Posted on 07/11/2006 8:05:08 AM PDT by SmithL
NASHVILLE - In a clash over the past, Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Harold Ford Jr. has accused Republican candidate Ed Bryant of lying about the 1993 trial of Ford's father.
"His characterization of what happened is an outright lie," said Ford in a telephone interview. "It's worse than just wrong."
Ford said the Bryant comments are an example of Republicans "turning to personal attacks when they don't have any real issues."
Bryant said Monday he stands by an assertion that "improper intervention" by a Democratic official of the U.S. Justice Department at the time led to the impaneling of a new jury from the Memphis area for the trial of Harold Ford Sr., then a sitting congressmen in the seat his son holds now.
The Republican who headed the Justice Department at the time, Stuart Gerson, basically backed Ford's version of events in an interview on Monday. Gerson, now a Washington lawyer, said he was solely responsible for the decision in question.
The Democratic official, Webster Hubbell, was not involved and "there was no improper intervention by anyone," said Gerson.
The senior Ford was first tried on bank fraud and mail fraud charges in 1990, ending in a mistrial with the Memphis jury deadlocked. Accounts at the time said eight white jurors voted to convict; four black jurors voted to acquit.
Bryant was then U.S. attorney for West Tennessee, overseeing the prosecution. A judge initially ruled in favor of a prosecution request - over defense objections - that the jury for the second trial be selected from persons in the Jackson, Tenn., area about 100 miles east of Memphis.
The developments came as Democratic President Bill Clinton took office, succeeding Republican President George H.W. Bush. But there were delays in confirmation of Clinton's nominee for attorney general and Gerson, a Republican appointed by Bush, remained in office as acting attorney general until March 1993.
During that period, the Justice Department reversed the previous position on jury selection and joined the defense attorneys in requesting that a jury from Memphis be impaneled to replace the jurors from Jackson.
Bryant resigned as attorney general in protest, though he was subject to being replaced anyway by the new Democratic administration. He went on to win election to the U.S. House in 1994. The senior Ford was acquitted on all charges by the new jury.
Bryant said he does not discuss the senior Ford's trial regularly while campaigning, but does answer questions when asked - as happens occasionally.
As Bryant tells the story, Hubbell "pressured" Justice officials to reverse positions and agree to a Memphis jury for political reasons as a favor to Ford. Hubbell acted as "liaison" between the Justice Department and the Clinton White House while Gerson was acting attorney general.
While acknowledging he had no "firsthand knowledge" of exactly how the decision was made, Bryant said there was "every indication" that Hubbell was instrumental in the move. He cited reports of Hubbell and Gerson meeting with members of the Congressional Black Caucus, who supported the senior Ford's requests.
The reversal was virtually unprecedented, Bryant said, and "is something that would never have been done for any other defendant, black or white."
Gerson said Monday that Hubbell did not actually participate in the meeting with the Black Caucus and never asked him to make the decision he eventually made.
"There was a lot of controversy about it, but the decision was all mine," he said.
The Ford campaign provided a copy of a column Gerson wrote for the Wall Street Journal in April 1993, defending his decision and declaring, "Contrary to some assertions, my decision was made independently."
Gerson said Monday he would not change any of those comments.
"I questioned whether it was fair for the Justice Department to declare an entire community incapable of rendering justice for many reasons - historical, practical and ethical. I concluded that it was not," he wrote at the time.
While the flap over the senior Ford dates back to the early 1990s, there is also a more current curiosity in Ford-Bryant relationships.
The candidate's uncle, former state Sen. John Ford of Memphis, is facing trial on bribery charges. The judge presiding over the trial - scheduled in October, a month before the Senate election - is U.S. District Judge J. Daniel Breen, a former Bryant law partner.
Bryant said the judge's wife, Linda Breen of Jackson, is an active Bryant supporter.
Bryant said that if John Ford or his attorneys are concerned about the matter, they have a right to ask that the judge recuse himself and an alternative judge be appointed.
Bryant's major opponents for the GOP nomination are former Chattanooga Mayor Bob Corker and former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary. Ford has no serious opposition in seeking the Democratic nomination on Aug. 3.
I'm voting for Bryant he has guts.
Some say he's her father.
WOW! This is series!
I can just see the series start with a dissolute southern-fried mcgovernite Democrat, running for Attorney General from a small southern state, climbing off of his victim stating: "Don't worry, you won't get pregnant because I'm sterile. And by the way, you should put some ice on that."
Dear Rep. Ford, your father was scum and YOU are scum. There, that just about answers any questions voters may have.
Are any members of Ford's family not in jail?
Just imagine what will happen to William Jefferson, democrap from Louisianna, should the clintonistas and black caucus have their way in that blatant corruption case. To black democrat voters, criminality cannot be committed by a black representative unless his name has an "R" after it.
Ford is likely as corrupt as his family history (well known and undeniable around Memphis), but the obvious fact that he immediately plays a race card in this election (and he's the democrap candidate while Bryant is hoping to be our Republican candidate over Bob Corker--a pure-bred politician, on par with used car salesmen, BTW) tells one the whining racism will be his main theme. What a maroon ...
The whole point is that Fords don't go to jail, especially in Shelby County.
Likewise, Tom was never really in the room when Vito's wishes were carried out either.
Jackson is about 80 miles from Memphis, not 100 miles.
Boy, he doesn't get down to Memphis very much, does he?
Damn.
Ed Bryant BUMP.
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