AUBurgeddon: Newton investigation’s costly price tag and media fail

In a story from the Birmingham News’ Jon Solomon today, we learn that Auburn University has shelled out a hefty $170,000 or so in legal fees in connection with the NCAA investigation of allegations surrounding former Auburn Quarterback, Cam Newton.

That’s not pocket change, and it looks like there’s a lot more moolah to be spent in the months ahead.  The fact that there’s to be a lot more legal expenses going forward might be news to some people, as is explained in a little better detail later on.

Solomon says:

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Auburn University says it has spent approximately $170,000 in attorney fees on the Cam Newton case during the past 4 months.

Auburn Senior Associate Athletics Director Scott Carr said Tuesday the fees started in mid-October and have all gone to Lightfoot, Franklin, White LLC, the university's Birmingham-based legal counsel.

Auburn provided the information in response to an open-records request by The Birmingham News.

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By way of comparison, Solomon notes that the University of Alabama spent a total of $188,443 on the textbook case. He does not note that the textbook matter is altogether closed.

Which leads us to another little nugget of gold provided to the state media cartel’s readers, courtesy of a quote from Mike Slive. Slive was interviewed yesterday by ESPN’s SEC Beat Writer, Chris Low.

The following exchange takes place, and the topmost is repeated in Solomon’s story:

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Does the NCAA’s investigation of Cam Newton and his father, Cecil, remain open?

MS: You’re going to have to ask them, but nobody has written me a letter that says it’s over.

How did you feel about Cecil being there at the end of BCS National Championship Game after telling Auburn officials he would not attend?

MS: If it was up to me, I would have preferred that he not be in the stadium.

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OMG! WTF! You mean the NCAA isn’t through investigating Cam Newton and Auburn?!? Hasn’t fellow cartel writer Charles Goldberg of the venerable Auburn Bureau told us over and over and over again that the NCAA has already investigated the matter and “found nothing wrong?”

Has the fambly called in the dogs and pissed on the fire too soon, Nelly?

This is a dark, dark day for denizens of the 334 area code, folks. Especially those who don’t surf the net or read reputable national sportswriters such as Thayer Evans of Fox Sports or Pete Thamel of the New York Times. These and other notable journalists have reported on the very active, very much ongoing nature of the NCAA investigation. Conversely, the state media cartel has cheerfully kept up the fambly meme that the NCAA already finished it’s looky-see and declared them all clean and innocent.

It looks like that $170,000 is a mere down payment. A retainer fee, if you will. Because the ongoing nature of the NCAA investigation of the Newtons and Auburn isn’t all the state media cartel fails to report on.

They fail to note that Lightfoot Franklin & White is the same firm representing Auburn Trustee, booster and puppeteer Bobby Lowder in the Colonial Bank Employees’ class action lawsuit against him, in which the former employees allege that he mismanaged, swindled and otherwise ruined their financial interests in running his bank into the ground.

They fail to note that the sitting Athletic Director, Jay Jacobs, once ran the athletic department’s fundraising colossus, Tigers Unlimited Foundation, which paid out millions to the lobbying firm of Robert Geddie. You know… the Auburn graduate who is one of the 11 people indicted and charged in the BingoGate case. For the slower folks in the 334 Fambly, let me spell that out for you in clear, fifth grade language: Your AD has a documented business relationship with a man who will stand trial as part of a conspiracy to commit fraud, bribery, extortion and money laundering. That is, unless he flips. After all, he’s being represented by the same firm who represents Auburn in the Cam Newton case and Lowder in the Colonial class action case. Franklin’s skills as a negotiator are legendary in the legal community. He represents his clients professionally and thoroughly.

All of’em.

I can’t be too harsh on the state media cartel. In truth, the Birmingham News went all rogue and stuff when they filed the open records request. Solomon often sometimes controls his homerism, plays it straight down the middle and reports the news. Press-Register Sports Editor Randy Kennedy is about as professional as they come. But our state media cartel is clearly dropping the ball on this story and potentially missing out on the opportunity to win Pulitzers.

Follow me on Twitter, and visit the Timeline Page for a complete chronology of events.

 

Oh NOES: Laptops stolen from Dallas Convention Center. Where’s Cam Newton?!?

Uh oh…

It appears someone has made off with an iPad and two laptops from the Dallas Convention Center. News from NBC’s Dallas-Fort Worth affiliate:

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An iPad and two laptops stolen from the Dallas Convention Center don't contain Super Bowl security information after all, Dallas police said Wednesday.

The items belonged to a private investigator and security consultant based in California. Sources say the company was hired to do work for the NFL in some capacity during the Super Bowl.  The owner of the items association to the big game led to concerns about the contents of the laptop, but police now say security hasn't been compromised.

"After talking with the victims, it was determined that neither the laptops nor the iPad contained any information that would compromise or jeopardize the security of any Super Bowl related events," said Kevin Janse, with the Dallas Police Department. "Detectives further believe the laptop theft was nothing more than a crime of opportunity and that the suspects probably didn’t even realize who the owners of the property were."

Initially, police said the items were taken from a Starbucks kiosk inside the convention center.  The latest information indicates those items were taken while inside a ballroom where they were left unattended for about 25 minutes, Janse said.

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Thank goodness the machines didn’t contain secure information about the Superbowl. Otherwise, we might learn beforehand whether there will be a wardrobe malfunction during the halftime show or if Jerry Jones will make a surprise appearance on the field for the ceremonial coin toss.

But the real question on everybody’s minds: Does anyone know the whereabouts of Cam Newton at the time of the alleged swipe?

Officials are trying to locate surveillance video from security cameras located throughout the building. If you-know-who shows up, someone alert LSUFreek ASAP.

h/t Scott.

AUburgeddon: Geno at ESPN weighs in: “But it doesn’t feel closed. It feels empty.”

One of ESPN’s best writers weighs in on the Cam Newton story, and as is typical with Woj’s opinion pieces, he leaves no arteries un-gashed. I usually provide some observations or snarky comments on opinion pieces like this, but this one deserves to be unsnarked.

Go read the whole thing. He starts off well and goes straight for the stars from there.

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Cam Newton is no longer on the Auburn campus, but the stench from his father Cecil's pay-for-play scheme and bungled cover-up still hovers over college football likes gases over a landfill.

The smell has Auburn, Mississippi State, the Southeastern Conference and even the Heisman Trophy Trust holding their noses. And depending on whether the NCAA has completed its investigation or not, perhaps its breath, too. There remains no closure, no neat bow on the Newton box.

…

What matters is if money changed hands, if money was laundered and if Mississippi State was the only school approached by Cecil Newton. So far, nothing.

Of course, Auburn officials who know Cam Newton well say it's entirely possible that he didn't have a clue about his father's actions. He's a 10-year-old in a man's body. He's Tom Hanks in "Big," an innocent. He'd rather play with other kids than deal with adults.

That's what they say, at least.

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Cam Newton’s agent: Connection to Cecil Newton’s church repairs?

Scroll down for updates.

Call it a coincidence (if you believe in such things as coincidences, UFO’s and the tooth fairy) or call it another link in the chain. Another brick in the wall. Another nail in the … you get the idea.

Per SportingNews today, Cam Newton, tainted Heisman Trophy winning quarterback for the 2010 BCS Champion Auburn Tigers, has signed with an agent. The agent he signed with is Bus Cook, famed for representing future hall of famer Brett Favre.

Bus Cook is affiliated with Perennial Sports. There’s another figure connected with the Newtons who is also affiliated with Perennial. His name is Anthony (Tony) Paige.

Does that name ring a bell?

Cam has a brother named Cecil Newton, Jr. who had a brief stint in the NFL himself. 

Guess who he was represented by?

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Who is your agent/agency and what factors went into your decision?

Newton: My agent is Tony Paige with Perennial Sports and Entertainment. My father did a lot of background on potentially 10-15 other agencies that were recruiting me. Tony was a great selection because of his knowledge and experience in the industry.

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Are there two men named Anthony Paige? May be. Both are African American males, both are associated with the Newtons, both have the same name. One guy named Anthony Paige was presented to the Newnan City Council as the guy who would oversee repairs to Cecil Newton’s church. Another guy named Anthony Paige is a registered sports agent, who works for the same company that Cam’s agent does, and who also represented Cam’s big brother.

But none of this is connected, right?

 

 UPDATE: From agent Tony’ Paige’s website at Perennial Sports:

 

“One of the best ways to give back to the community that nurtured you is by setting up a non-profit organization. Perennial can assist, prepare and administer the formation and operation of a foundation.”

He’s absolutely right, of course. Many very worthy non-profit organizations have been formed by star athletes, and a great number of them do wonderful things for the communities the athletes used to call home.

But the the Department of Justice has an entire Division dedicated to rooting out and prosecuting those who use 501(c)(3) tax status to hide income and launder money. Just sayin…

h/t to psupoop. (You may need to join Tidefans.com to read that link.  And that would hurt you, why?)

 

What the state media cartel won’t tell you

Here’s a nifty nine minute video from ESPN’s Outside the Lines, where a panel including Paul Finebaum, Wright Thompson and Bruce Feldman discuss the ongoing NCAA investigation of Auburn University’s recruitment of Quarterback Cam Newton:

What’s Next For AUBURN - ESPN

It's well worth the time it takes to watch the whole thing, but it's also worth noting that ESPN, along with most other major sports media outlets, is discussing this matter as an ongoing probe. Consider also this story from USA Today's Steve Wieberg, covering NCAA President Mark Emmert's address to the NCAA National Convention in San Antonio.

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SAN ANTONIO — Cam Newton is done with the NCAA and college football, announcing Thursday that he'll enter the NFL's April draft.

But the NCAA is scarcely done with him.

NEWTON LEAVING: Auburn quarterback declares for NFL draft

Its investigation into a pay-for-play scheme by Newton's father continues. And only hours before Auburn disclosed the Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback's decision to bypass his senior season and turn pro, new NCAA President Mark Emmert vowed to work to close a loophole in the rules that allowed him to finish out this season on the field.

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Very clearly, the NCAA is not done with Cam Newton or Auburn University. But the state media cartel—al.com and its affiliated newspapers—doesn’t tell you this. In fact, if you pick up any of the three papers affiliated with the website, this is the tripe you get from the Auburn Beat reporter, Charles “All In” Goldberg:

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Newton won the Heisman Trophy in December and a national championship Monday, but it was not a perfect season. 

His father's attempt to get money from Mississippi State boosters for him to play there made national headlines. The NCAA investigated, but neither the quarterback nor Auburn has been found [guilty] of any wrongdoing. 

Through it all, Newton kept playing, walking away in his one year at Auburn with stats that no other SEC player ever achieved. 

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Goldberg and the rest of the media cartel are doing a grave disservice to its readers by refusing to acknowledge the ongoing nature of the investigation. Their narrative—that the NCAA has concluded its probe and found Auburn and Newton innocent—is both irresponsible and premature. While the NCAA might soon reach the conclusion that Goldberg et al seem to wish for, there is a very high likelihood that Auburn gets slammed with major sanctions and, if the federal probes continue the way they seem to be headed, a few high profile Auburn boosters and officials could be headed to a federal lockup.

The newspapers in the state of Alabama have a duty to keep the public properly informed about matters of such importance to the state. Football in this state is more than a sport. There are few other places in this country with the kind of passionate fanaticism that Alabamians follow their favorite program, and the media cannot continue to mislead the public into  thinking that the Newton case is closed. It isn’t, and there’s not even an indication that it’s anywhere close to being finished.

With regards to the federal probes, the papers should also acknowledge that the FBI doesn’t go on fishing expeditions. They did not wake up on the morning of November 9, 2010 and just decide to go fishing in the Newton recruitment case just for kicks and giggles.

It is anybody’s guess where all of this winds up, but it is really lousy journalism for the state’s papers to not even acknowledge that “this” is nowhere near being over.

 

BingoGate: Court orders the release of wiretap binders

In what could be a significant development (jackpot?) in the US v McGregor et al case, aka, “BingoGate,” US Magistrate Judge Wallace Cappel has GRANTED Thomas Coker’s motion to compel the government to produce unredacted wiretap binders and unredacted versions of the 302s. Wiretap binders contain information about the contents of recordings made during authorized and voluntary telephone surveillance. FD-302s are forms used by federal agents during witness interviews. They consist of information provided by the subject in the form of notes taken by agents.

Cappel gave the government until January 31, 2011 to produce the material. If two of the defendants—Massey and his former boss Ronnie Gilley—wish to assert privilege and redact portions of the binders, they will have to do so by tomorrow, January 14, 2011. If they fail to assert privilege, the binders will be released to the remaining defendants for their review.

The defendants moving the court to compel the release of the materials have complained that not having access to unredacted records hampers their ability to mount an effective defense in the case.

Tom Coker, the defendant whose motion the court granted yesterday, was one of the two lobbyists employed by Milton McGregor. Robert Geddie also worked for McGregor. McGregor’s connections to Auburn University and Auburn Trustee Bobby Lowder have led many to believe that some of the wiretapped conversations may have included discussions of alleged shady dealings at AU.  That belief gained momentum by the revelation last week that federal investigators had expanded their probe beyond the scope of the original US v McGregor et al indictments. It was further strengthened when it was learned that Sam Franklin of Lightfoot, Franklin and White, who represents Auburn in all NCAA compliance matters, is also representing Robert Geddie in the criminal trial and representing Bobby Lowder in ongoing federal bank fraud investigations.

The government has told the court and defense counsel that its expanded probe may be compromised if it released the unredacted materials that Coker requested. However, the government also told the court that this would no longer be the case on or about January 31, 2011.

In other words, between now and January 31, we can expect other significant developments in this case. If investigators are close to concluding their expanded investigation, we might also have some significant developments in brand new criminal cases.

You will stay tuned, won’t you?

 

What they’re saying: Sportswriters react to Auburn’s title win

In response to the 734,849,595 emails, tweets and comments seeking my own reaction as a Bama fan and blogger—I didn’t really care who won or lost. I didn’t have a dog in the fight but as a college football fan I was compelled to watch.  It’s also worth pointing out that I did pick Auburn to win it before it was fashionable to do so. I also identified them as the team to beat the SEC West. I probably would  have pulled for them last night, if not for the overwhelming sense that someone is cheating and getting away with it. I’m not the only one expressing that sense, either.

On with the roundup.

• Ivan Maisel, ESPN.com: This season, there is no asterisk. The Tigers have to hold their breath until the NCAA concludes its investigation of quarterback Cam Newton. But Auburn finished 14-0. The Tigers got the chance to play for the national championship. They won the game as time expired. They needed every last second of this season to exorcise the what-if ghosts of the previous 53 seasons. (ed note: No asterisk yet)
• Pat Forde, ESPN: It was a game of ethical flinches. Watching Cam Newton get a confetti bath did not qualify as the feel-good moment of the season for anyone other than title-starved Tigers fans and greedy Southeastern Conference backers, who will keep the crystal football in their neighborhood for an unprecedented fifth straight season. The Auburn quarterback withstood an interception, a lost fumble and a wince-inducing back injury to flash one more winner's smile.
• Pete Thamel, New York Times: But Auburn cannot lock the crystal championship trophy in a case until the N.C.A.A. finishes the Newton investigation. The N.C.A.A. enforcement staff has been looking into Newton’s recruitment for at least four months. If it finds that he or his family committed violations, he could be ruled ineligible retroactively and Auburn could be forced to vacate its season.
• Steve Weiberg, USA Today:  In a little more than three hours Monday night, it was settled. Cam Newton and Michael Dyer thrust. Darron Thomas and LaMichael James parried. And a new national champion was anointed in University of Phoenix Stadium, with Auburn's 22-19 win over Oregon closing one of the most fitful seasons of college football in recent history.  Deep breath now…
• Mike Freeman, CBS Sports:  His career -- and life -- will go down as one of the more interesting turnaround stories in college sports history. Because of a misguided father with an alleged hand out, Newton's life went under a microscope. There were the stories about his past, other unproven accusations, and he faced a nation of smirks. Since the SEC sometimes stands for Send Extra Cash, many assume Newton and his dad were in on the alleged con together.  … The father was convicted by the NCAA. The son was found guilty by a public whose confidence in the integrity of the system has been stripped bare.
• Thayer Evans, FOX Sports: And it’s because of Cecil Newton Sr. that you have to wonder whether Auburn will keep its national championship or eventually be stripped of it due to NCAA violations.  That was the last thing on Auburn’s mind after Monday night’s victory, but the first question for the rest of college football. “We know everything is right,” defensive tackle Mike Blanc said. “We know everything that’s going on.” But the reality is something different. The NCAA’s enforcement investigation into Newton’s recruitment is ongoing.
• Andy Staples, Sports Illustrated: Of course, this win-at-all-costs attitude can make for some rather messy situations. Auburn won the national title Monday, but the Tigers will always be remembered as controversial champions because quarterback Cam Newton's father tried to sell him to Mississippi State for $180,000. Logic would dictate that a player for sale to one school is for sale to all schools, but no one has found evidence of any wrongdoing by anyone at Auburn. The NCAA continues to investigate, though.  "Nothing is ever over, because you never know what tomorrow holds," Auburn athletic director Jay Jacobs said late Monday. "But as far as this issue goes, I have no reservation whatsoever. Cameron has always told the truth and never done anything wrong."

There is a distinctly unsettled air about this season, and for good reason. It’s been a roller coaster ride of investigation after investigation. Schools affected by agent and eligibility issues include North Carolina, Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama and the biggest, juiciest of all—the one at Auburn. Shades of USC were inevitably raised, since that school was hit with some of the worst sanctions in the history of the planet earlier this year. The school will likely lose its 2004 BCS Title, and the center of the story, Reggie Bush, surrendered his Heisman Trophy.

One wonders if a repeat is in store.

 

CamGate: NCAA still interviewing witnesses regarding Cam Newton’s recruitment

Two days before Cam Newton leads his team in pursuit of Auburn’s first ever legitimate National Championship, Fox Sports’ Thayer Evans reports that the NCAA has been interviewing witnesses in connection with the league’s ongoing investigation into Newton’s recruitment.

Evans’ piece appeared late Friday night, just in time to stir up another round of media buzz and controversy just before Newton and Auburn take the field against Oregon in the BCS Championship Game on Monday night in Glendale, Arizona.

Thayer writes:

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NCAA investigators have interviewed two Atlanta-area men about whether they were asked to or did deliver money to the father of Auburn quarterback Cameron Newton in connection with repairs to Cecil Newton Sr.’s church in Newnan, Ga.

Emory Wilcox and Eddie Norris were separately questioned the week before Christmas by two NCAA investigators, one of which was Jackie Thurnes, the NCAA’s associate director of enforcement.

Wilcox and Norris, listed on separate city permits for work to be done on Cecil Newton’s struggling Holy Zion Center of Deliverance, each told the NCAA investigators that they were never asked to deliver nor did they deliver money to Newton.

“There may be something there, but nothing related to me,” Norris told FOXSports.com.

NCAA spokeswoman Stacey Osborne declined comment, citing the NCAA’s policy of not commenting on current, pending or potential investigations.

The interviews are part of the NCAA’s enforcement investigation into the recruitment of Cameron Newton, whose father shopped him to Mississippi State for $180,000 in an attempted play-for-plan scheme.

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Emphasis added.

Contrast Evans’ understanding of the current situation with the meme being peddled by the Alabama state media cartel, al.com, and purported “beat writer” Charles Goldberg. If one reads Goldberg’s “reporting” on a regular basis, you’re fed this nonsense:

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**Newton said while his father is coming to Arizona, it doesn't mean he's going to the game. The NCAA told Auburn it should limit Cecil Newton Sr.'s contact after it found he sought money from Mississippi State boosters for his son to play there. The NCAA didn't find any wrongdoing involving Cam Newton and Auburn.

"My dad is coming to Arizona, I'm not aware if he's coming to the game," the quarterback said. "My mom has not sent me the list. Not to single out my father, but I want my mom there, I want my brothers there and I want my aunts there, and that's going to play a role in me being comfortable going into this game."

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Read the in-state coverage of the NCAA investigation and the ongoing investigations into political corruption and financial fraud, and one would think that there’s nothing going on here. The NCAA already investigated this whole thing, and found nothing wrong.

There’s no connection whatsoever between the alleged pay-for-play scheme and no possibility whatsoever of a criminal enterprise influencing—perhaps even controlling—a major college athletics program. That criminal enterprise has thought nothing of concocting shady deals to commit bank fraud. It’s accused of trying to buy the votes of corrupt politicians and ruin the careers of its critics. But none of that is real, if you live in the 334 area code and you’re part of the “fambly.” It’s all a big conspiracy cooked up by jealous bammers and other SEC rivals.

Right?

How much farther can an ostrich get its scruffy little head in the sand?

Don’t forget to check out The Timeline for the latest, up-to-date chronology of events surrounding what is quickly becoming AUBURGEDDON.

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AUBurgeddon: Why is a judge granting Ex Parte motions? UPDATED

Scroll down for updates.

Ex parte is a Latin legal term meaning either by or from one party. An Ex parte decision or order is made by a judge without requiring all parties to the case being represented. In both federal and state courts, the use and availability of Ex parte proceedings are sharply limited by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution, which provide protections against depriving a party of life, liberty or property without due process of law. In practice, this has led to any relief obtained through such proceedings to be temporary, and sooner or later the excluded party is given an opportunity to contest the appropriateness of the order before it can be made permanent.

But not always before the damage is done.

On January 5, 2011 news reports indicated that the federal government had expanded the scope of the criminal probe that currently has prominent Auburn University Booster Milton McGregor and 11 others under federal indictment and facing trial on April 04, 2010. Two of the original targets of the probe—Jennifer Pouncey and Jarrod Massey—have agreed to plead guilty in exchange for testimony.

Most troubling for those outside the scope of that case was the revelation by defense attorneys that the government was holding back considerable amounts of information provided by Massey, citing an ongoing criminal investigation of unknown individuals and unknown criminal activity.

That same day, US Magistrate Wallace Capel granted an Ex parte motion by the government, discontinued the Ex parte status of prior motions, but ordered the records SEALED:

  

This order confirms the news stories of January 5. The government is certainly expanding its probe, and feels the information contained in the record of Massey’s negotiations with the government is sensitive enough to remain under lock and key.

Recall from this post from last November that one of Milton McGregor’s first legal maneuvers was an attempt to seal all documents related to his indictment. Capel denied that motion, citing the public’s First Amendment right of access to criminal proceedings.

Wednesday’s ruling is vastly different from the earlier ruling on McGregor’s motion. In this instance, the court has apparently weighed the harm done to public access against the harm done to an ongoing criminal investigation, and found that unsealing the documents pertaining to Massey’s statements would harm the latter much more than the former.

Which means that we won’t know the scope of the expansion until the additional targets of the investigation are led away in handcuffs. This kind of uncertainty, combined with the knowledge that at least two people are already singing like happy canaries, creates enormous pressure on people who think they may be under the gun.

At least one prominent figure is believed to be sweating quite heavily, and sources indicate to me that the individual has even approached investigators with an offer to cooperate, only to be told that the matter is not “ripe enough” for that, just yet.

You will stay tuned, won’t you?

UPDATE: Federal prosecutors want Ronnie Gilley’s bond revoked, and claim that he attempted to bribe Jarrod Massey to withhold testimony.  h/t @rtrstokes

UPDATE: It’s 2011. D’oh!

 

 

 

AUBurgeddon: Prosecutors expanding criminal probe beyond original 11 (UPDATED)

Scroll down for the latest.

Didn’t I tell you that this was much larger than just a stellar quarterback with a greedy father?

Didn’t I tell you that this was larger than even the indictment of 11 casino owners, lobbyists and legislators over a vote-buying scheme?

Of course I did, and depending on where your loyalties lie, you either believed me, or you didn’t.

From WSFA 12 News in Montgomery, via the Associated Press:

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. (AP) - Federal prosecutors say in court papers that their gambling investigation in Alabama has grown beyond the legislators, lobbyists and casino owners who have already been indicted.

The disclosure comes in court papers involving notes from interviews the FBI did with Country Crossing casino lobbyist Jarrod Massey, who has pleaded guilty to bribery and conspiracy.

Federal prosecutors say they have provided other defendants with copies of the FBI's interview notes, with some material blacked out. They said the undisclosed material pertains to an ongoing criminal investigation involving facts beyond the scope of the indictment issued against 11 people in October.

Prosecutors say in the court papers that disclosure of the material at this time would risk exposing details of the investigation.

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It remains to be seen what the expanded scope of the investigation entails. Could it ensare other political figures in the state? I’d bet my last VictoryLand chip that it will.

Could it also ensnare people not involved in the original “scope of the indictment issued” against the McGregor Eleven? People associated with a major university, located about 55 miles up I-85 from Goat Hill?

Of course.

Update: Here is a more detailed report than what appeared at the WAAY site. I found the highlighted quote rather interesting.

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Coker's attorney said Wednesday the language in the court papers is not something the FBI routinely uses to try to keep notes private, and its presence is significant.

"There is definitely another investigation ongoing. What it entails I can't say," McKnight said.

Prosecutors have offered to give the complete notes to Coker's lawyer by Jan. 31 unless some reason arises to justify withholding the material. McKnight filed papers Wednesday saying he can agree to getting the notes no later than Jan. 31 "given the government's representation about the ongoing investigation."

Massey and Coker were among 11 people arrested Oct. 4 on an indictment accusing them of buying and selling votes on pro-gambling legislation. The remaining 10 defendants are scheduled for trial April 4.

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Well, now.  Whatever investigation could that be?

Don’t forget to visit the Timeline page for the complete rundown of events.

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AUBurgeddon: Coker quietly files motions seeking wiretaps

Typically, the one-week period between Christmas Day and New Year’s Day is among the quietest of the year in legal, political and government circles. Very little of any magnitude is attempted, negotiated or accomplished because so many lawyers, clerks, magistrates and judges are taking time off to spend with their families over the holidays. In fact, very little is done the week before or after Christmas for the same reasons. It’s the holidays. Who wants to be bothered with work?

The closing days of the 2010 calendar have been different.

The day after Jarrod Massey changed his plea in a deal with the government for his testimony, Tom Coker, another of the 11 indicted in connection with the scheme to buy votes in the Alabama legislature, filed a motion to compel the government to disclose the contents of the voluminous wiretapped recordings of phone conversations between lobbyists, legislators and others involved in the scheme. The government filed its response to Coker’s motion yesterday, December 30.

The motion, and the response from the government, have gone unnoticed by the legacy media.

Coker’s motion contains the following passage:

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1. On December 1, 2010, the Government notified Coker that it was going to make available the “binders submitted to Judge Hobbs during the course of the wiretaps” made in relation to this case.

2. However, the Government also wrote that “only counsel for Mr. McGregor, Mr. Gilley, and Mr. Massey will have access to the binders for their respective client’s phone line(s), as they contain material subject to privilege assertions by those three defendants.”

3. On December 8th, Coker’s counsel requested access to the binders also. In doing so, the undersigned wrote that “[a]ccording to phone logs you produced, over 80 captured communications involved calls to/from Coker’s office or cell phone number.”

Admittedly, numerous of these communications were voice mail messages or communications with Coker’s staff but not Coker himself. Nevertheless, several captured communications involve Coker and he is therefore entitled to access to the binders.

4. Last week, on December 14th, at the hearing before this Court, the Government stated that it was refusing to provide Coker access to these binders.

5. Accordingly, having attempted in good faith to resolve this issue with the Government, counsel now is required to seek the intervention of this Court.

6. Tom Coker is an aggrieved party under the wiretap laws. Under Title III, an
aggrieved person is defined as "a person who was a party to any intercepted wire, oral
or electronic communication or a person against whom the interception was directed".

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The government does not vigorously oppose Coker’s motion, but seeks to limit Coker’s access to certain “binders” because Milton McGregor asserts privilege over some of their contents.

Recall that one of the key developments in the Cam Newton investigation was the revelation that the FBI agents looking into the pay-for-play matter were interested in a connection between the Newtons and McGregor.

In a separate but potentially related matter, sources confirm that the New York Times has one or more freelancers in the state of Alabama, filing public records requests with the courts and unnamed state institutions and interviewing several individuals with direct or background knowledge of recruiting and corruption matters.

Recall also that Massey worked for Ronnie Gilley, the developer of the Country Crossings casino in southeast Alabama. He did not work for McGregor.  McGregor employed Robert Geddie and Tom Coker. Massey’s plea does not affect McGregor’s case. But a plea deal between the government and either Geddie, Coker or both would be devastating for the former director of Colonial Bank and Auburn booster.

The big development of the weeks ahead will be whether Coker is given access to the wiretap binders (which describe the contents of the recordings, not the recordings or transcripts themselves) and whether the press—and the public—is finally made aware of the contents.

Many believe those contents could implicate one or more of the 11 indictees in the alleged pay-for-play scandal that erupted onto the national scene on November 4. Others scoff at the notion and believe these issues to be unrelated.

Stay tuned, sports fans.

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Alabama Political Corruption and the Cam Newton NCAA Investigation

SCROLL DOWN for update.

Last month, readers of this blog were treated to a brief analysis of the events and court cases that literally kicked open the barn door. That posting noted that the cases could span from the state house in Montgomery to the President’s Mansion at Auburn University. Key events in those court cases and investigations leading up to them are included in the stand-alone Timeline. 

These cases demonstrate why the Auburgeddon that appears to be looming on the Plains is so much bigger than one star quarterback and a father with his hand out. They are also why the Cam Newton investigation is certainly not an orchestrated campaign by enemies of Auburn University or jealous conference competitors. But it is also clear that the cases are connected.

On Saturday, November 13, it became known that AU had again hired Lightfoot, Franklin and White, the Birmingham law firm that has represented the school in numerous other NCAA matters, including the 2002-2004 investigation into the men’s basketball program.

On December 1, the NCAA shocked the media, fans and collegiate sports by declaring Cam Newton eligible after conducting an investigation into the player’s amateur status.

On December 3, indicted Country Crossings owner Ronnie Gilley filed a motion requesting a continuance of his and ten others’ trial on charges of political corruption. One of the co-defendants in the case is Milton McGregor, former Colonial BancGroup Board Member and multi-million dollar booster for Auburn. Oral arguments were heard on December 15, and Judge Myron Thompson refused to move the trial back from its April 4 scheduled date.

So what, you ask? 

Sam Franklin, a Senior partner at Lightfoot, Franklin and White, is on the chop list in the court documents filed by Gilley’s lawyer. If the BingoGate case is not connected to an NCAA investigation, then why is Auburn’s NCAA counsel being served court documents in a supposedly unrelated case? What interests are being served by keeping a sports litigator in the loop in a federal criminal trial?

UPDATE: SportsByBrooks is picking this up, with screenshots of the court filings.

UPDATE II: The Dothan Eagle has the complete list of defendants and their counsel.

Cam Newton’s Laptop Revealed!

A Florida media company briefly had a look at the legendary laptop that Cam Newton confessed to stealing from a fellow UF Student.  The story, via teh innerwebs, is that the student-victim apparently asked the media company’s tech guy if he could retrieve some of the files from the system after the student-athlete tossed it out the window when police arrived.

You know what makes me think that eventually, ol’ $cam gets caught?  He ain’t too bright.

Notice where the hinges are on the laptop. When you open it up, it looks something like this:

Judge denies motion to move trial date

This story is an update of this morning’s post.  Scroll to the bottom for updates.

Oral arguments were heard today on a motion filed by Ronnie Gilley and eight other defendants in the ongoing probe into political corruption in Alabama. Gambling magnate Milton McGregor and State Senator Harri Anne Smith are the only two defendants not seeking a continuance, and the Government  strongly opposed it.

The deadline for motions and discovery had originally been set for December 30 of this year. If US District Court Judge Myron H. Thompson kept the April 4 trial date and the December 30 deadline in place, interesting things could take place as those dates approach.

Milton McGregor is a gambling and racetrack magnate in Alabama. He is also a prominent Auburn University booster and served on the Board of Directors for the failed Colonial BancGroup.  Colonial was the $26 billion bank holding company founded by another prominent Auburn supporter, Bobby Lowder.  Lowder has been on the Auburn Board of Trustees for decades, and has been accused of meddling and micromanaging the affairs of the university.  As a result of Board of Trustee micromanagement, the Southern Associations of Colleges and Schools (SACS) placed Auburn on probation.

Media reports have also linked McGregor to the ongoing probe into alleged pay-for-play schemes for athletes at Auburn. Those issues were brought to the forefront when ESPN.com broke the story that current Auburn Quarterback, Cameron Newton, had been shopped to at least one SEC school in late 2009. The FBI has already interviewed at least one of the key players in the scheme, John Bond. The FBI has refused to publicly acknowledge an investigation, but multiple and independent sources close to the investigation have told this blogger that the feds probe focuses on gambling, extortion, money laundering, human trafficking and conspiracy.

The NCAA, which granted eligibility status to Cam Newton earlier this month, has also refused to acknowledge that its enforcement division is currently investigating Auburn, but media sources close to the matter have been told that enforcement probes continue, and carefully worded press releases and statements by NCAA representatives strongly indicate this as well.

Judge Thompson is expected to release his decision on the motion to continue the BingoGate® trial as early as the end of the week.  His decision, and the effects it has on key role-players in the various probes, could produce developments associated with yet another federal probe, this one into bank fraud on the part of Lowder, McGregor and other people close to Auburn University.

This blog is also running a Timeline on the investigations, which is updated as news becomes available.  Please bookmark and visit often.

Welcome, Leather Helmet Blog readers!

Welcome, The Bama Page readers!

UPDATE: That was fast.  About an hour after the hearing, Judge Thompson refused to move the trial, but will revisit his decision in February or March, according to news reports.

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MONTGOMERY, AL. (WSFA) - A judge ruled Tuesday not to move the trial date for suspects in the Bingo Corruption case.

The trial date was originally set for April 4, 2011.

The Defense argued they didn't have enough time to sort through all of the evidence in just four months.

Victoryland casino owner Milton McGregor, Country Crossing casino developer Ronnie Gilley and state Sens. Harri Anne Smith, James Preuitt, Larry Means and Quinton Ross Jr. were indicted back in October on federal corruption charges.

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UPDATE II: The court is also modifying case deadlines.  US Magistrate Wallace Capel ordered the prosecution to submit all discovery by Monday and identify the documents  specifically pertaining to each defendant, and provide that information to the defense team in early January.

UPDATE III: An eyewitness to today’s oral arguments provides the following information:

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“McGregor asked to be severed from the other defendants. It is widely believed that Senator Smith has flipped, but that did not come out in the hearing.

“Based on the hearing, I am fairly confident in saying that early reports that pay for play was not mentioned on the wiretaps are unfounded. It may be that McGregor knows that just because he never mentioned it on the phone, but it is not due to a review of the wiretaps themselves. The transcripts are voluminous and no one, other than the government, really knows what is on them yet.

“Several mentions were made to another investigation in northern Alabama. The parties were rather obscure about what exactly that meant.”

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CamGate: “Buying a Tiger”

I’ve tried resisting posting this video.  Really.  I have.  But I… just… can’t… resist… anymore.

Enjoy.

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Media Cartel Mouthpiece: “Move to Georgia.”

Kevin Scarbinsky started off really well in his column in the Birmingham News today.  No, honestly Kevin… You really did.  It’s a great half of a piece that touts the state’s two-year run in outstanding college football and rubs Texas, Florida and California’s nose in the fact that, despite those other state’s massive population, economic educational and political advantages, the State of Alabama has become the top dog in the state of college football.  He notes that, in the history of the sport, no state has ever had two different programs from within its borders win back-to-back national championships and back to back Heisman Trophy winners. 

But Kev, ya go straight down the slippery slope from there.

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This should be the greatest time ever to be a football fan in the state of Alabama. So why do so many fans want to make the worst of it?

It's not everyone, but you know who you are. If you're not posting fantasy conspiracy theories on message boards, you're whining and crying and embarrassing yourselves on talk radio.

It's a vocal minority of Alabama fans and Auburn fans. At least, I hope it's a minority.

Bill Curry had the perfect name for you: Fellowship of the Miserable. Instead of respecting and appreciating what the other side has accomplished, some of you act like your rival just stole your mascot.

It's past time to lighten up, smell the roses and enjoy the warmth of the desert.

Alabama and Auburn have given us one memorable season after another, highlighted by two straight epic Iron Bowl comebacks. All of us who live in this state and care about this sport should be in a state of bliss.

If you're too full of bitterness and resentment to enjoy it, you could always move to Georgia and cheer for the Bulldogs and Yellow Jackets. I hear Memphis and Shreveport are lovely this time of year.

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I should note that back in August, I predicted that Auburn would be a major player in the SEC. Most Alabama fans watched in respect and anticipation as Auburn rolled through its schedule undefeated, sensing a Clash of SEC Titans in the 2010 Iron Bowl.  That respect turned to shock, then horror, and finally disgust from November 4, when ESPN first broke the story that Cam Newton’s father was shopping him in a pay for play scheme; through December 1, when the NCAA incredibly declared Newton eligible on what amounts to a loophole. 

After watching Alabama lose to Auburn in the Iron Bowl, most Alabama fans would have grudgingly but honestly supported Auburn against South Carolina in the SEC Championship Game, and eventually against Oregon in the BCS National Championship Game in Glendale next month.

That is, if there wasn’t an overwhelming sense that someone has cheated and gotten away with it.

Contrary to Scarbinsky’s belief, this overwhelming sense isn’t limited to Alabama fans.  It’s common to pretty much everyone without allegiance to the Loneliest Village on the Plains. It’s the national media. It’s four major conference commissioners. It’s almost every college football fan outside of the 334 area code.

But Scarbinsky’s column brings up an interesting oddity.  It’s an embarrassment too—one that directly contradicts the column’s opening sentiment that Alabama is somehow better than the big boys in the big states.  Here’s the deal, sports fans:

ESPN, the New York Times, Yahoo! Sports and other big boy news outlets kicked your ass in uncovering a story that you should have known, could have known or would have known about if you were doing your damned jobs. If you were being journalists instead of tisk-tisking at the silly fanatical followers of the two schools, you’d have had this story and be winning awards.

Instead, you copped an attitude and you got scooped, big time.

Worse still, instead of mobilizing some of your resources to get in front of the story, the entire media cartel represented by al.com has circled the wagons, with chump piece after chump piece from beat writers, columnists and editors giving a pass to a player with a checkered academic and legal record the benefit of the doubt.  They’ve also given a pass to the player’s father, who also has a history of being a bit less than candid about the alleged pay for play scheme. “There’s no evidence” is now the same as “I believe thieves, cheats and proven liars.”

It’s as astonishing as it is embarrassing.

My questions to Scarbinsky and the rest of the cartel members at al.com: “When did you stop becoming journalists and start becoming cheerleaders?” And, “Any chance of you guys going back to finding sources and reporting facts?”

Answer at your convenience, ladies and gentlemen.

Meanwhile, my part-time hobbyist blog has more credibility than you do.

Great Read on Cam Newton Scandal… From a Buckeye

One of the best “big picture” analyses you will read regarding the Cam Newton situation at Auburn, and how it plays into the much larger investigation into political corruption, bank fraud and money laundering. It’s a very long piece, but worth the extra cup of coffee or bag of popcorn you’ll need to read the whole thing.

It comes from Dan Wismar at TheClevelandFan.com, a site dedicated to all things athletic in Cleveland, Ohio. Wismar is no “bammer.” He’s an Ohio State Buckeye fan, through and through.

Excerpts:

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There are potentially troublesome athletic boosters insinuating themselves into nearly every major college football and basketball program in the country, but you could say Bobby Lowder redefines the position. As a member of the Auburn Board of Trustees for 27 years, and the sitting chairman of the university Finance Committee, Lowder has essentially run Auburn athletics as his private preserve for decades.

Auburn football coaches, athletic directors...even university presidents, serve at his pleasure. A 1964 graduate of the school, Lowder and his parents have donated as much as $20 million to Auburn over the years, and several campus buildings bear their name. As a self-made CEO of a major regional bank with over $25 billion in assets, Lowder's passion for his work was exceeded only by his passion for Auburn football. He has often been called the most powerful man in the State of Alabama.

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One sports web site titled an article on Lowder, "What if a Booster Ran an SEC School's Budget?"   Exactly. What could go wrong? At this point, the question is: What has gone wrong? Few would argue today that Lowder's influence on Auburn athletics, while fanatically well-intended, has been a malign and destructive one more than it has served the university's interests.

Lowder has by many accounts presided over a longstanding system of buying and paying Auburn football players through a network of surrogates including assistant coaches and other boosters. This is hardly just a matter of unsupported rumor, or of bad faith accusations by Auburn's rivals (though there is plenty of the latter going on). The school has a track record of NCAA violations of this sort ever since Pat Dye Jr. was forced out as Athletic Director in 1991, and a year later as head coach, based on NCAA findings that Auburn was paying players.

And that doesn't even count 1957, when Auburn went undefeated, but was not allowed to play in a bowl game owing to...you guessed it...previous recruiting violations. Since Bobby Lowder was 13 at the time, I guess we can't hang that one on him.

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From Dye to Bowden and then to Tommy Tuberville, Lowder always had his eye on his next coach. In 2008, after Tuberville had lost five of six SEC games down the stretch, Lowder dispatched his interim President, his AD Housel, and a couple of Board members in the Colonial BancCorp corporate jet to Louisville to meet secretly with then-Louisville coach Bobby Petrino, and offer him the Auburn job. The plane was identified, and word of the meeting leaked. The Iron Bowl with Alabama had yet to be played, and Lowder had undermined his coach in an incident that came to be called "Jetgate".

Petrino wisely turned Auburn down, but Tuberville was justifiably angry, and Lowder was justifiably criticized for his ham-handedness. It wasn't long though, before Tuberville was out, and Lowder was back searching for a coach he could control.

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Cam Gate: It’s come to this – QB’s for sale on Ebay

You knew this was going to happen, sooner or later!

The opening bid is $10.50. But if this kid grows up to be as good of a football player as Cam Newton, and pops can keep him from lifting laptops, cheating on term papers and violating traffic laws, he’s a slam dunk to reach the current going rate for Heisman hopefuls.

One Eighty Large.

(note: That auction is certain to be pulled so here’s another snapshot, just for the sake of posterity)

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What we learned from the NCAA’s reinstatement of Cam Newton

Lord knows I have only an acolyte's knowledge of how the NCAA deliberative processes work, but I learned something yesterday. Three things, actually. The conventional wisdom was that the NCAA as a whole makes decisions after investigations have been completed and  the enforcement staff has all of the evidence.  After careful consideration of that evidence, precedents from previous cases and the unique circumstances of the situation, they make the call.

Yesterday's precedent setting decision threw some water on that. The water flows both ways, though. The reinstatement and eligibility determinations are made separate from the enforcement staff’s investigations. The reinstatement issues relate only to the eligibility of student-athletes involved in an incident, based on information provided by the institution's own investigations and discussions between the eligibility and academic affairs folks at the NCAA and the member institution.

But enforcement investigations are separate from the eligibility and academic side of the house. Those investigations are performed by NCAA staff doing their own sleuthing, and determine whether or not the institution has violated league rules. The fact that a reinstatement has taken place does not mean that an investigation has completed. In fact, yesterday's ruling makes it patently obvious that there will be additional investigation of this.

It’s not over:

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Based on the information available to the reinstatement staff at this time, we do not have sufficient evidence that Cam Newton or anyone from Auburn was aware of this activity, which led to his reinstatement.

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Reinstatement decisions are independent of the NCAA enforcement process and typically are made once the facts of the student-athlete’s involvement are determined. The reinstatement process is likely to conclude prior to the close of an investigation. It is NCAA policy not to comment on current, pending or potential investigations.

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NCAA press releases are very carefully worded communiqués. There is very little in them that is ambiguous or left open to widely varying interpretation. If you put these two statements in their only logical context, then you understand that the NCAA is announcing that they’ve made a decision based on information they have on hand, provided by the member institution and the responsible parties, but that an investigation is ongoing. You don’t state that you’ve made a decision based on information available at a certain point in time, and then state that reinstatements come about before the close of an investigation if there is no ongoing investigation. They’ve determined that Cam Newton’s eligibility was not compromised by the CamGate incident, but they are still in the process of determining whether Auburn University was in violation of league rules.

One thing we do no about NCAA enforcement staff investigative process is that once they start digging, any and all potential rules violations are on the menu. The NCAA, in the process of digging into the Newton case, may find violations associated with any other players in any other sports or in the whole athletic program.  History has also shown that when the NCAA enforcement arm wants to hammer a member institution, they mash-up whatever rules they need to, interpret them however they want to and follow or ignore whatever precedents they want to, and you are toast. In other words, member institutions are expected to follow very carefully worded bylaws. But the enforcement staff follows its own rules, and those are not necessarily the same ones.

I’d like to take this opportunity to correct some misperceptions about the genesis of the NCAA’s investigation of Newton’s recruitment. Media reports state that the NCAA began looking into the matter in November. This is incorrect. In the original ESPN.com story that broke the new to the public, the NCAA was made aware of the issue by Mississippi State University in June and had requested records from Cecil Newton in October of 2010. This also roughly coincides with the indictment of Milton McGregor, the unsealing of those indictments by a court decision, and with the completion of repairs to Newton’s church. The sense in the media is that the NCAA wrapped up an investigation into Newton’s recruitment and exonerated Auburn in about one month’s time. That is not supported by the record of events.

Two other things were learned from yesterday’s release, also. First, the NCAA apparently didn’t consider the law of unintended consequences when it refused to impose multigame suspensions or vacation of wins. It absolutely will open the floodgates of runners, agents and relatives soliciting payments for letters of intent. As long as the prospect has plausible deniability, yesterday’s ruling sets a precedent that would allow the player to escape a penalty for his handlers’ actions. That is a dreadful, dreadful precedent and it needs to be fixed before college recruiting becomes a double-blind silent auction for the services of 18-year olds.

Secondly, we learned that the SEC played the role of the toothless whore in this whole affair. When Cecil Newton copped to shopping Cam to Mississippi State during the meeting with the NCAA and Auburn on November 11, Mike Slive should have stepped in and issued a suspension. It had everything it needed to do so—both the power and the evidence to support the decision. Knowing what we know now—that the NCAA eligibility staff, the SEC and Auburn legal counsel hammered out a deal—the SEC should have suspended Cam to maintain the integrity of the conference. It failed, and failed miserably.

The best possible outcome of this is that all investigations conclude and Auburn University, Mississippi State University and Cam Newton are proven to have done absolutely nothing wrong. Mississippi State would be proven right in refusing the pay-for-play offer and reporting it to the authorities. Auburn would be proven right in playing an athlete that it had recruited honestly and sincerely had no knowledge of chicanery, and Newton honestly didn’t know his father was on the take.

But given what we know about ongoing federal investigations of ties between prominent Auburn trustees and boosters and the institution’s financial and athletic affairs, and given the history those characters have had with regulatory violations of appalling nature, that utopian outcome seems far fetched.

And given the careful wording of the NCAA’s statement yesterday, we may still have a lot to learn in the months, perhaps even years to come.  This is far from being over, and anyone who thinks it ended yesterday is delusional.

Around the web: What they’re saying about the Cam Newton decision

Chase Goodbread:  Here’s the rub: The NCAA and its individual member institutions make things public when they want to, and no sooner. The idea that all this paperwork shuffled from the NCAA to Auburn and back again in 72 hours without prior agreements being made is far-fetched. More likely, Auburn knew what was coming from the NCAA Monday, and knew the edge of the reinstatement boomerang would come back quickly, and with a soft edge.
As for the merits of the decision, they stand on their own. If the NCAA could not find any reason to declare Newton ineligible, he should be allowed to play, and play without having to explain his own actions or anyone else’s. But for an organization that has proven over the course of many years to move at a much slower pace, one can only wonder if the same speed would have been afforded an NCAA swimmer or golfer. Or any athlete who didn’t happen to be a Heisman front-runner, a potential national champion and a lightning rod for the sport all at the same time.

John Pennington: Let the questions begin:

1.  What was the violation that occurred?  If sources are correct, it’s likely the fact that his father did ask MSU boosters for cash.  But that’s not been verified yet.

2.  Why did the NCAA decide not to punish Newton?  Every case is different.  “Yeah, yeah” say Alabama and Georgia and Mississippi State and Kentucky fans.  “Why were Marcel Dareus, AJ Green, Renardo Sidney and Enes Kanter forced to sit for their violations?”  Plenty of folks will demand answers over this one.

3.  If our belief in Point One that Newton’s dad admitted to asking for cash is correct, then Mike Slive will have an interesting decision to make.  The SEC’s by-laws state that no parent or guardian or other agent can solicit money on behalf of a player without the player being ruled ineligible.  By the letter of the law — IF Point One was the violation spoken of — Newton should be declared ineligible.

Jason Kirk:  Cam Newton was ineligible for one day, meaning AJ Green's jersey was worth $5.1 Million. We tried to do the Cam Newton-to-A.J. Green conversion math before, but apparently we had it backwards. Mistakenly thinking Newton’s punishment for his dad’s $180,000 solicitation should line up with Green’s four-week suspension for selling a jersey for $1,000, we concluded Newton should be suspended for 67 years. Only one of us went to Georgia Tech though, so you’ll excuse our math.

Spencer Hall: It means that among the many mysteries here, we know that there's more to come, even if that only "more" is the final "okay, we're through there, and the investigation is over." It is a legitimate question to ask whether the Newtons are excused from this entirely, or if it will turn to focus on Kenny Rogers and agent contact, or who the hell knows. The timing of the rest of the case will likely be as sluggish as the rest of the NCAA's investigations have been, but the most nagging thing of all in the short-term thinking re: l'affaire du Newton is this: why now?