Thursday, January 19, 2006
Dean Zimmerman Charged
Dean Zimmerman was charged with accepting bribes and accepting the gift of a retaining wall for his ex-girlfriend. Zimmerman was a member of the Minneapolis City Council, one of two elected Greens on that body. Both he and Natalie Johnson Lee were defeated for re-election this fall, the only incumbent Greens not re-elected. Hit the "Read more!" link below to get more info...The Duluth News Tribune reports that Zimmerman has been charged with accepting $5000 from a developer, and another $2200 in cash later from the same developer. He's accused of accepting the money in direct exchange for his help as a member of the City Council.
Apparently Zimmerman will not deny accepting the money but will say that they were contributions and not bribes. I will reserve judgment, especially since the FBI has done so poor a job of handling Zimmerman's case, but I am having a really, really hard time seeing how this is not inappropriate, and inconsistent with Green values.
I can not and will not judge Zimmerman. There are courts and lawyers and judges for that. But if there in fact is a video tape of Zimmerman asking for and getting a bribe, then he should follow the Green key value of personal responsibility and accept responsibility for his actions.
Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that Zimmerman is guilty. I tend to believe he is not guilty because I want him to be innocent, but what I am saying is, if the video shows him breaking the law, he should consider doing us and the Green movement a favor and accept his role. If he is in fact innocent and is being subjected to an FBI persecution, he must tell us that too so we can move.
I am not a lawyer. I can't advise Zimmerman on anything. I'm just sad, and hope that good will eventually come from this bad situation.
Apparently Zimmerman will not deny accepting the money but will say that they were contributions and not bribes. I will reserve judgment, especially since the FBI has done so poor a job of handling Zimmerman's case, but I am having a really, really hard time seeing how this is not inappropriate, and inconsistent with Green values.
I can not and will not judge Zimmerman. There are courts and lawyers and judges for that. But if there in fact is a video tape of Zimmerman asking for and getting a bribe, then he should follow the Green key value of personal responsibility and accept responsibility for his actions.
Let me be clear. I am in no way saying that Zimmerman is guilty. I tend to believe he is not guilty because I want him to be innocent, but what I am saying is, if the video shows him breaking the law, he should consider doing us and the Green movement a favor and accept his role. If he is in fact innocent and is being subjected to an FBI persecution, he must tell us that too so we can move.
I am not a lawyer. I can't advise Zimmerman on anything. I'm just sad, and hope that good will eventually come from this bad situation.
// posted by Gregg Jocoy @ 9:35 AM 
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I'll also reserve judgment. Clearly, if the law was broken, that is against the values of the Party. I will say, however, that Zimmerman's DFL (Democrat-Farmer-Labor) opponent in the last election ran at one point against a fellow DFLer in a primary - and his opponent then was also investigated by the FBI right before their election.
# posted by 
: 11:33 AM
: 11:33 AM
I think Dean Zimmerman is innocent because I know him and it is so out of character. I also know that he racked up a huge legal debt fighting the gerrymandering of his district. The money that was accepted was to pay off that debt as I understand it. Apparently he asked for money to pay off that debt in a way that investigators - used to craven politicians - misinterpreted. Or maybe they didn't misinterpret, and he will easily be found innocent by a jury that will clearly see no intent to bribe in the tape.
Dean Myerson
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Dean Myerson
# posted by : 11:42 AM
: 11:42 AM << Home
