VIEWS FROM AROUND MISSOURI: BAILEY'S CHARGE: THE FEDS STRIKE AGAIN

The following is an excerpt from a recent editorial in the Columbia Daily Tribune.

I'm certainly glad to see that former state treasurer Wendell Bailey will make federal prosecutors prove their case against him.

Bailey has been indicted in Springfield for allegedly misusing state funds and services in his 1992 campaign for governor [the indictment has since been withdrawn]. The case reminds for all the world of that against former attorney general and gubernatorial candidate Bill Webster, though apparently there is no direct connection.

In Webster's case, a plea bargain short-circuited the investigation. No evidence ever was presented in public, and nothing ever was proven in court. After months, years, of harassment by the federal grand jury and its guiding-light prosecutors, no telling what motivated Webster to admit to relatively minor charges and end the process.

The one sure thing is that the federal grand jury process stinks. It gives star-struck prosecutors a chance to be heroes without having to go through the difficulty of court processes. They "get" their high-profile quarries through innuendo leaks from grand jury proceedings or from some sort of inconclusive plea bargain like Webster's. Did Webster misuse the Second Injury Fund or not? We were led to believe he did by rumors from the grand jury mill, but in the end, prosecutors never proved it or even tried to prove it.

If they have a case, they should have to make it in court. Instead, the grand jury process provides the handy advantage of selective secrecy, manipulated by federal prosecutors who act with extraordinary and unholy power.

Bailey apparently was unable to reach a bargain with the prosecutors. Who knows what the offered deal was, but if Bailey sincerely thinks he's not good for it, he did the right thing to say "no."

The Kansas City Star reported that records subpoenaed by the grand jury showed no obvious connection between Bailey's campaign and his state business.

The jury also apparently is looking into possible connections between low-interest MO BUCKS loans made by Bailey to individuals who also contributed to Bailey's campaign. An Illegal connection will be hard to show. As I understand it, every applicant who requested a MO BUCKS loan and met basic fiscal requirements was approved. MO BUCKS is a bad program, but not because of the way Bailey administered it. Indeed, if current treasurer Bob Holden is following through with his promise of being more selective in approving these loans, his process offers much more chance for misuse.

If prosecutors are able to show that Bailey withheld loans from non-contributors, they will have something. I eagerly await their attempt to make this case in open court.

HJW III