Judge blocks Portage Mayor Snyder's attempt to get FBI records
Chicago Tribune
January 14, 2019
https://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/post-tribune/news/ct-ptb-snyder-trial-day-one-st-0112-story.html
A federal judge has temporarily barred attorneys for indicted Portage Mayor James Snyder from getting personnel records for an FBI agent.
Snyder’s legal team appeared in federal court Monday in Hammond at the start of the mayor’s public corruption trial, and started the day arguing to access records on an FBI agent who handled the case. Judge Joseph Van Bokkelen declined to allow the defense to get those records but will address the issue more as the trial progresses.
The first day of trial began with Van Bokkelen considering the personnel records issue and a second matter involving a conversation between a confidential source and the mayor. Once the judge handled those issues, he began the nearly five-hour process of seating 12 jurors and three alternates.
Opening arguments and witness testimony starts Tuesday.
Snyder was indicted in November 2016 and charged with allegedly violating a federal bribery statue. Federal prosecutors said the mayor allegedly solicited money from John Cortina, of Kustom Auto Body, and “Individual A” and gave them a towing contract for Portage.
Snyder received an additional bribery indictment for alleged accepting $13,000 in connection with a Board of Works contract, and allegedly obstructing Internal Revenue Service laws.
Snyder has pleaded not guilty to the charges, according to court documents.
Cortina, who was indicted alongside the mayor, last week pleaded guilty to a charge that he paid bribes to Snyder to get a spot on the tow list. Cortina is expected to cooperate with federal investigators against Snyder, according to court documents.
The defense sought to subpoena the personnel records on an FBI agent who worked the Snyder case to investigate possible allegations that the agent “overreached” while seeking records during the investigation into the mayor.
Defense attorney Jackie Bennett Jr. said an attorney who once represented a witness in the case alleged that the FBI agent demanded attorney-client privileged material and even screamed at the attorney for not providing the records. Bennett said the attorney also alleged that the agent had been disciplined and transferred to another office because of his reported conduct.
“We don’t know if it’s true,” Bennett said. “It’s entirely possible it’s utterly false.”
Bennett said the defense sought the personnel records to explore the allegations made against the agent.
“This is a serious allegation,” Bennett said. He said what could be revealed in the personnel file would speak to the agent’s credibility.
Federal prosecutors asked the judge to block the subpoena, according to court records, and even a top FBI lawyer said that the information being sought was not subject to disclosure.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jill Koster said any subpoena for records presented to the attorney would have come from the U.S. Attorney’s Office and not an individual FBI agent. Koster said there is nothing improper about the government seeking billing invoices from an attorney, and rebuffed comments about the agent’s temperament.
“I have never seen him lose his temper,” Koster said.
The agent had testified during prior evidentiary hearings, Koster said, and the defense had an opportunity to raise those questions. Koster said they likely didn’t because they knew the agent’s response would be no.
Koster said the agent took a promotion and was transferred to a new position in another office.
“This whole story, none of it adds up,” Koster said.
Van Bokkelen agreed to block the subpoena but left room for the defense to bring those issues up later in the trial.
The second issue involved a conversation Snyder had with a confidential source, later identified as his brother, Jon Snyder, that was reported back to the FBI. Van Bokkelen has agreed to suppress the contents of that conversation.
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