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Former judge “Judge” Hastings would bring unique perspective to wiretapping imbroglio Tom Smith

By Thomas A. Smith

The Democrats will now control the House and probably the Senate.  It is not the end of the world, though, to be fair, it is certainly consistent with the end of the world.  I also agree that whether Speaker-soon to be elect Nancy Pelosi appoints “Judge” Hastings as chairperson of the House Intelligence Committe will be a key early indicator of whether she intends to be a statesperson or just a jumped up political hackster.  Why judge when we will know soon enough?

My money is on her doing the right thing.  As amusing as it would be to have only the third federal judge removed by Congress in the 20th century for corruption presiding over some of our government’s most sensitive deliberations, I just cannot believe Speakerette Pelosi would be so irresponsible.  I should note, however, that I  bought heavily into NASDAQ when it was at 4800.  That IRA is quickly approaching being worth 45% of what it was then.

“Judge” Hastings — the scare quotes because that’s his knickname, not his title — has a past plagued by scandal, and what a scandal it was. 

Barely two years into office [a quick learner!] , “Judge” Hastingsaccepted a $150,000 bribe in exchange for giving a lenient sentence totwo swindlers, then lied in subsequent sworn testimony about theincident. The case involved two brothers, Frank and Thomas Romano, whohad been convictedin 1980 on 21 counts of racketeering. Together with attorney WilliamBorders Jr., Hastings, who presided over the Romanos’ case, hatched aplot to solicit a bribe from the brothers. In exchange for a $150,000cash payment to him, Hastings would return some $845,000 of their $1.2million in seized assets after they served their three-year jail terms.

Taped conversations between Hastingsand Borders confirmed that the judge was a party to the plot. Hastingswas also criminally prosecuted for bribery, but his accomplice Borderswent to prison rather than testify against him. Hastings was acquittedthanks to Borders’ silence. [Borders was then pardoned by PresidentClinton, confirming the wisdom of his refusal to testify. In aremarkable display of chutzpah, Borders then appliedfor reinstatement to the District of Columbia Bar, claiming thatClinton’s federal pardon eliminated his local disbarment. The U.S.Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit did not agree, and the U.S.Supreme Court refused to hear his appeal. To former D.C. delegateWalter Fauntroy, Borders’ case had a spiritual quality to it. “Beingpardoned by the president is like being pardoned by Jesus,” Fauntroysermonized. Thankfully, the Supremes evidently disagreed with this”theology.”]

If the House is in the mood to investigate, there’s lots to follow up on here.  Who are Frank and Thomas Romano?  Do they have cute knicknames, like “the Fish”?  Is there any chance they could be just a little, ah, mobbed up, as we say?  Any chance some of our friends in the organized crime community could do with a window into the most secret doings of the United States?  What with the ties between narcotrafficking, terrorism and all?  Other questions suggest themselves.  When a judge sells a lenient sentence and return of confiscated assets to convicted swindlers for piles of Ben Franklins, does that suggest anything about his trustworthiness with the secrets of state?  All I can say is, what a relief those corrupt Republicans are out of there!  It will be interesting to see how all the other Democrats react to such an appointment, which I still maintain will not happen.  Will any of them stand up to say, uh, are you sure this is such a great idea?  And ditto for the press.  We await the wisdom of the New York Times on this one.  It is also such a nice touch that the former judge’s partner in crime garnered a presidential pardon from Prez Bill.  I wonder what the deal was there. Should “Judge”  get the post, I think prudence dictates the NSA install a little camera in his freezer, just so we know at the earliest possible moment that, well, he is not entirely reformed.  Though I’m not aware that he has ever acknowledged he did wrong and repented.  I wonder if he and Frank and Tommy the Fish stay in touch.

The next few months will tell us a lot about whether the Democrats are fit to govern.  An important logical point:  Just because the Republicans are not, does not mean the Democrats are.