Vultures' Picnic by Palast Greg

Author:Palast, Greg [Palast, Greg]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: PENGUIN group
Published: 2011-10-06T23:00:00+00:00

Now, Schwartz stands. Giffen’s mouthpiece is about to earn his $600 an hour. At a dark-wood lectern, tall and dramatic, the attorney says that his client had merely “failed to tick a box on a tax form”—that was his only crime, to which he now confessed. He’d given up an $84 million bank account. Giffen had, in fact, already suffered as if under sentence for years, a virtual prisoner in his own home! (Home on the links, Alcatraz for the Affluent, Rikers for the Rich.)

The judge is asking if “the Government would like to comment.” There are two guys in cheap suits I hadn’t noticed before, looking uncomfortable, like they’d just been called on by the teacher and they hadn’t done their homework. Barely audible, one said, “Uh, no.”

There’s a pause. Suspense. I wonder if they’re going to drop their pants, grab their ankles, and say, “All yours, Mr. Giffen!”

The Judge says gently, “Will the Defendant rise for sentencing.”

His Honor, from the Nassau County Republican machine, had a soft look in his eyes. He says Giffen is a “great patriot” who acted “for the best interests of the United States.”

Huh?

I hope I’m getting this exactly:

“I have read an extraordinary amount of the classified material.” The Judge couldn’t reveal details—he smiled—but, “Suffice it to say, Mr. Giffen was a significant source of information to the U.S. government and a conduit of secret information from the Soviet Union during the Cold War.”

Holy shit, Giffen really was an agent.

“For years, Mr. Giffen was a source able to work his way into the highest level of the Soviet government, an invaluable conduit for our agencies and interests. He was instrumental in the release and freedom for Soviet Jews.”

My God, it’s Schindler’s List, Part 2! I was reminded of all the Nazis who grabbed some starving Jew after the war and claimed they had saved them.

“And then, after the end of the Soviet Union, Mr. Giffen used his connections with the President of Kazakhstan to work with the U.S. government in advancing our nations strategic and business interests.”

So it’s true. Poor Jack Grynberg. Giffen wasn’t “some pipe salesman,” as Grynberg thought. The State Department had set up Jack to rope in Nazarbayev, pay him what had to be paid, and get the oil away from the Russians and Chinese. But Jack went rogue and started up his one-man holy war on bribery. The Agencies sent in a replacement, Giffen, to take care of KO-2 and KO-1 and take Jack out. Well, Jack, “bad things can happen.”

The Judge is working himself into a patriotic froth. Giffen “was one of the only Americans with sustained access to” the Kazakh kleptocrats. “These relationships, built up over a lifetime”—the Judge stared sternly at the two cheap suits—“were lost the day of his arrest.”

In other words, you Justice guys with your dimwit FBI screwed this up bad, burning an intelligence asset. Schmucks.

I’m listening as the Judge apologizes for the FBI interrupting Giffen’s transfers of cash.

He agrees with Giffen’s mouthpiece. “This ordeal must end!”

Ordeal? At the Winged Foot Country Club? Maybe I’m in the wrong business.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.