A TALE OF TWO SCANDALS

The Subpoenas Were Flying

A prosecutor was calling in people to testify in secret, and everyone who
wasn't busy dialing a criminal lawyer had his or her nose in a dictionary
looking up the definition of "statute of limitations."

There was a bit of a glaze over all their eyes, because, damn it all, they
were only doing what they had always done. That's what made it so hard to
comprehend. It had been business as usual for years and years with
impunity. Now it was blowing up in their faces.

Yeah, that Jocko's case was really something, wasn't it?

You are forgiven for thinking those first few sentences were about the
ongoing caucus scandal at the State Capitol.

It's interesting to note the similarities between the recent drug
investigation at a sleazy bar and the current investigation of alleged
illegalities in the hallowed halls of the Capitol.

Jocko's had been pretty widely known as a drug bar for more than two
decades in Madison before authorities finally raided it in December 1999.
Once that happened, the fur started to fly. For a while it was raining
subpoenas in downtown Madison. A local criminal defense attorney called me
after a frightened young woman had just left his office. "It's a
scorched-earth grand jury," he said of the investigation being conducted by
U.S. Attorney Peg Lautenschlager. "This woman got a subpoena, and she
hasn't been in Jocko's for 12 years!"

In the end nine people were indicted for drug offenses at Jocko's.

The scandal at the State Capitol involves the "revelation" that state
employees - men and women who have worked in the four legislative caucuses
- - may have done political work while on the clock for their state jobs.
Revelation? Everyone in the building knew it was going on. When the press
got around to writing about it earlier this year, various investigations
commenced, including one on three of the four caucuses by Dane County DA
Brian Blanchard. He couldn't investigate the Senate Democratic caucus
because it helped him file his nomination papers for DA - the very kind of
violation Blanchard is investigating. He turned that one over to Mike
McCann, the Milwaukee County DA.

The investigations have made a lot of people at the Capitol nervous. I ran
into a former Madison area legislator Monday. "Every one of my friends over
there has hired a lawyer," he said.

Sounds like Jocko's deja vu all over again.

How about the expense of the investigations? Jocko's had to cost taxpayers
millions. The caucus scandal investigation is getting expensive, too. And
not only are we paying for the investigation, the Legislature wants us to
pay for the lawyers of the people being investigated.

What we don't know yet is if the endgames of the two scandals will also be
similar. That will be worth watching.

As I mentioned, nine people were indicted in the Jocko's case. In the end
they all pleaded guilty, and U.S. Judge John Shabaz dropped a two-ton
hammer on them. The bar owner, Robert "Boot" Schuh, got 19 years in prison.
Others got 10 years, 11 years, six years. These were not violent criminals.
They were drug addicts committing slow suicide with cocaine while
occasionally helping their friends commit slow suicide too. More than
anything, they were pathetic.

People also get addicted to power and winning elections. Some would argue
the addiction is a more powerful one than cocaine. A settlement recently
disbanded the caucuses, but we won't know for a while if there will be any
indictments in the Capitol scandal. There have been published reports that
the allegations include caucus staffers shredding documents. Talk about
sleazy and pathetic. Meanwhile, seemingly undaunted, on Tuesday the state
Senate OK'd six more staffers each for the majority and minority leaders.
The caucuses are dead, long live the caucuses!

As the Jocko's scandal wound down, local restaurateur Larry Schmock bought
the building, gutted it and changed the name to the Blue Velvet Lounge. If
only it was that easy with the building five blocks up State Street.