U.S. Prosecutor Calls Meese ‘a Sleaze’ at Trial

NEW YORK — A federal prosecutor at the Wedtech Corp. corruption trial today called Atty. Gen. Edwin Meese III “a sleaze” but insisted that that did not excuse the conduct of Rep. Mario Biaggi and his co-defendants.

“These defendants can’t get out of this case by pointing fingers at Meese. So what? Who cares?” Assistant U.S. Atty. Edward J. Little said near the end of his day-and-a-half of closing arguments.

Little said the answer to “this Meese defense” is: “Meese was a sleaze, too, also, in addition to these people.”

Biaggi, 70, and six others are charged with turning Wedtech into a racketeering enterprise that dispensed millions of dollars in bribes to obtain no-bid defense contracts.

2 Meese Connections

The defense has argued that the four corrupt Wedtech executives who agreed to testify for the government had links to White House insiders such as Meese and did not need to bribe such Democrats as Biaggi, a 10-term congressman from the Bronx.

Three men, including Meese’s former personal lawyer, E. Robert Wallach, and his ex-financial adviser, W. Franklyn Chinn, go on trial Jan. 3 for allegedly extracting payoffs from Wedtech to influence Meese and other officials.

Meese has not been charged with any wrongdoing. Independent counsel James C. McKay, in a report filed this week, said he found no grounds to indict him, although he said Meese probably broke four criminal laws.

Earlier in the trial, U.S. District Judge Constance Baker Motley denied a defense request to call Meese as a witness, saying his actions had nothing to do with the guilt or innocence of those on trial.

Little told the jury today that Meese’s actions were “fundamentally irrelevant to this case,” adding later, “This case is about these defendants, it’s about the money they took.”

‘Thug in Congressman’s Suit’

On Wednesday’s first day of closing arguments, Little accused Biaggi of extorting nearly $4 million in Wedtech stock in exchange for helping secure contracts. “He’s a thug in a congressman’s suit,” the prosecutor said.