Word: biaggi
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Many felt that the beneficiary of this change would be volatile Bronx Congressman Mario Biaggi. However, the most decorated policeman in America locked horns in a tooth-and-nail battle with the baddest hombre of them all, the media, and came out looking like a rookie. For weeks, Biaggi kept insisting that he hadn't taken the Fifth Amendment in front of a grand jury. When the testimony was released and it showed that he had indeed taken not only the Fifth but entire Bill of Rights, his campaign machinery stopped functioning...
Following the maxim that when a guy is down you step on him. The New York Times immediately went to work on Biaggi. First they revealed that the Bronx District Attorney had uncovered some undisclosed "new evidence" in a shooting Biaggi committed 14 years ago when he was a policeman...
...after publishing this story. The Times reported that Biaggi was to be called in front of yet another grand jury. Biaggi did not know how to handle these thrusts. While no one has ever uncovered any evidence of any wrongdoing by Biaggi, the Bronx Congressman's response to these charges only left people convinced something was fishy. Biaggi flew off the handle after each of these stories, charging that there was a conspiracy against him. He clarified nothing and with the release of the grand jury testimony only showed that he was a liar...
...Biaggi and his lawyer were stunned by this turn of events. They still have the option of appealing the judge's decision to a higher court, before Biaggi's 1971 grand jury testimony is released today. Biaggi has argued against full disclosure because he says innocent people are involved and their reputations would be sullied. However, it seems that such third parties would be amply protected by the simple deletion of their names. If Biaggi appeals Palmieri's decision today, it will look as if there is something else he wants to hide...
...UNLESS BIAGGI is completely vindicated, the obvious winner in this bizarre affair will be Abe Beame. Beame has been a good Comptroller, even if at times unable to resist petty attacks on Lindsay, whom he has never forgiven for his defeat in 1965. Beame is not regarded as terribly imaginative, but his integrity is unquestioned. Jewish voters who might normally vote for Blumenthal can pull the lever for Beame without a trace of guilt, as Beame occupies the solid center of the political spectrum. With only five weeks left before the primary, Biaggi will have to recover very fast from...