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10:07

Emilie Lounsberry - Dennis J. Cogan is poised to deliver his closing argument on behalf of Vincent Fumo.

10:19

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan told the jury that he has been trying cases for a long time, but has experienced "nothing like this." The trial, he said, " has been physically and mentally debilitating" He is telling jurors how much he appreciates their attentiveness.

10:23

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan said his grandmother used to read him "Alice in Wonderland" when he was a child. In law school, he said, he was reminded of that when a professor told them to read a segment of the children's book where the queen wants the "sentence first, verdict second." If you start out with an opinion in this case, it is something like that, he said.

10:26

Emilie Lounsberry - This case is unusual in many ways, and not just because of the length of the indictment., he said. In a case alleging public corruption, "There are no bribes, no kickbacks, no instances of selling one's office." It's unusual, too, because of "so many side roads" -- about ethics act violations of other people when Fumo is not charged with any ethics act violation.

10:39

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan told jurors that Fumo is accused of "crimes that require a specific intent." to violate the law. "What is in Vince Fumo's mind, what his subjective beliefs are, they are all on the table" and that "what is in his mind is of paramount importance. A person who in good faith honestly believes that what he is doing is not wrongful" is not guilty..
"If the government didn't prove the intent to defraud, an acquittal on every fraud count is required," Cogan told the jury.

10:49

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan said that every aspect of Fumo's life has been put on display -- from his estrangement from his eldest daughter to the breakup of his relationship with former girlfriend, Dottie Egrie-Wilcox.
Egrie-Wilcox said Fumo often spoke of using "other people's money."
Yet for all his faults, Cogan recalled her having said, Fumo was shy and that she "always knew him to be ethical."
The government introduced an "avalance of e-mails" -- but he had a "familial" relationship with his Senate employees and often spoke in raw terms, said Cogan. "It's a family," and employees didn't take offense.
"This nightmare" began for Ruth Arnao and Fumo, Cogan said, in 2003. The FBI began looking into what happened with Peco and Verizon -- where executives were in battle with Fumo over regulation. In January 2004, "more Inquirer headlines" -- this time the FBI probing Fumo about Verizon.
He recalled how Fumo on the witness stand recalled that it "was like a punch in the stomach."

11:00

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan said that Fumo thought Citizens' Alliance might get audited -- that his state of mind. He is focusing on an e-mail to his friend, Stephen Marcus, in which he said that newspaper "is not going to let go" and that the article would trigger at least an audit.
"The background of what happened" with Peco and Verizon, he said, "need to be touched on." Fumo, he said, went to the PUC as a litigant to file a suit, against Peco, not only as Sen. Fumo but in his individual capacity as a ratepayer and a taxpayer. To settle the matter, Cogan said, Fumo and Peco chairman entered a side agreement in which Peco agreed to contribute $17 million to Citizens' Alliance -- private money.

11:09

Emilie Lounsberry -

Eventually, the PUC approved the settlement. "This is one of the things the government starts this case out with" -- an investigation. Turning to Verizon, he said, Fumo ultimately negotiated with the president of the utility company, and the agreement includes sending legal business to Obermayer law firm. "This the government investigates as though it is a possible extortion," said Cogan. But "this was no extortion, this was on public servant's concern" about big utilities.

11:15

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan said that the government contends that the news stories about the investigation set the stage for the alleged efforts by Fumo to obstruct the FBI investigation. He is now touching on all the e-mail cited by the government as evidence of stepped-up computer security measures to purge e-mail to and from Fumo. But Cogan said that Fumo had concerns about e-mail for years -- and he citing an e-mail in 2000 about Fumo's desire to have e-mail deleted.
This was a longstanding practice, said Cogan, not something that came about as the FBI investigation heated up.

11:22

Emilie Lounsberry - He said that one witness, Dan Coyne, said he couldn't recall a time when that wasn't the policy and that wiping of hard drives had been done before the investigation. Cogan said Coyne said it was part of the regular maintenance of Fumo's computers -- and took place probably monthly, maybe less. "This had been the practice on Tasker Street" and even in Harrisburg, but it hadn't always been carried out. "It was an accepted practice," said Cogan.
Fumo told Sprague that there was no e-mail left about Peco and Verizon, Cogan said, and according to Fumo, Sprague said if it's not specifically subpoenaed you don't have to save it. Sprague says he never said that.
Referring to lawyer notes in which it was noted that Fumo thought a subpoena had to be received before e-mail had to be retained, and that "RAS," referring to Sprague, did as well, Cogan said: " Words mean what they say they mean."

11:29

Emilie Lounsberry -

Cogan is now talking about a letter that lawyer Robert Scandone wrote after Citizens' Alliance got a subpoena. Scandone wrote to Fumo, Cogan said, that because this subpoena was not directed to him or his office, "there was no reason for him and his staff to do other than what they did in the normal course of business."
Scandone, he said, is telling him that "it's business as usual in the Senate office. " "What is business as usual?" asked Cogan. He referred to an e-mail three months earlier stating that all e-mail to and from Fumo should be deleted.."That's business as usual and that's the advice he's being given," said Cogan."What is in my client's mind?" Cogan said was the important question.
there is no evi...that a single ca document that had been created before april 28, 2004, the day, was destroyed or altered after April 28. VF belief was Citizen's "records couldn't be touched on his own e-mail never though about it.
d"it is firmly iplanted in his mind that it's only the ca documents that we're talkinga bout here, but in an a of caution what does he do. as of june 2004, he again write to dick sprague.

11:33

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan said Fumo wrote to Sprague in another e-mail that since nothing had been subpoenaed, it seemed it would be okay to have some e-mail taken off site, and asks Sprague's approval. Does this osound like this is someone trying to obstruct justice? asked Cogan.
"My client is acting on a good faith belief based on what he's heard," said Cogan, who said that Sprague said it was okay. Fumo, Cogan said, was "absolutely trying to comply" with the law as he understood it to be.

11:36

Emilie Lounsberry - "There was no intent to obstruct justice," said Cogan.
And now we're on a recess.

11:56

Emilie Lounsberry - And we're back in session.

12:01

Emilie Lounsberry - Cogan is talking about all the e-mail in the case.
"I know it's tedious," said Cogan, saying he doesn't ever want to see an e-mail ever again. He said he's throwing his computer out -- and drawing laughter in the audience."This case is about e-mail," he said.
On Feb. 18, 2005, the Senate office in South Philadelphia was raided by the FBI.
The FBI wanted hard drivers and computer material. "That's a critical day ," said Cogan, who said Fumo thought until then that the investigation focused only on Citizens' Alliance -- and did not involve the Senate. "He thought this was just about Citizens' Alliance. That's what we're talking about. So that policies did not change," said Cogan. "This is what was in his mind."
When the FBI comes with a warrant to Tasker Street district office, they learn that the e-mail server is in Harrisburg. So they get the material they need on Tasker Street, and then the server from Harrisburg.

12:12

Emilie Lounsberry - The FBI gets a "narrow subpoena" for the Harrisburg server, he said.
Another Sprague lawyer was told in August 2005 that there was another subpoena calling for other documents. Fumo didn't know anything about another subpoena at the time of the search warrant -- and that's why he still thought it was okay to continue the policy of getting rid of e-mail.
"My client thinks they have everything they are looking for,"
If you get a new server, they got everything they asked for -- what is the policy going forward? asked Cogan. "We know what they do. There is confusion. The staffers....are looking for guidance. Sen. Fumo is looking for guidance from the Sprague firm," said Cogan.
Cogan said e-mail starting on April 5 show that deleting is fine "as long as we don't wipe the servers," and Fumo writes to Sprague, "Dick, I need some direction here. Does this sound like someone with a criminal state of mind?...What can we do and what can't we do."
Computer technician Mark Eister wrote in an e-mail that when mail is deleted, it's gone, and that any mail deleted between Feb. 18 and now is really gone, Cogan said, and Fumo wrote, "Just forward it to the FBI." They are looking for a policy going forward, he said, and seeking advice from counsel.

12:23

Emilie Lounsberry - Now that the Senate office is "in the cross-hairs of the government," Cogan said, Fumo is looking for advice. Luchko wrote in an e-mail that Fumo said the lawyrs will tell them by the end of the week. "I only want to do what's right," Cogan said that Fumo is thinking.
Fumo sends an e-mail to the Sprague firm. "Guys, do we have any answer yet?"
Cogan is referring to Sprague's testimony that he had once been a father figure to Fumo, but that they were no longer friends. "You could say that."
There is no indication that one person from Sprague firm knew anything about any wiping or deleting till Mark Shepherd says don't do it, sometime around April 2005 -- two months after the FBI raid.
He told Judge Yohn that no one knew anything about any wiping or deleting. Yet we know that Luchko has told Sprague they were going to "wipe things from the server,"
In Dec. 2004, Cogan said, Sprague firm lawyers Geoff Johnson and Mark Shepherd interviewed Lucko and "learn of wiping of free unallocated space and destruction of old VJF cards."
Yet Sprague told Yohn that we "don't know one iota about wiping or deleting."
Cogan said that Fumo got "deplorable advice of counsel from Sprague in 2004 and from Scandone," who said this is only about CA and you don't have to do anything other than "business as usual."
"The evidence is clear. The evidence is unambiguous," said Cogan. "The evidence is vitally clear that there is no criminal intent here."

12:30

Emilie Lounsberry - "My client hands over to the goverment seven PC cards," said Cogan.
"Does that seem like someone with consciousness of wrongdoing?" asked Cogan.
The government says that Fumo had all kinds of e-mail folders and they are "all CYA stuff." Not so, said Cogan. Fumo saves mostly personal stuff, he said.
He said e-mail was being deleted in the normal course of business -- and there were no e-mails about his legislative accomplishments. "He gave the government cards that include an actual wipe," said Cogan. He gave his passwords and is doing what he believes the requirements of the law.
Sprague, no longer the father figure, no longer the friend, said Cogan.
"This is the man who after the indictment in this case decides to hold a press conference," said Cogan, and tells reporters that "my client was relying on advice of counsel. The press asks who ideas was it for this press conference" and Sprague said it was his idea.
On the stand, he said Fumo wanted it.

12:38

Emilie Lounsberry - And now we're on lunch break!

1:51	Emilie Lounsberry - We're back in session.

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