Subject:  Contractor says Fieger reimbursed her.... |
Author:
Chris
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Date Posted: 05/12/08 6:35pm
In reply to:
Diane
's message, "Fiegers' Trial Tomorrow ????" on 04/13/08 6:44pm
Monday, May 12, 2008
Contractor says Fieger reimbursed her for donation to Edwards, warned her about FBI
Paul Egan / The Detroit News
DETROIT -- A contractor who was reimbursed by attorney Geoffrey Fieger for a $2,000 donation she made to the 2004 John Edwards presidential campaign testified today she received a phone call from Fieger warning her she might get a visit from the FBI.
"He said, 'Tell them to f' off," Wensdy VonBuskirk testified at Fieger's criminal trial, explaining that Fieger used a profanity, not the abbreviation she used for the jury.
"He told me I did not have to talk to the FBI" and "don't tell them anything," VonBuskirk testified about Fieger.
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Fieger, 57, and his law partner, Ven Johnson, 46, were indicted last year on conspiracy and illegal campaign contribution charges. They are accused of making $127,000 in illegal donations to the Edwards campaign by reimbursing employees, employee relatives and law firm vendors. Fieger is also charged with obstruction of justice, a 10-year felony.
VonBuskirk, a journalist who produced the quarterly "Fieger Times" newsletter for Fieger's Southfield law firm, testified Fieger asked her to write the check to the Edwards campaign in January 2004 and "he might have said you're going to be taken care of."
"I guess I just assumed that it would come back to me in some way, through business or continuing to do the newsletter," she testified.
Soon after she wrote the $2,000 check to the Edwards campaign, VonBuskirk, who at the time was known as Wensdy R. White, received a $2,200 check from the Fieger firm which she believed was reimbursement for the donation.
The FBI raided Fieger's law office on Nov. 30, 2005, and most of the firm's lawyers who received reimbursements were visited by the FBI that night, the trial has been told.
But VonBuskirk was not contacted by the FBI until March of 2006.
Fieger told her she should say "that I just contributed to the campaign and supported John Edwards," and VonBuskirk got the impression she should "keep it at that," she testified. In fact, she had already talked to the FBI when Fieger phoned.
The trial before U.S. District Judge Paul D. Borman continues Tuesday.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lynn Helland said he expects the government will close its case against Fieger and Johnson Wednesday or Thursday.
You can reach Paul Egan at (313) 222-2069 or pegan@detnews.com.
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