Davich: Officials’ three magic words: ‘Off the record’
Post Tribune
JERRY DAVICH
November 5, 2014
“Off the record.”
I hear this phrase on an almost daily basis from region officials who want me to know their insights about certain issues, but not with their name attached. I heard it more often as Election Day approached, with political candidates even more leery about controversial topics, campaign strategies or mudslinging gossip.
These behind-the-scenes insights forced me to look differently at many of the candidates who were running for public office in this past midterm election. I learned that one candidate struggles with bipolar-related anger issues (he won his race), another one is a delusional megalomaniac (he lost his office). I voted accordingly.
“Jerry, this is just between you and me – you know, off the record, so you know the truth,” a Northwest Indiana mayor told me recently.
He then told me what I needed to know to write my column, though he was never mentioned. This is a commonplace exchange for journalists. For many, their bread and butter. Always has been. We rely on such insights, information or confirmation of rumored facts.
Talking-head officials, especially the polished ones, know this and they’re quick to preface any conversation with those three magic words: Off the record. When I’m doing an interview in person, I will literally put down my pen and turn off my recorder, to show them I understand their concerns.
It’s my way to show respect, as well as appreciation of their trust in me. (If I was a public official, I would certainly think twice before talking with someone like me, that’s for sure.)
Some bureaucrats still remain leery, insisting for verbal confirmation that I will not attach their name to what I’m told. Others will quietly escort me away from any crowds to whisper in my ear, literally. I once had a police detective usher me away from any crowds three times during the same conversation involving his department. That’s how paranoid he was about talking to me in public.
“You can never be too safe about this stuff,” he told me, his eyes darting back and forth.
A couple weeks back, I was asked to meet with a well-known public officeholder who wanted to have an entire conversation with me off the record. He asked to meet with me for coffee somewhere and I had him choose the restaurant. Why? I knew he was nervous about being seen in public with me, or with any media type for that matter.
“How about this place?” he asked, referring to a national chain restaurant. “I don’t know of a lot of politicians who meet there.”
He’s right. Most pols seem to gravitate to local eateries, coffeehouses or bars where they know the owners, the servers and most of the customers. They feel like Norm from “Cheers.” Great for the ego, I’m guessing.
So we met at the national chain joint for breakfast and this guy told me how the FBI has been grilling him for months about his recordkeeping, his office and even his personal finances. He’s been a wreck over it, causing him enough grief to lose weight and, to a degree, lose his sanity.
“Jerry, it’s brutal,” he told me, shaking his head and stirring his coffee.
He explained to me about a parallel world existing in this region that swirls around targeted public officials under the feds’ microscope, whether they’re guilty of wrongdoing or not. This underworld soon includes questions for anyone remotely associated with the target, including their friends, family and even church pastors.
“Let me tell you, it’s the worst, it’s sheer terror,” he told me.
Or as one targeted public official once told me: “It’s un-American is what it is. They pull your credit reports, they scan your files, they ask for all your receipts, some dating back a decade.”
Some of these targeted officeholders get trained by the feds on how to take a bribe – with a wire attached to them – to catch any wrongdoing by others.
So why did this particular officeholder tell me all this over a 90-minute conversation?
“It’s not fair and someone like you needs to know what’s going on, just in case,” he said. “This isn’t only about me, but for anyone in this position. A lot of it is just perception.”
Perception is reality, especially in politics. For many public officials it’s all that matters anyway. This is why “off the record’ is used so often by so many of them, including ones who do nothing wrong. They don’t mind sharing information. They just can’t be held accountable for its origin or responsible for its consequences.
Keep this in mind when reading newspaper stories, media accounts or this column space. And if you want me to know something I otherwise wouldn’t, or possibly shouldn’t, don’t forget to first say those three magic words.
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