There are two species that I’ve always found to be entertaining throughout the course of my life.
The first is a really good con man.
The second is a hypocritical politician.
During my years doing criminal defense work, I represented a fair number of con men.
During my years on the bench I encountered even more.
A really good con man leads you to believe in the validity of the con itself. They are convinced that if they can “just explain it” to you, you’ll understand why it’s not a con.
I once sat through an eight week mail fraud trial with a defendant who kept repeating, “If I could just talk to those jurors, they’d understand.”
Since failing to take responsibility usually led to an enhanced sentence, I wouldn’t let him “talk to those jurors.” Instead, he got a chance to “just talk” to the judge at sentencing.
It didn’t help him a bit.
As a judge, I sometimes agreed to a specific sentence if making restitution to the victim before sentencing was a part of the agreement.
Occasionally that led some con men to perpetuate another con to fulfill the restitution requirement.
When that was uncovered, the defendant found that it didn’t help him at all.
Politicians caught up in hypocrisy seem to bear many of the same traits as con men.
They spend their careers adamantly proclaiming the virtue of their beliefs only to discover that the stench of hypocrisy doesn’t ever completely wash off.
Two examples of this come right to mind.
Former Louisiana Senator, David Vitter, is one.
Vitter was part of what I often call the “American Taliban,” politicians who feel it is their duty to legislate extreme morality.
Thomas Babington Macaulay once said “The puritan hated bear baiting, not because it gave pain to the bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.”
Think Ted Cruz.
Vitter was every bit as judgmental and rigid as Cruz. He opposed gambling, teaching evolution, sex education, abortion and Louisiana’s Child Health Insurance Program. He was a big proponent of prayer in public schools.
But, like many political Pharisees, he had his secrets.
His became public when his name turned up in the address book of the DC Madam that was running a prostitution ring.
Another was former Senator Larry Craig of Idaho.
Craig was an outspoken critic of President Bill Clinton’s affair with Monica Lewinsky.
He supported legislation that would prohibit federal benefits to same sex couples.
He voted against legislation that extended the definition of a hate crime to include sexual orientation.
So, it came as a bit of a surprise in 2007, when Craig was caught soliciting sex in the Men’s Room of the Minneapolis –St. Paul Airport.
We could debate whether the current occupant of the White House should be included in the category of con man or political hypocrite or both, but that is not the subject of this blog post.
It was reported last week that a defendant who is being prosecuted by the United States Attorney in the Southern District of New York for violating the law prohibiting dealing with Iran has hired a new legal team.
He has hired former Mayor of New York, Rudy Giuliani, also a former United States Attorney for that District, and former Attorney-General Michael Mukasey.
We will put aside the fact that Mukasey’s son is expected to be nominated to fill the position of United States Attorney, formerly occupied by Preet Bharara and is currently a partner in Giuliani’s law firm.
Giuliani has also been paid to represent the Peoples Mojahedin Group of Iran that the U.S. State Department once listed as a terrorist organization.
In the wake of the September 11th attack on New York City, Giuliani became known as “America’s Mayor.”
Giuliani loudly criticized President Obama for easing sanctions that were imposed on Iran.
This past year, he campaigned for Donald Trump, leading chants of “lock her up.”
Two decades ago, Mayor Giuliani, famously ejected PLO leader, Yasser Arafat, from a concert being held to commemorate the 50th Anniversary of the United Nations being performed at Lincoln Center.
If that concert were being held today, all Arafat would have to do, is write Giuliani a sizeable check and he would be able to enjoy the music.