I took a powder and attended Allentown Mayor Edwin "Fed Ed" Pawlowski's political corruption trial in Allentown yesterday. The first time I was there, I had to amputate a few frost Ed bitten toes at the end of the day. Yesterday, I suffered heat stroke. The courtroom was also a lot more crowded than the first time I was there. I had to settle for the last seat left. We were packed in like sardines because defense lawyer Jack McMahon has rolled the dice and called Fed Ed himself to the stand. Supporters and friends of his wife were sprinkled throughout the room. She was in the front row, sitting next to her mother. Joyce Marin, the City's former DCED Director, also sat with Fed Ed's wife. Local attorneys dropped by to see defense lawyer Jack McMahon perform, and he lived up to his billing. Some of Fed Ed's critics and victims were also in the audience. I expect that McMahon will continue his direct examination all day Thursday, which will give his client a three-day breather before cross-examination. After that, it's closing arguments, jury instructions and verdict. I expect to see Fed Ed convicted on a substantial number of counts. Though the case against Allinson is weaker, he is a lawyer and nobody likes lawyers. Also, he's been splashed by some of the mud coming up from the case against Fed Ed.
The Morning Call's Peter Hall and Emily Opilo have provided excellent play-by-play on pay-to-play. Peter is quite familiar with the court system while Opilo understands the inner workings of Allentown, so they have provided superior coverage.
Judge Juan R. Sánchez continues to run a very tight ship, and has been sparring quite a bit with McMahon. At one point, while McMahon was slightly confused about a defense exhibit he wanted to introduce, he noticed a juror drinking water and asked, "Anyone else need water? Now's a good time." Then he turned to McMahon and joked, "Not you."
McMahon has been masterful. I do think he turns jurors off when he plays the same tapes over and over and then goes through them, sentence by sentence. But his defense is one of obfuscation. He is attracting attention away frommore damning evidence by focusig in statements that fFd Ed made when he began to suspect he was being recorded.
The United States is represented by Anthony Wzorek and Michelle Morgan. Wzorek sporadically objected to McMahon's more absurd questions, but the prosecutors kept a mostly low profile. And why not? The more that Fed Ed speaks, the more ammo they will have when it's their turn.
Fed Ed's defense is that he he had no idea the city was being sold under his nose. He flatly denied that he had directed his finance Director Garret Strathearn, to rig the bids for a delinquent property tax contract. Though he traveled to New York with Ranmzi Haddad and shook him down for money repeatedly, he had no idea that Ramzi expected something in return. He was shocked when Ramzi showed him a text message claiming that the purchase of the Banko building had been lined up. He insisted that he played no role in fixing a bid for LED lights throughout the city.
So he had no idea that Fleck, Ruchlewicz, Francis Dougherty and Garrett Strathearn were fleecing city taxpayers.
His tone on the stand was friendly and conversational. It's the same way he often acted in his four mayoral campaigns. As he grew more relaxed in his testimony, he began volunteering information. At one point, he finished a sentence with "blah, blah, blah, blah."
When Wzoek objected, Fed Ed began to laugh at him. And that is his fatal flaw - hubris. He will stop being friendly and conversational once the hard questions start coming. And that's when the jury will see the real Fed Ed. Today he could ride around the walls of the federal courthouse. But his blissfully unaware that a Trojan arrowisheaded his way.
He thinks he's doing great. I think he's digging a hole.
42 comments:
So a conviction looks likely what are the chances for probation? Can he effectively run Allentown from a Federal prison? Lol
The voters of Allentown are as delusional as Fed Ed. How he got elected again is a microcosm of how little common sense is left in the world. I’m sure once in prison, he will also be surprised their are criminals there as well.
As a detractor of "Fed Ed" I have been at most of the trial proceedings hoping to see the rotund one go down in smoke. Knowing how the great deceiver works, [I worked on his 2005 campaign], I saw first hand what a liar, charmer and operator he was. The man believes that he can charm himself out of any wrongdoing. This time, however, his 13-lives are very much in question.
Trying to put myself in a position of juror, the first thing, and probably the most important is how comes nine other co-conspirators can plead guilty, numerous other witnesses lie and he is the only one telling the truth. Furthermore, he knew none of this was going on. Conversations in bathrooms, bug sweeps, pleads to erase e-mails and crooked bidding to aid and support campaign donors were only a coincidence. Chicago Eddy is delusional, so are the uninformed voters of Allentown, and I do believe a jury will see through his facade and find him guilty!
The prosecution needs to get under the Penguin's skin and make him lose his cool. Then he'll start flapping his flippers and the jury will see the real Feddie, then hopefully sending the Penguin to the big zoo!
Is Paw"low"ski taking vacation time for this trial or is he getting full pay & benefits?
8:28 He's the King of Allentown ,so I'm sure he is getting paid.
I want to see him get convicted on as many counts as possible, go to jail and lose his job but from what I’ve read and seen so far I don’t think this jury is going to be smart enough to convict him with anything. Unfortunately, hes gonna walk.
The Mayor & McMahon are at Starbucks almost every morning around 8 a.m. Bernie - you should show up one morning and eavesdrop!
My only personal interactions with the mayor were rather unremarkable - but not forgotten.
Having served as JoE (Judge of Elections) in Allentown’s 19th ward for many years, it wasn’t unusual for him to plant himself nearby the entryway of our polling place - in the “pamphleteering” area. Early on, he would not only come inside the building’s hallways - but INTO the room where the voting machine/voters were...glad-handing (noun: a warm welcome; may be insincere) everyone he could. His aura initially flattered me, but I eventually recognized his HUBRIS and realized that the JoE’s job was to prevent ANYONE (besides the Election Board) who wasn’t an actual voter in that district from entering that room.
Although I was a little out of my comfort zone, I let the mayor know that he shouldn’t be there. He then glad-handed his way out of the room - and realized the Welcome mat no longer included him. Since then, he’s never returned.
How expensive is the legal defense for the Mayor Pawlowski?
How is Pawlowski paying for his defense?
Where are the funds coming from?
Is Pawlowski on leave from his day job or drawing down sick pay during the trial?
Why isn’t anyone asking these question?
Pawlowski explains the 5C contract as innocent interest in virus protection. And just one day ago news broke that the city's system is crippled by a major virus. What an interesting and unlikely coincidence.
You need not be a conspiracy theorist to wonder about that one... did FedEd purposely open an attachment he shouldn't have?
Most people find him charming and very likable.
At first blush.
I cannot wait to hear his explanation for his whispers conversations in bathrooms and burner phones..... you cannot make this stuff up...
I knew nothing... well from what I am reading he knew everything and those conversations will sink him
When will you leave this poor young man alone?
Wonder how the I didn't know excuse worked for Joe Paterno.
Ed is a victim of circumstances.
Bernie, I had seen one of the party favors there yesterday that's part of the triplets democratical participants from its younger days. Just maybe fed ed and fleck beat it with a ugly stick before sending it out to graZe than again it could have been read ended by a tratortrailer importing some do gooderZ from parts unknown for the mayor.
Just having fun at the circus were fed eds head is on a silver platter to be gazing were it claims to be!
Republican redd no party affiliation
humanist by design
Can't Fed Ed be charged with perjury since he is clearly lying on the stand?
It’s not an exclusive group in terms of size, and certainly qualifies as a rather dubious distinction, just the same Joyce Marin, like others who offer comfort to the criminal thug Mayor, is deserving of a place in the Pawlowski Hall of Shame.
I'll admit I was disappointed to see Joyce there, but won't judge her. She may have been there strictly to offer personal support as a friend, not bc she considers Fed Ed innocent. Joyce has a good heart, and even likes me. ... I think. I know she cares very much about the kids in downtown A-town. I think she missed her calling.
One of my favorite Opilo tweets of the day:
Wzorek: You remember 16,000 lights in the city of Allentown and how many tons of garbage you haul away each day, but you didn’t remember your meeting with Mr. Regan?
Pawlowski; No.
I agree with you 100/
Stop it. Marin was always part of the Allentown insider club. Before she left town with her ex-husband she was an insider. When she returned without him she quickly re-established herself as an insider.
Whether make a job with the ASD or oozing up to the Fed Ed express, she is as genuine as a three dollar bill. Just because she winked at you does not change any of that.
Ed is a victim of circumcision.
8:53, The reason I like Joyce is because of her work for ASD. She cares about those kids, as do I. But this post is about Fed Ed, not her. Let's stick to that subject. You'll have plenty of other opportunities to trash her and make disparaging comments about her and lurid remarks about me. Mmmk?
Hard to predict a jury, but Ed conveys himself as a nice, caring man who average people might think he was taken advantage of by opportunists like Fleck. They will side with Ed, who has the guts to take the stand v.a coward like Fleck who took it on the lamb after ratting to the FBI. The Feds have lost credibility at the national level with their biased handling of Hillary and their bungling in the Florida shootings. That will play in Ed's favor. It all seems to rest on the prosecutions cross next week. If they can convince the jury that he lied to them during his interrogation, he will be convicted. If they bungle the cross, and Ed comes across as a victim of over ambitious campaign managers, he will walk.
Um, the cross has already started and Fed Ed has already had to admit he lied twice.
Hi Bernie! This is Joyce Marin. Over the years I have avoided weighing in on the comments on your blog, but I'm going to speak out today. It was good to see you. You are right that I care deeply about the children of Allentown. I also care about the people of Allentown and the Lehigh Valley (and Longswamp Township where I am now on the Board of Supervisors.) I care deeply about a lot of things: smart growth, farmland preservation, water quality and entrepreneurship. People may not know this, but I also play the saxophone (brought a tear to Ray C'Connell's eye when I played Danny Boy for Michael Donovan's memorial service.) I am learning to play the guitar andI like to grow heirloom tomatoes and to watch bluebirds. For many years you and I did not know each other and there were plenty of really nasty things said about me on your blog. Then, you met me and now you think I have a good heart. I'm grateful. I am a human being. Like a lot of human beings, including you, we a mixed bag. Unlike many of the people who leave comments on your blog, I try to see the best in others. It's my flaw. I sometimes like people who do not like each other (Donovan and the Mayor, for example.) Sometimes I have cared for flawed people. Over time, I keep trying to direct this life of mine toward improving things for the people around me and in the community. Often this is in very small, private ways, as I believe it should be. Sometimes it has been in public. For me, the public part of my life has been difficult, as I think of myself as a shy person. (And, because in the Lehigh Valley, no good deed goes unpunished.) But, I believe (for me and others) that no matter the situation, within the storms of life, gratitude and compassion are healing mental postures. I don't know if Ed is innocent or guilty, but it is not for me to decide. In this country we are supposed to have a presumption of innocence. He is certainly a good husband and father. He is one of the most hard working people I know and he has helped Allentown immensely. We have not always agreed on political issues, but during and after the time I worked for him, Ed was decent to me and I am grateful. (Ed helped me to recruit 50 of the most incredible volunteers for the benefit of the ASD students you mentioned when I worked at ASD.) During this trial, what does it cost us to have compassion for Ed and his family?
Missing in Ms. Marin’s statement is any compassion for the lives Mayor Pawlowski has damaged and destroyed in his reckless quest for higher political office.
Lisa Pawlowski is fourtunate to have avoided felony charges for her role in this disgracefully episode and the Pawlowski children will be two more innocent victims of the gang of crooks.
The best in me will shine if Ed gets life without parole.
Let’s set the principles of American jurisprudence aside, anyone who has ever worked with him or for Pawlowski knows he’s a lying piece of snickering sanctimonious shit.
There’s enough phony compassion and hipocracy floating around The City Without Limits to choke a jack ass.
Joyce, Bernie and i disagree over loyalty. A higher calling to me is truth. My friends, as few as they may be, understand that. By any measure Ed Pawlowski did not put the taxpayers of Allentown first in regard to contracts. Rather than have helped Allentown immensely, he stole the expectation of honest service. If his actions were criminal remains to be judged. Bernie may appreciate your loyalty to Ed, but I do not. I hope you do not find him a role model for your public service. Michael Molovinsky
“Me too,”
LOL!!!!
Bernie, 8:55 PM's comment is hilarious a victim of circumcision. In this case his new cell mate will be handling that business for him!
Ed’s certainly been a stellar role model for his two kids, and the children in the community as well. He’s an example of a Christian public servant for the entire region, far and wide, regardless of technical detail like innocence or guilt.
That’s for the Good Lord to decide.
No one is perfect.
Nobody since Billy Joel has done so much to put allentown on the map.
My friends on the West Coast and in the UK say we are back in the news.
“It’s hard work.”
Let’s no forget to give credit where credit is due.
It’s basic Christian compassion.
"Lisa Pawlowski is fourtunate to have avoided felony charges for her role in this disgracefully episode"
I told her that, but said it to her face instead of anonymously.
You people have no guts.
This is why we can’t have nice things.
I grow tomatos and play the trombone.
I’m hoping for a minimum of 20 to 30 for this corrupt politicial crime boss.
His apologists have no shame.
The mayor of Allentown was responsible for the demolition of the multiple gardens which served as habitat for the plentitude of fauna surrounding the log and stone house in the Lehigh Parkway . The mayor was also responsible for the heartless eviction of the occupant, Michael Adams from the log and stone house.The mayor knew how much Mike loved being a part of the parkway environment and how he always looked out for the best interests o Allentown .The mayor didn't care about Mike nor the park within the park that he created over his years of caring residence. Why would anyone think that a man capable of such brutal conduct as described above would be incapable of committing the numerous crimes with which he is charged?
I really, REALLY want to know who's paying the legal bills.
To the Judge of Elections in the 19th ward. Good work. I am a Judge in 19-6. He came into my voting place once, saw me and left. He knows me and is a coward (all bullies are). He also used to stand outside the polling place, which is allowed, but everytime I came out to take a break he typically left. As bullies do.
Now, since I have to learn the obstacles and I never post anonymously, the 5:12 am post was by JOE HILLIARD. I hate posting to O'Hares blog but had to commend my fellow Judge of Election who followed the rules!
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