Wave Maker

I really wasn't paying attention to the news yesterday. I couldn't have been.

I did note the very small, one column inch story buried in the Globe about Ray Reggie, the brother of Senator Kennedy's wife, pleading guilty to bank fraud in a New Orleans federal court. My reaction was rather blase, as this was New Orleans, after all, and stories about politically-connected people committing fraud are almost trite. Kind of like a "Sun Comes Up" headline.

But as I've learned this morning (from doing my reading with more focus), the story of Ray Reggie is much more interesting than garden variety bank fraud. As the New York Sun reported this morning (and yesterday), the bank fraud case against Reggie began in 2001, and his plea deal was reached in 2002, but the charges and plea weren't filed publicly until February of 2005.

What's been going on during that expanse of time?

Why, "Raymond Reggie, has been operating in Democratic circles for the last three years as an undercover informant for the FBI...[as] part of an FBI plan to secretly audiotape conversations with political operatives, including a well-known person who prosecutors said was seeking to funnel donations from foreigners to federal campaigns."

Isn't that special?

For all of the intrigue of the story, however, I find one of the more mundane elements of it the most amusing:

"Reggie also faces a separate, unrelated state trial in Louisiana next month for allegedly impersonating a police officer. The felony charge stems from a 2002 incident in which Reggie allegedly used a blue light to stop another vehicle.

"'He pulls over a car full of young girls, tells them he's a cop; and wants one of them to get out; tried to get them to follow him somewhere,' the prosecutor handling the case, Kim McElwee, said in an interview.

"Ms. McElwee complained that she has had great difficulty obtaining routine evidence for the case. 'I've never had a case quite like this," she said. 'People say they have a document. I call back. Not only is the document gone, they're gone. It's bizarre.'

"Reggie, who has maintained his innocence, has waived his right to a jury trial. Ms. McElwee said the judge will probably acquit Reggie. 'I'm getting entertainment out of this. I'm certainly not going to get a conviction,' she said."

Entertainment indeed!

(Hat tip: Squaring the Globe)

Final thought: I wonder if the Reggies aren't a little annoyed with being referred to as "Kennedy in-laws." Granted, the moniker carries weighty implications, but I think after several generations of their own political chicanery, the Reggies are entitled to stand on their own name. Perhaps in New Orleans, Senator Kennedy is referred to as a "Reggie in-law."