Payback's Bitch

Some call him the Prince of Darkness, some call him a boy wonder. He may soon have a new name, felonious Fumo, as the Philly Daily News notes, in Fumo's facing 139 counts; longtime aide also charged:

STATE Sen. Vince Fumo touts his membership in the American Mensa Society, a society for people with very high IQs.

But Fumo wasn't smart enough to avoid being charged yesterday with 139 felonies by a federal grand jury.

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The charges include conspiracy, mail fraud, wire fraud, obstruction of justice, and aiding and assisting the filing of a false tax return.

The indictment was expected, but the breath of the charges are astounding. The Inquirer, in The Case Against Fumo, explains:

State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo used taxpayer and charity money to pay for everything from political polls to power tools, from cars to farm equipment, from errands to shopping sprees, a grand jury charged yesterday.

Among the more than $2 million in allegedly illicit spending: Fumo (D., Phila.) hired private detectives to tail ex-girlfriends and dig up dirt on political rivals - including Gov. Rendell.

"Sen. Fumo didn't just step over the line," U.S. Attorney Patrick L. Meehan said yesterday. "He completely ignored it."

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Fumo, 63, who has served as senator since 1978, was depicted by Meehan as a "greedy, manipulative" politician angling for ways to make the public and charities pay for his lavish lifestyle.

The indictment says Fumo once told a confidant that he had an acronym for one goal in his life - spending "OPM," that is, "other people's money."

"Because he was delivering large amounts of money to his Philadelphia constituents with one hand," Meehan said, "Vincent Fumo felt entitled to reach deeply into the pockets of Pennsylvania taxpayers with the other hand."

Fumo is one of those politicians who seems to generate respect and disdain in equal amounts. See, e.g. John Baer's column, Bacon? A whole $8B pig. Jill Porter, in The End Of The Old Ways?, refers to Fumo's predicament as:

The story of the man is one of contradictions and competing visions - of a ruthless political kingpin who allegedly used government money to enrich himself, versus a brilliant political benefactor who used his power for the good of his constituents.

I'm not inclined to be as forgiving. In my opinion, a person like Fumo is the absolute worst because he had everything, yet it was never enough. He has brains, great wealth and a powerful position in state politics. Yet despite all of the benefits and opportunities that he had, he still had to abuse his position, and use OPM at every opportunity. The degree of entitlement mentality is phenomenal. Hubris personified.

Saying "Fumo is now payback's bitch," Philly Blunt (definitely deserving of its name) at City Paper, captioned it's piece on Fumo, Our Buddy's F*cked -- For Fumo, what went around, came back around. Brian Hickey's right on target:

Sometimes, the story speaks for itself. So, here's a trio of highlights from Tuesday's 273-page corruption indictment that, if true, expose the Honorable Vincent J. Fumo as a paranoid megalomaniac and political Koresh who views us commoners with the contempt generally reserved for a smear of pigeon shit that falls upon a custom-made Brioni . . . .

As if all of this were not enough, Fumo has had his problems with the law before, see Some key dates in the life of state Sen. Vincent Fumo and Earlier brushes with the law. In fact, one of the charges resulted in a mail fraud conviction in 1980 for abusing his office by putting "no show" employees on the legislative payroll (which felony conviction was later overturned). You would think after that, he might have learned something? And he's a Mensa, no less. Obviously he has brains, but no common sense.

I remember that whole 80's political "crime wave" well. The father of one of my law school roommates, a state senator, was also caught up in the "ghost employee" scandal. It was the first criminal trial I ever attended, so it made a lasting impact (in addition to the fact I knew the parties involved very well). Fumo, however, and a few others escaped the noose, so to speak. My friend's father was not so lucky. He was convicted and served time for that crime.

The ultimate question for Fumo is: Is the third time a charm?

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And if the indictment isn't juicy enough, there is lots of good Fumo gossip in the City Paper archives, Everywhere at Once: State Sen. Vince Fumo (via Philebrity). You can also listen to the Radio Times discussion of the indictment with two Philadelphia Inquirer reporters who have followed the investigation, Craig McCoy and John Shiffman.

Tags: Philadelphia, Philly, Politics, Vince Fumo, Law