Fraud Trial Of Former Congressman Steve Stockman Begins
The trial of former Congressman Steve Stockman (R) is now underway at Houston’s federal courthouse. Stockman is charged with running a $1.2-million fraud scheme against two leading conservative megadonors. Government and defense attorneys presented their opening arguments Tuesday.
Robert Heberle of the Justice Department said Stockman approached the donors – Richard Uihlein and the late Stanford Rothschild – supposedly to raise money for charities that supported conservative causes. According to Heberle, Stockman set up the charities for his own benefit, then raided them to pay campaign and personal expenses.
Defense counsel Sean Buckley said Stockman had raised the money. But he said the former congressman used the funds exactly as the donors intended. Buckley told jurors the case would show the ugly side of Washington, the role money plays in politics. But he said the one thing it won’t show is that Stockman lied.
The government then called its first witness. FBI Special Agent Leanna Saler explained how donations intended for Stockman’s charities ended up in the private accounts of Stockman and his staffers.
Read more: https://www.houstonpublicmedia.org/articles/news/2018/03/20/274218/fraud-trial-of-former-congressman-steve-stockman-begins/
