The November elections are less than a month away and this time they matter. On November 2nd, seats are up for grabs in the entire House of Representatives and for one-third of the Senate. The Dems that are up for re-election must be a bit worried and are certainly scrambling to keep a majority. And, unfortunately, the Republicans are leaving no stone unturned in their bids to take back control of the House and Senate.<\/p>\n
One of the most alarming trends in U.S. politics is not so much to make a good case and run a clean campaign in hopes of victory, but to squash your opponent through distorted campaigns and the constant hunt for opponent\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s dark secrets. In some political camps, there is nothing better than dragging a skeleton out of the closet right around election time.<\/p>\n
Such is the case with Patrice Tierney. She is the wife of Massachusetts Congressman John F. Tierney. She is also the brother of Bob from Sports Off Shore (SOS). <\/p>\n
This week a document was unsealed in which it was unveiled that Bob, his brother and several others had been indicted on charges from money laundering to tax evasions to racketeering. Caught up in all of this was the Congressman\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife, who is alleged to have managed a bank account in the U.S. and helped with tax returns for her bookie brother. She claims that she did not know it was money from illegal Internet gambling and that her Senator husband was not involved. The real questions that need to be answered are why bring her into this, and why now?<\/p>\n
Bob Eremian was well known to authorities. Law enforcement tracked Bob for years, noting that he moved his then illegal business back in 1996. The unsealed documents reveal that as far back as 2003, the government was monitoring his transactions. There is a vast amount of data from 2006 to 2008. The text of the indictment mentions the ‘illegal enterprise’ back in 1997, about when SOS opened in Antigua. Now suddenly, in an indictment dated August 5, 2010 the government moves forward? After over a decade of watching and waiting? <\/p>\n
The timing seems blatant. Less than 1 month before a huge election for incumbent Democrats, Rep. Tierney\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife gets dragged into the fray. <\/p>\n
At first I thought that perhaps the government was just waiting for Bob and his ‘enterprise’ to amass enough money and assets that it would be worth going after them. After all, the indictment is looking to grab $22 million, four properties, a plane and cash, some of it garnished back in 2006. Then I figured well maybe it was perfect timing because he has evaded the IRS and they had said, enough is enough. But, that can\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t possibly be true as there are transactions in the court documents to the U.S. Treasury that mirror what any self-employed person would pay for estimated taxes to the IRS. As far back as 2007 there are payments in April, June, September and Janaury, made like clock-work.<\/p>\n
In addition to the ridiculous persecution of certain individuals, taking a guys tax money and then arresting him anyway, when you know where the money is coming from is just wrong. It wasn\u00e2\u20ac\u2122t that Bob was just paying a few dollars here and there, he was paying in big money. The first payment listed is for $80,000 to the Treasury in April 2006. Then another similar payment in June (estimated payment #2). For the next three and a half years each tax payment was made on-time. The payments got large, with the IRS collecting over $600,000 in 2009 alone. Perhaps they figured that this was the tip of the iceberg and it was time to let greed set in and go for the gusto, millions and a house in Boca.<\/p>\n
Still, I keep coming back to the timing of all of this. Looking at a guy for 10 years and then finally going after him is not unheard of. But, involving a Senator\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s wife just 1 month before a critical election? Busting Internet gambling makes for great headlines and Patrice Tierney has been getting her fair share in the last few days. The door has been opened for Republicans statewide to rally around the allegations. Dr. Kate Kozitza a Republican who is challenging for the 8th Essex District seat was quoted by WickedLocal<\/a>, “What knowledge Representative Tierney had of his wife’s involvement in this matter is yet to be known, and I won’t speculate about that. What this does remind people of, I think, is that now more than ever, we need genuine transparency in government, both statewide and nationally.<\/p>\n