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Insight on the News - Politics
Issue: 02/18/03
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http://www.insightmag.com/news/359733.html
Feds Close in on Kennedy Townsend
By Timothy W. Maier
A federal indictment could be closing in on former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and members of her staff for allegedly authorizing the misuse of federal funds earmarked for the state's crime-control office.
News leaked in July during a hotly contested governors' race between Kennedy Townsend and the eventual winner, Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, that a federal grand jury had begun pursuing an investigation into whether federal monies were diverted to pay administrative costs for the state's Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention. Kennedy Townsend responded that the probe was "political garbage" cooked up by a Republican prosecutor and state Republicans. After the election, it appeared that might be the case as the probe seemed to go nowhere.
But this changed dramatically when federal subpoenas were served in early January on the crime office, seeking all documents since 1998 relating to "administrative costs" concerning grant programs administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. The subpoenas also seek e-mails that were sent and received by 18 state workers as well as written correspondence from Kennedy Townsend's deputy chief of staff, Michael Sarbanes, and the crime-control agency's director, Stephen Amos.
Kennedy Townsend's inability to run an efficient crime-control office may have cost her the election. Her office had a horrendous record concerning drugs in prison [see "On Dope Row," Feb. 4, 2003] and had to shell out millions in a lawsuit that accused correction officers of beating juveniles in boot camps. Critics charge that the funds that allegedly were diverted may have helped prevent crime instead of lining the pockets of administrative staff. But the grand jury continues to investigate. It has yet to subpoena Kennedy Townsend to testify.
Timothy Maier is an investigative reporter for Insight
Issue: 02/18/03
------------------------------------------------------------------------
http://www.insightmag.com/news/359733.html
Feds Close in on Kennedy Townsend
By Timothy W. Maier
A federal indictment could be closing in on former Maryland lieutenant governor Kathleen Kennedy Townsend and members of her staff for allegedly authorizing the misuse of federal funds earmarked for the state's crime-control office.
News leaked in July during a hotly contested governors' race between Kennedy Townsend and the eventual winner, Republican Gov. Robert Ehrlich, that a federal grand jury had begun pursuing an investigation into whether federal monies were diverted to pay administrative costs for the state's Governor's Office of Crime Control and Prevention. Kennedy Townsend responded that the probe was "political garbage" cooked up by a Republican prosecutor and state Republicans. After the election, it appeared that might be the case as the probe seemed to go nowhere.
But this changed dramatically when federal subpoenas were served in early January on the crime office, seeking all documents since 1998 relating to "administrative costs" concerning grant programs administered by the U.S. Department of Justice. The subpoenas also seek e-mails that were sent and received by 18 state workers as well as written correspondence from Kennedy Townsend's deputy chief of staff, Michael Sarbanes, and the crime-control agency's director, Stephen Amos.
Kennedy Townsend's inability to run an efficient crime-control office may have cost her the election. Her office had a horrendous record concerning drugs in prison [see "On Dope Row," Feb. 4, 2003] and had to shell out millions in a lawsuit that accused correction officers of beating juveniles in boot camps. Critics charge that the funds that allegedly were diverted may have helped prevent crime instead of lining the pockets of administrative staff. But the grand jury continues to investigate. It has yet to subpoena Kennedy Townsend to testify.
Timothy Maier is an investigative reporter for Insight
