I don’t think I’ve posted on this subject, but I was shocked to hear that Courtney Stadd was indicted recently for allegedly steering funds to a client while at NASA. Shocked because it seems entirely out of character, based on knowing him for almost three decades. In any event, there has been some discussion of it over at NASA Watch, where he has broken his (no doubt lawyer-encouraged) silence in comments:
There are no words to express my gratitude to (a) Keith Cowing for reminding his readers of the presumption of innocence (believe me, I will NEVER again second guess someone who declares from the courthouse steps his or her innocence!) and to (b) the many who have taken the time (the most precious gift we have to give one another) to express their heartfelt support for me and my family.
I guess the greatest compliment I have received since the indictment came out on Friday is that my server had a near nervous breakdown from the outpouring of support from extended family and friends. The other side has the unlimited resources of the US Government (I guess I should be grateful that the NASA Inspector General has yet to be supplied with Apache gun ships) but I want you all to know that I have felt empowered and fortified by your collective good wishes and prayers. Faith is a very powerful weapon. Empires have been known to crumple at its feet.
I would not wish this situation on my worst enemy. But I am bearing it with the strength, courage and honor that I was brought up to believe in. When I recently read about a 75-year old woman in Saudi Arabia who was sentenced to 40 lashes, and four months in prison, for mingling with two young men who reportedly brought her bread, I am reminded of the fortune of living in this great nation. To date, the prosecution has held all the cards – including how to shape and time the indictment, including the press release to drive the news cycle. (And, of course, a grand jury hears but one side of a case. Thus the cliche: a prosecutor can get a ham sandwich indicted for not having cheese.) As the wheels of US jurisprudence turn, the defense, thankfully, gets its turn at bat. Although I sleep with an absolutely clear conscience, I would not be human, of course, if anger did not try to interrupt my slumber from time to time. But I find great solace from these superb lines from A Man for All Seasons:
Sir Thomas More: “You threaten like a dockside bully.”
Oliver Cromwell: “How should I threaten?”
Sir More: “Like a Minister of State. With justice.
Cromwell: “Oh, justice is what you’re threatened with.”
More: “Then I am not threatened.”My family and I feel grateful and most blessed by your support in the weeks and months to come.
Let us hope that justice is served. As Jim Muncy also notes in comments, it sounds like he’s being accused of recommending to the agency that a powerful appropriator’s earmark be honored, which isn’t corruption — it’s just common sense in the very ugly world of Congressional prerogatives and federal procurement.
I don’t know Courtney personally (I spoke with him at one or two conferences a while ago), but having had friends and family railroaded before, I hope two things: a) that he is innocent as he (and everyone else I know who knows him) says, and b) that being innocent actually does him any good in this case.
~Jon
Just a note about Stadd’s quote. It was Thomas Cromwell, not Oliver.
Blech. If this isn’t the result of lawyers run amok, and more excellent proof that they should all be hanged to the nearest tree — we don’t need to preserve any seed lawyers, because they spontaneously generate, like maggots, in decaying matter — I don’t know what is.
I can’t even understand the “crime.” I shudder to think that people at this level of government can only serve if they invest the huge amount of time and brainpower involved in learning about how to steer around such things.
When I’m God Emperor, my officials will be judged by one simple standard: objective performance. If you’re hired by my Imperial Space Agency to oversee private contracts awarded to universities, you will be in competition with four other such men. You give the money to anyone you damn well please — your clients, your brother in law, yourself — and for any reason you please — because your staff recommended it in a 160-page white paper, because your horoscope came up Go Ol’ Miss! or because the Lucky 8 Ball said Reply favorable. I don’t care.
But after five years, we compare results between you and your peers. Whichever of you has awarded contracts that have cost the most and delivered the least is summarily fired. Anyone who has awarded a contract that delivered nothing at all is horsewhipped first, and then has to serve a year-long tour at the front line in whatever war of conquest I’m conducting. And, of course, anyone who has awarded contracts that outperformed expectations is rewarded with promotion, dancing girls, and cash.
Or, in some cases, “have that boy bathed and brought to my boudoir”.
Not everyone of those peers will be male, Carl.
That’s a good point, Z. But those arrangements are handled by my High Priestess, and despite the (perfectly accurate) rumors of my omniscience, there are some things I prefer not to know in detail.
I do hear standards are much higher in that Department, however. An ounce of misplaced flab, a fade in stamina, reporting for duty unbathed (except by request), or the smallest slippage in your deep-tissue massage skills and you’re out, gone — forced to vend your skills on craiglist.