Read Online An Almost Perfect Murder by Gary C. King - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Gary C. King
Ads: Link
abuse of her elected position. Greco stated that she had no campaign staff, nor did she have an office in which to run her campaign, separate from her elected office. He said that she had made the decision to run her campaign out of her office at the state capitol, and had ordered her salaried employees to perform a wide variety of duties related to her political campaign, all on state time and expense in blatant violation of the constitution.
In addition to the two witnesses who had initiated the complaints against Kathy, both of whom testified during the early days of the trial, there was a third witness, who had not been publicly identified previously. Susan Kennedy testified at one point that she had worked for Kathy Augustine for nineteen months, and during that time, she had been asked many times to perform campaign work. During cross-examination, Dominic Gentile was quick to point out that Kennedy’s story had changed since she first complained to investigators early in the case. Gentile also pointed out that despite the requests that Kathy had made for her to do campaign work, the investigation had shown that she only spent approximately five hours in those nineteen months working on Kathy’s campaign. He also emphasized that Kathy had asked her to do the campaign work after hours.
At another point in the trial, Kathy’s chief accountant, James Wells, told the senators that Kathy had, on one occasion, asked him to work on a campaign finance report. He refused, he testified, and after being told by other employees that Kathy would likely fire him for his refusal, he began looking for work in other departments. However, he said that he had not been disciplined by Kathy for not agreeing to her request.
Despite all of the preimpeachment hype and publicity, Kathy Augustine’s trial only lasted a week. On Saturday, December 4, 2004, when all was said and done, the Nevada Senate convicted her on only one count: using state equipment for her 2002 reelection campaign. They dismissed the other two counts: Kathy should have known that employees were doing political work for her on state time, and that a state-owned computer had been used for her campaign. The senators instead voted to censure her, which amounted to a reprimand, and allowed the $15,000 fine to stand. It was agreed that she could complete her term in office.
“I’m very happy,” Kathy said to reporters, elated and in tears, after the decisions had been made. “I’ll be able to return to my official duties on Monday morning.”
When asked if she thought there might be some animosity toward her at the capitol when she returned to work, Kathy replied, “After everything I’ve been through, I certainly, certainly can handle a little animosity.”
Due to term limits, Kathy was unable to run for controller for a third term. But shortly after her impeachment proceedings had ended, she announced that, much to the chagrin of her party colleagues, she would likely run for the office of state treasurer, or that of lieutenant governor, in the 2006 election.
Kathy’s censure, not to mention her apology, was apparently not enough for some people, particularly for Nevada Republican Party chairman Paul Adams who was quite vocal in his statements by saying that she was an embarrassment to the party. He urged her in a confidential letter not to embarrass the party further by running for another elective office. He wrote that he understood that she had high name recognition among Nevada voters, but added that your presence on the ballot as a Republican will be an embarrassment to the Nevada Republican Party. He stated that if she insisted on running, the Nevada GOP cannot embrace a candidate who has been censured, fined, and impeached for an ethics violation.
“She admitted to ethics violations and was impeached and censured,” Adams said later, after news of his confidential letter to Kathy had been made public. “That would be, in my opinion, an embarrassment
In addition to the two witnesses who had initiated the complaints against Kathy, both of whom testified during the early days of the trial, there was a third witness, who had not been publicly identified previously. Susan Kennedy testified at one point that she had worked for Kathy Augustine for nineteen months, and during that time, she had been asked many times to perform campaign work. During cross-examination, Dominic Gentile was quick to point out that Kennedy’s story had changed since she first complained to investigators early in the case. Gentile also pointed out that despite the requests that Kathy had made for her to do campaign work, the investigation had shown that she only spent approximately five hours in those nineteen months working on Kathy’s campaign. He also emphasized that Kathy had asked her to do the campaign work after hours.
At another point in the trial, Kathy’s chief accountant, James Wells, told the senators that Kathy had, on one occasion, asked him to work on a campaign finance report. He refused, he testified, and after being told by other employees that Kathy would likely fire him for his refusal, he began looking for work in other departments. However, he said that he had not been disciplined by Kathy for not agreeing to her request.
Despite all of the preimpeachment hype and publicity, Kathy Augustine’s trial only lasted a week. On Saturday, December 4, 2004, when all was said and done, the Nevada Senate convicted her on only one count: using state equipment for her 2002 reelection campaign. They dismissed the other two counts: Kathy should have known that employees were doing political work for her on state time, and that a state-owned computer had been used for her campaign. The senators instead voted to censure her, which amounted to a reprimand, and allowed the $15,000 fine to stand. It was agreed that she could complete her term in office.
“I’m very happy,” Kathy said to reporters, elated and in tears, after the decisions had been made. “I’ll be able to return to my official duties on Monday morning.”
When asked if she thought there might be some animosity toward her at the capitol when she returned to work, Kathy replied, “After everything I’ve been through, I certainly, certainly can handle a little animosity.”
Due to term limits, Kathy was unable to run for controller for a third term. But shortly after her impeachment proceedings had ended, she announced that, much to the chagrin of her party colleagues, she would likely run for the office of state treasurer, or that of lieutenant governor, in the 2006 election.
Kathy’s censure, not to mention her apology, was apparently not enough for some people, particularly for Nevada Republican Party chairman Paul Adams who was quite vocal in his statements by saying that she was an embarrassment to the party. He urged her in a confidential letter not to embarrass the party further by running for another elective office. He wrote that he understood that she had high name recognition among Nevada voters, but added that your presence on the ballot as a Republican will be an embarrassment to the Nevada Republican Party. He stated that if she insisted on running, the Nevada GOP cannot embrace a candidate who has been censured, fined, and impeached for an ethics violation.
“She admitted to ethics violations and was impeached and censured,” Adams said later, after news of his confidential letter to Kathy had been made public. “That would be, in my opinion, an embarrassment
Similar Books
