Conrad Black
Conrad Black filed a motion yesterday (read it here) to strike the government’s untimely declarations, or alternatively to require production of related documents and an opportunity to confront the government’s witnesses, is, to say the least, exhilarating to read. I could only imagine how invigorating it must be for Conrad to fight for what is right, work to clear his good name and battle to remain free at the same time. Very few people could endure the pressures that Conrad has faced in recent years. Even fewer could be as victorious as Conrad has been in his dealings with the United States Department of Justice.
To have survived the iron fist of the DOJ is an admirable enough feat. To actually have triumphed over them, even to some minor degree, is a truly epic accomplishment.
I, along with many others, find it hard not to admire the tenacity and staying power of Mr. Black. According to Eric Sussman, a prominent and influential attorney, Conrad is something of a modern day Colossus. “From start to finish, you have to admire the moxy and tenacity of this guy… certainly a lot of people in his situation would have quit or folded the tents. It’s impressive no matter how you look at it.”
Those of you unfamiliar with all the key players in the government’s unfair persecution of Conrad might assume that Mr. Sussman, with his glowing review of Conrad, is in Mr. Black’s employ. That assumption, however, would be dead wrong. Eric Sussman was the lead prosecutor in Conrad Black’s trial.
4 Comments
Dear ACL,
I forwarded your comment to Conrad. He asked me to inform you that he would personally respond to your comment on the morning of June 24, 2011, via this message board.
Sincerely,
Joe Fosco
Thank you. It will be interesting to see what he has to say.
Dear Writer,
You have been thoroughly brainwashed. I had absolutely nothing to do with the operation of the Chicago Sun-Times, and more than Radler had with the operation of the London Daily Telegraph. I visited it twice and warned him he had to stop asinine gestures like shutting off the escalators, and had to strengthen the product. I approved the acquisition of new presses and a new printing location to liberate the paper from Gutenberg-era presses and get it functioning properly. In a technical sense, and I approved the engagement of new editors from elsewhere in our group, which helped to strengthen the product.
The Sun-Times was certainly not profitable when we bought it; it was chronically unprofitable and on the inexorable road to bankruptcy. It became profitable under our ownership, and I approved the acquisition of many of the community newspapers in the Chicago area that helped to make it a profitable group before the bloodsuckers who succeeded us lifted $300 million for themselves and managed the property into bankruptcy.
It is clear from the evidence in the long proceedings that have ensued that Radler cheated all of us, especially me, and then to cut his downside, perjured himself repeatedly to try to incriminate us and reduce the penalty for his own crimes. All charges against me were either not proceeded with, abandoned, rejected by the jurors, or vacated by the Supreme Court. What we have now are two counts retrieved, by the most obtuse treatment of repressed, confected, or distorted evidence, by the appellate panel chairman excoriated by a unanimous Supreme Court and then instructed to assess the gravity of his own errors.
I accept that it is a complicated fact and legal situation, but I resent being accused of offenses of which I have been judged not guilty, and being associated with someone with whose conduct I was proved not to have been associated, and of which conduct I was the principal victim.
Yours sincerely,
Conrad Black
According to a close source of the Black camp, “we thought the hearing a success, since the judge said she would attach minimal weight to the government’s latest smear job, and the prosecution retreated a long way in their comments, and the judge said Black is free to subpoena witnesses if he wanted. The Probation Officer spoke in Black’s favor.”
In my opinion, it appears as if the Chicago media is portraying that Black is in real trouble come Friday. All I have learned from the media is the inaccurate information reported via the affidavits from the prison officials.
Sources close to Black say, “It is a close call, though if she does send Black back to prison, it will be very briefly. Overall, it looks as if Black won most of the battle.