angle.  Not the hair...  the part about pissing off powerful people - which can land you in irons on either side of the Atlantic Ocean.

We know full well who Julian pissed off.  Say... just about every high level politician in the G20.  Dumb move - but at least he's got a nobel laureate standing next to him telling everyone he's a noble guy on a noble mission.

If anyone in Harris County politics actually likes Jerry Eversole.... Periscope has yet to read or hear an account of it.  There's a fairly well established axiom in the PR biz is that if the only guy saying good things about you is your lawyer - he should say them quietly.  Probably not in the cards for Rusty to talk softly - those who carry big sticks seldom do really.  But you would think Flood could flush out a guy who at least 10% of the jury pool recognizes to say that Eversole was a hell of a baseball coach or something.  Anything positive.

Anybody?

Ferris?

Tomorrow:  so who did Jerry piss off?

...It's Been a While

Harris County Commissioner Jerry Eversole in happier times

Harris County hasn't had one of its Commissioners indicted in quite a few years.  That changed on Monday (12/20) when a federal grand jury, following three long years of froth from the DOJ's public integrity section, handed down a five counter on Precinct Four chief Jerry Eversole.

Federal prosecutors are fond of indicting people during the holidays and adhered to that tradition as Eversole was hustled over to Rusk St. in leg irons and assorted chains a couple of days shy of Christmas Eve.  To call it a media circus would be an insult to self respecting circus performers everywhere.

Was this a Merry Christmas Indictment - or should we use something more politically correct?  Holiday True Bill?

Merely stepping into the dock at this storied address can confer a certain Lord Vader air to any presumably innocent defendant.  With a cast of former characters which includes Allen Sanford , Jeff Skilling and more Mexican drug cartel bandits than anyone can actually recall, the Southern District of Texas is eclipsed in the infamy department only by its sister court on Pearl street in lower Manhattan.

(Question:  after New York City, where is the largest concentration of Fortune 500 companies?  If you didn't say Houston... you're in danger of losing your status as a truly 'Linked-In' individual.)

Houston Periscope got a peek at the 31 page indictment from a well placed source a couple of days before it hit the Commissioner in his well proportioned jaw.  We were interested to note the inclusion of the boilerplate tax evasion Count.  Having some knowledge of the IRS code - and the generally unsuccessful record of federal prosecutors in securing convictions on these sorts of charges - we wonder if Eversole was offered the chance to plead to this Count?

Our source says Eversole has been negotiating a plea in this matter for several months, but we have no specific details on the talks.

Eversole's pal, a road building contractor with the unlikely name of Mike Surface, is alleged to have provided the Commissioner with everything from silk neck ties to room service to greens fees.  In return, he seems to have been granted (by virtue of Eversole's commanding 20% voting block on Commissioner's Court) somewhere around a hundred million dollars worth of goodies.

We don't know Eversole well  (OK - now that he's been indicted, let's just say we never knew him at all - similar to the inevitable claims his 'real' friends will soon be making) but we do know that he's not exactly a simpleton.  As well, Periscope can't claim to know much about what defense attorney Rusty Hardin is calling 'a 30 year friendship' between Eversole and Surface.  But we do know a little something about political chicanery.  If the Commissioner passed out all the pork described in the indictment and only got sixty grand and a couple of golf shirts for his trouble - we'll have to revise our opinion of him.

One thing's for sure, any enemy of Wayne Dolcefino (whose highest and best use days as a radio traffic reporter are, sadly, behind him) is, if not a friend of ours, at least someone we'd like to get to know a little better.

Maybe even play a few rounds of golf with.

*  *  *

Houston Periscope has a notion that the profoundly unlikely scenario of an indicted politician being innocent may apply in this case.  

However, we still would have probably taken the tax evasion plea...

Tomorrow:  Is having Dolcefino on your ass necessarily a bad thing?  

A round of golf with the Commissioner or snacks with Wayne?  Hard choices...