Capitol Threat by William Bernhardt

Author:William Bernhardt
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Legislators - United States, Washington (D.C.), Ben (Fictitious character), Legislators, Mystery & Detective, Political fiction, Political, Kincaid, Fiction, United States, Suspense, United States - Officials and employees - Selection and appointment, Thrillers, General, Libel and slander
ISBN: 9780345470171
Publisher: Random House, Inc.
Published: 2007-02-27T04:31:45.715736+00:00

30

Ben entered the Senate Caucus Room with an almost unreasonable sense of optimism about what was yet to come. Despite the unmitigated disaster of the last session, he hoped this one would be a pleasant change of pace. The gauntlet of interrogations was over, all eighteen of them; now they called witnesses who had testimony that might be of use to the Senate Committee in the course of its deliberations. The friendly witnesses would be first—co-workers, friends, character witnesses, anyone Ben or Sexton could drum up to say a few nice words in support of Thaddeus Roush. Of course, each would be interrogated not only by the senator who called them but also by any other senator who wished to do so, with no set time limit other than those that might be imposed at the whim of the chairman. In effect, it would be cross-examination, though they didn’t call it that. But there was no reason to believe that would lead to any trouble. No one was being called who was remotely controversial.

After all the friendly witnesses testified, the opposition had the right to call anyone whose testimony might be of use, but so far they had given no indication that they would. Despite the widespread opposition to Roush’s nomination, no one seemed to have unearthed anything negative about him. They couldn’t hang him on his sexual preference. The police had been unable to link the murder to Roush or Eastwick. Besides, the whole procedure—calling witnesses, examining them, cross-examining them—was much closer to what Ben was accustomed to dealing with in the courtroom, and as a result, he hoped he might be somewhat more helpful than he had been so far.

The first witness sworn was a woman named Amelia Haspiel, a judge from the D.C. Circuit who had served on the bench with Roush for the previous eight years. She spoke in glowing terms about his dedication to his work, his fidelity to the law, his relentless work ethic. She called him a driven professional, but also made the point that he was genial and agreeable to work with, not obsessive or insulting, despite his obvious great intelligence.

“I don’t know that I’ve ever had a co-worker whose company I’ve enjoyed more. Or in whom I had greater confidence.”

“But you’re a peer. A co-equal Circuit Court justice,” Senator Dawkins said. “Do you think the same would be true of those who work under him?”

“I know it would,” Haspiel said without hesitation. “I’ve heard Tad’s secretary comment more than once that he was the best boss she ever had. And I know that whenever a clerkship in his chambers came available, there were always more applicants than Tad could begin to fill. He was popular with everyone.”

“Did you ever hear anyone say anything negative about Judge Roush?”

“Never. Not once in eight years. That includes remarks from lawyers who appeared before him, some of whom, of course, lost. Didn’t matter. Even when lawyers or fellow jurists disagreed with him, they always respected his opinion.

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