FBI's silence not good for voters

Once again the FBI looms large in an election in the Mahoning Valley, and once again voters are forced to determine for themselves whe-ther the rumors, innuendos and whispers are based on fact or are nothing more than political dirty tricks.
If the FBI remains true to form, agents will not even say whether Trumbull County Commissioner James Tsagaris is a target in the ongoing federal investigation of government corruption in the county. And, they certainly won't comment on the credibility of claims being made by Don Manning, Tsagaris' Republican opponent in the November general election.
Why won't the FBI let the public know what's going on? Because it is the agency's policy not to do anything before an election that could influence the outcome of the voting.
Thus, when Manning, the GOP nominee who ran unsuccessfully for county clerk of courts, contends that he has met with an FBI agent and that as a result of that conversation has no doubt Tsagaris is a target of the federal government, who's to say he's lying.
Tsagaris, seeking a second four-year term as the Democratic nominee, has countered that his opponent is blowing smoke -- but the seeds of doubt have been planted.
That's what makes the FBI's policy of silence so ludicrous.
Will of the people
Should voters choose to ignore Manning's claims and re-elect the incumbent, and then the federal government indicts the commissioner, the will of the people to return him to office would certainly not be assured.
Think back to what occurred two years ago when James A. Traficant Jr. was seeking re-election to the 17th District congressman seat.
Traficant of Poland, D-17th, publicly acknowledged during the campaign that he was the target of a federal probe and that he expected to be indicted on criminal charges. Neither the FBI nor the Justice Department would officially confirm that they had the goods on the congressman.
He won a ninth, two-year term, and not long after was indicted. Ten criminal charges, including racketeering, bribery and tax evasion, among others, were brought against him. He was convicted in federal court after acting as his own lawyer, was expelled from the House of Representatives and is now serving an eight-year term in federal prison in Pennsylvania.
Would Traficant have won re-election in 2000 had the federal government acknowledged publicly that it was investigating the congressman and that an indictment was imminent? Probably not.
A similar situation occurred when Martin Emrich, a Mahoning County Court judge, was seeking re-election in 1998.
There had been federal documents pertaining to the FBI's crackdown on organized crime and government corruption in Mahoning County that implicated Emrich, but he vehemently denied that he was a target when questioned by Vindicator writers.
Indeed, he challenged the newspaper to call the FBI and say that he had authorized the agency to release tape recordings that supposedly had him talking to alleged mobsters about cases in his court. A call to the FBI proved to be an exercise in futility. Officials would not even admit that Emrich was on their radar screen.
Despite The Vindicator's expressing its misgivings about Emrich's credibility and believability, the voters of the county court jurisdiction returned him to office -- with a 10,000-vote margin. But in March 2000, he was escorted out of his Austintown home in handcuffs by FBI agents, charged with extortion and taking cash during his election campaigns from mob boss Lenine Strollo. Strollo has since pleaded guilty to racketeering charges and is now a government informant and witness.
Different outcome
Would the outcome of the Emrich election have been different had the federal government moved on the case before voters went to the polls? Absolutely.
That's why the FBI's silence isn't golden.
Tsagaris has a right to have his name cleared if he isn't a target of any investigation. Likewise, Manning deserves to be repudiated if he has spun a political yarn about meeting with the FBI and receiving information that would prompt him to point an accusatory finger at the incumbent.
Rumors have been circulating for months that federal indictments are being prepared against several Trumbull County officeholders, but to date nothing has taken place. And the longer the investigation drags on, the greater the opportunity for individuals like Don Manning to toss out allegations.