Time: Wed Dec 03 08:00:15 1997 To: From: Paul Andrew Mitchell [address in tool bar] Subject: SLS: Former 7-Term Congressman Takes Aim at Reno's Justice (fwd) Cc: Bcc: sls References: <snip> > >THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE >November 30, 1997 > >Hansen Takes Aim at Reno's Justice > >BY CHRISTOPHER SMITH > > POCATELLO, Idaho -- At a time when other former > seven-term congressmen are counting strokes on the golf > course, George Hansen is counting his teeth. He's missing > 24 from his three stints in prison, along with all his > toenails. > > Hansen doesn't sit on any corporation's board of directors > or manage his investments from a downtown suite. He lives > in a rented Pocatello apartment and drives a leased white > Honda. > > He doesn't hang out with congressional cronies or lionize his > career. Indeed, he's lucky if some of his former colleagues > even return his calls. > > A lot of people have forgotten about George Hansen -- the > flamboyant former Idaho congressman whose rocky > adventures with foreign policy, the Internal Revenue > Service, campaign finance and the federal prison system > dominated political headlines in the Intermountain West for > most of the 1980s. > > But he's back -- and leading a Utah-based group seeking an > investigation into the death of federal prisoner Kenneth > Trentadue. On the political landscape of the Intermountain > West, few characters stand out like George Vernon Hansen, > a Mormon kid from Tetonia, Idaho, who climbed the ladder > of political power only to plunge in a belly-flop of scandal, > financial ruin and imprisonment. > > He was George the Dragon Slayer, a moniker loyal > followers bestowed for his ceaseless battles with the IRS, > Occupational Safety and Health Administration and the > Immigration and Naturalization Service on behalf of > ``ordinary people.'' > > He was Poor Old Lonesome George, a title he gave himself > in a bawling 1984 speech on the House floor before he was > reprimanded for filing false financial disclosure reports. > > He was Globetrotting George, who went to Iran twice without > authorization in the late '70s to negotiate the release > of American hostages. He went to Bolivia to try to break a > constituent's son out of prison. He went to Nicaragua to tell > dictator Antonio Somoza that he had the ``full support'' of > the United States. He went to Taiwan and promised leaders > they would get equipment to complete their ``atomic > program.'' And he went to Kuwait after the 1992 invasion > by Iraq and declared the United States was ``overreacting.'' > > He was Unsinkable George, winning re-election in the face > of scandals that would have torpedoed the most adept > politician. Even when he was on the doorstep of a prison > cell, Hansen came only 170 votes short of keeping his > congressional seat. > > And he was Jailhouse George, serving four years in prison > for two separate crimes -- one that later turned out to be an > illegal conviction. In prison he went on hunger strikes, grew > an ``AIDS beard'' to protest the sharing of razors among > inmates, claimed he was repeatedly denied dental care, got > recurring bursitis from having his legs shackled all the time, > and pulled his own toenails out by the roots to avoid the > pain of hangnails from too-small prison-issue shoes. > > Back in Action: Although 67 years old now, Hansen > remains a Great Dane of a man with a bearpaw handshake > and a 6-foot-6 frame that, while never returning to his > pre-incarceration fighting weight of 330 pounds, would still > serve an offensive lineman well. > > He is only now emerging from a self-imposed hibernation, a > purposeful attempt to stay out of the media spotlight. His > release from prison last year after serving three years for > bank fraud, as well as the Supreme Court vindication that > he was falsely convicted on ethics charges a dozen years > ago, have all but been ignored in the mainstream news > media where he once made headlines monthly. > > ``It's been a real recess, but I've done it because I'm not > running for anything and I don't need to read a news story > to know who I am,'' Hansen says. ``I've had a little calm > because I've stayed out of these things.'' > > At least until now. His legendary firebrand demeanor may > be more like damp gunpowder today, but Hansen is back to > championing his trademark cause that made him and broke > him: An oppressive and excessive federal government > threatens us all. > > As head of his latest activist group -- the Salt Lake > City-based ``U.S. Citizens Human Rights Commission'' -- > Hansen has placed 800 billboards and bus signs across the > country demanding justice in the 1995 death of Trentadue. > The U.S. Department of Justice maintains Trentadue, while > awaiting a parole hearing, committed suicide by hanging > himself from an air vent in an isolation cell in Oklahoma > City. > > The condition of Trentadue's battered body -- soaked with > blood and what appeared to be boot footprints and > high-voltage stun gun burns on his face -- has led > Oklahoma's medical examiner and others to conclude > Trentadue was ``very likely'' murdered by prison guards. > > Hansen's stark billboards in California, Oklahoma and > Washington, D.C., offer a $10,000 reward for information > plus harangue Atty. Gen. Janet Reno for perpetrating a > cover-up. > > ``Mr. Hansen's agenda is to expose and clean up the Justice > Department, and he sees this case as one of the most > striking examples of what's been going on,'' says Salt Lake > City attorney Jesse Trentadue, who has brought suit over > his brother's suspicious death. ``He wants justice for my > brother, and he has been awfully supportive of our efforts. > We wouldn't have gotten as far as we have without > George's help.'' > > Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has announced hearings on the > Trentadue case, and Oklahoma County District Attorney > Bob Macy vows to convene a grand jury. The national > news media have begun picking up the story: The latest > issue of GQ magazine features a detailed investigation into > the federal government's alleged cover-up of the murder. > > Hansen will be satisfied at nothing less than ``bringing down > the Justice Department and arresting the attorney general.'' > Vintage George the Dragonslayer, he knows, but he says > this case cries out. > > ``I've always tried to stay on the side of the angels and the > right side of the law,'' Hansen says. ``My wife [Connie] was > asking if I'm cutting this one close, and I told her I'm on the > side of Sen. Hatch and the side of the district attorney and > I'm not on the side of a bunch of brutes and thugs who > killed a man.'' > > Hansen is no stranger to vitriolic attacks on federal agencies. > In the late 1970s he published To Harass Our People, a > scathing indictment of the IRS that has sold, according to > Hansen, a million copies. The book came out shortly after a > newspaper revealed Hansen had been delinquent filing his > income-tax returns seven times between 1966 and 1975. > > ``George has always been a giant battleship rowing out into > sub-infested waters without a destroyer escort,'' says John > Runft, the Boise attorney who has represented Hansen off > and on for the past 25 years. ``He fails to file his taxes on > time, so he attacks the IRS. In his heart, he's a good man, > but he doesn't watch out when he's on the offense. When > he's on defense, he's always good.'' > > The tales of Hansen's misdeeds are only matched by the > stories of his good deeds. He once claimed congressional > immunity when he got a speeding ticket. He once woke up > Pentagon brass in the middle of the night to demand they > release the body of an Air Force pilot killed in a crash to > the man's Idaho family. > > He once yelled at fellow House members, who were > rebuking him for not reporting more than $300,000 in loans > and commodity profits from a Texas tycoon, ``You ought > to pay me, not fine me!'' And he once tracked down a > mother's son who had disappeared after World War II and > was missing for 35 years, finding the man in Japan. > > ``Helping constituents is how I survived when everybody > was out to get my scalp,'' Hansen says today. ``I always felt > if a guy called me about his neighbor's barking dog, then > government wasn't working for him and he didn't know > what to do. I could have said, like most people, `Call the > damn mayor,' but instead I called the mayor myself.'' > > Hansen has an uncanny ability to connect with regular > people. They have problems, he has problems. Rapscallion > or raconteur, folks like him. > > ``Here's this great big guy who wraps himself around > people's shoulders, and he just never forgets a name,'' says > Perry Swisher, a former newspaper editor, public-utilities > commissioner and Idaho's resident political curmudgeon. > ``George has always been a rank opportunist. If there was a > chance to steal or mislead big time, George wasn't going to > pass it up. But he saw himself like some comic book hero, > Superman or Batman or Spiderman.'' > > Man of the People: His re-election squeakers > notwithstanding, perhaps the most stunning example of the > loyalty Hansen engenders among his southeastern Idaho > followers came at his 1992 Boise bank-fraud trial. After his > release from prison the first time, Hansen and an associate > were convicted of running an elaborate multimillion-dollar > check-kiting and bank-fraud scheme. Hansen took loans > from more than 180 people, promising big returns, yet > eventually wound up bankrupt and owing creditors $16 > million. > > At trial, nearly 100 of the supposed victims of Hansen's > deception presented affadavits and petitions telling the > judge and prosecutors to lay off George. > > ``Now these were not dumb farmer types, but business > people who testified George was their political champion > and if he could pay back the loans, fine, if not, that was > fine too,'' says Runft, who represented Hansen in the > criminal trial. > > U.S. District Court Judge Edward Lodge was flabbergasted. > > ``The Court has never been in this predicament in its life,'' > Lodge said at the sentencing hearing. ``Where people that > are owed hundreds of thousands of dollars have no idea > what they are owed. That they are willing to testify under > oath that they are willing to eat those losses. They feel > it's nobody's business the manner in which they make their > loans on a personal-loan basis. That they were not > defrauded. And they feel that it is inappropriate for the > court to consider them as victims.'' > > Lodge sentenced Hansen to 4 years in prison, less than half > what federal sentencing guidelines called for, because of the > mitigating circumstances. > > A funny thing happened while Hansen was again behind > bars. In 1984, he had become the first congressman ever > convicted under the Ethics in Government Act and had > done two six-month stints in prison in 1986 and 1987 as a > result. > > In May 1995, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled on an obscure > Michigan case, Hubbard vs. U.S., finding that the Ethics In > Government Act applied only to the Executive Branch, not > members of Congress. > > The Supreme Court ruling was supreme vindication for > Hansen, who had sworn all along the law was being > misapplied to members of Congress. Because of the year he > had served under the now-vacated conviction, Hansen was > released from prison on the bank fraud charge a year early, > gaining freedom in March last year. > > The government returned his $40,000 fine with interest, > restored his federal pension and said, ``Sorry.'' > > Hardly anyone noticed. > > ``With all the high drama that had accompanied his career, > there was an absolute boycott of any news about George > being vindicated or being released from prison,'' Runft says. > > Hansen says if he hadn't been falsely convicted on the > ethics charges, he never would have wound up involved in > the bank fraud. Runft calls that ``George's > Devil-made-me-do-it'' defense. > > Still, the Idaho congressional delegation is looking into > sponsoring ``private legislation'' to force the federal > government to financially compensate Hansen, who sold his > homes in Idaho and Virginia and remains in debt over legal > bills. Hansen would like Congress also to reverse its 1984 > vote to reprimand him, a move that ``destroyed'' his > political career. > > ``There's no question George Hansen was politically > maltreated,'' says Runft. ``If not for the conviction, he > probably would have won that 1984 election. It's like that > saying: `The saddest words of tongue and pen are justly > these: It might have been.' '' > > While Hansen chuckles that some southeastern Idaho folks > want him to run for governor, he has no plans for a political > resurrection. > > ``Around my house, my wife tells me, `If you run for > anything again, it'll be for your life,' '' Hansen smiles. > ``The trouble is, politics anymore is for the rich. I used > to think you could offset it with some hard work and ingenuity, > but things have changed.'' > > And time has passed. He would never admit it, but George > the Dragonslayer may not have much more fight left in him. > > ``People like me can thank God George is 67, because if he > was 37 he would be a force to be reckoned with in this age > of Rush Limbaughs and militias,'' says Swisher. ``It > personally p---es me off, because I'm 74, that when people > reach a certain age, they don't have the vocabulary of > leadership. Old f--ts cannot beat the drum.'' > >1997, THE SALT LAKE TRIBUNE > <snip>
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