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The
Scandal That Won't Die
It's
looking like Republican leadership made Ed
Matricardi the fall guy in the eavesdropping
scandal. The GOP still needs to come clean.
Unfortunately
for Virginia Republicans, the recent change in
leadership at party headquarters will always be
associated with the eavesdropping scandal that
prompted the resignations of the party’s executive
director, Ed Matricardi, and, almost a year and a
half later, the state party chairman, Gary Thomson.
There
is another connection between the GOP leadership and
the eavesdropping scandal that is not so obvious,
but far more important because of its potential to
deepen already painful divisions within the GOP.
Thomson’s successor was elected earlier this month
following a bitter campaign involving charges that
one of the candidates, Richard F. Neel, Jr., had
raised money for Matricardi’s legal defense fund
and was being hypocritical in attacking Thomson for
his role in the eavesdropping.
Neel’s
opponent, Kate Obenshain Griffin, was elected
unanimously by the state GOP’s governing body on
September 6 after Neel withdrew from the race just
before the scheduled vote. She was strongly backed
by Virginia Attorney General Jerry Kilgore.
After
the vote, Kilgore said that Griffin’s election
“cleansed” the GOP of the eavesdropping scandal.
That was wishful thinking and ignored the bitterness
that lingers from the chairmanship race.
Neel
supporters complain that Kilgore and his allies were
heavy-handed in their efforts to secure Griffin’s
election. Many in the GOP believe Neel has been
vindicated by events since the chairmanship campaign
ended.
During
the campaign, Neel contended that Matricardi had
been made the fall guy in the eavesdropping scandal
and that there would be further fallout until
everyone involved came clean. Neel was particularly
critical of Thomson for remaining silent for almost
18 months before resigning because of his
involvement in the eavesdropping episode.
The
public’s interest in the entire affair might have
quickly evaporated had it not been for a September
23 hearing conducted by a panel of three state
judges to determine Matricardi’s future right to
practice law in the Commonwealth. At the hearing,
Matricardi testified that Thomson authorized his
listening in on telephone conference calls arranged
by Virginia Democrats to review their options to
fight Republican redistricting plans.
Matricardi
also testified that he had briefed then Speaker of
the House Vance Wilkins and his chief of staff about
the first of two conference calls conducted by the
Democrats. According to Matricardi, Wilkins was
enthusiastic about what could be learned from
Matricardi’s participation in these calls.
The
most provocative aspect of Matricardi’s September
23 testimony concerned his account of conversations
with Anne Petera, director of administration in the
Attorney General’s office, after the conference
call. The accounts of Matricardi and Petera about
what was said are in sharp conflict.
An
April 28, 2002, column in this space urged the GOP
leadership not to hunker down expecting the
eavesdropping controversy to blow over. This writer
urged party leaders to get all the facts out as soon
as possible. That never happened.
How
GOP leaders responded to the eavesdropping will
prove to be far more important than the
eavesdropping itself. When Neel insisted during the
campaign — as he had been doing for more than a
year — that they finally get to the bottom of the
mess instead of making Matricardi the fall guy,
Kilgore and his political operatives began a
negative campaign to besmirch Neel’s character.
The
challenge Neel threw down during his unsuccessful
campaign for chairmanship can no longer be ignored.
If Kilgore really wants to see a “cleansed” GOP,
he needs to show bold leadership on this issue.
--
October 6, 2003
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