Traficant uses radio show to vent about trial

The congressman said some of his former staffers who testified against him are 'vindictive.'
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
CLEVELAND -- It was all there. The bravado. The accusations of prosecutorial misconduct. And of course, U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. slipped in a "beam me up" during his time on a Cleveland talk radio program.
Traficant, a Poland Democrat, went on WTAM-AM's early evening radio program, with host Mike Trivisonno, on Thursday. Traficant went on the air about 6:10, saying he would have been there earlier, but prosecutors in his federal corruption trial held him at the courthouse in Cleveland for a long time discussing procedural issues related to his case.
It was Traficant's second media appearance this week. He was a guest Tuesday on Fox News' "Hannity and Colmes" show.
Easy questions: Traficant spoke for more than an hour, handling largely softball questions tossed to him by Trivisonno and his sidekick, Kim Mihalik, neither sounding as if they knew much about the congressman's trial on charges including racketeering, bribery and tax evasion.
Traficant's inaccurate statement that "every key figure in this case has struck a plea agreement with the government" went unchallenged, and the duo did not follow up on a question about why Traficant has associated himself with "shady characters" when the congressman failed to answer it.
Complaints: Traficant, a nine-term congressman, used the airtime in Cleveland to complain about the case and in particular, the racketeering charge he faces.
"They're using [the racketeering charge] to go after things that are ridiculous," he said. "Who am I conspiring with? The Welcome Wagon? Who did I racketeer with? Who did I conspire with?"
Traficant admits he's done things in his life that he's not proud of, but he maintains his innocence.
"I don't want to make it sound like I'm a choir boy," he said. "... You do things that you don't know break the law."
Traficant told a story about talking to a friend who looked at the "paper trail" in the corruption trial and believes the congressman will be found guilty.
Traficant also said he holds no animosity toward those who have testified against him in his trial.
"I have disgruntled staffers, who didn't like who I hired, who are vindictive," he said. "I won't let the government separate us. I won't say anything bad about them. There isn't one person who's testified who isn't my friend."
Talked of vendetta: Traficant repeated a familiar tune when he said that federal prosecutors had a vendetta against him for his ability to successfully defend himself against charges in 1983 that he accepted bribes from the Mafia.
Traficant said organized crime figures were behind his original indictment because "the mob was destroyed when I became sheriff" of Mahoning County.
skolnick@vindy.com