- Bye bye, Jimmy.
Again, there's bound to be loads of interesting tidbits of corruption news today. All updates will be posted here.
Update: Here's uncut, complete video of Jimmy Dimora speaking to media. It's exactly what you would expect: seven minutes of pompous and defiant Jimmy.
***
Update: Judge Bridget McCafferty also pleaded not guilty and made some short statements outside the courtroom defending her innocence. Cleveland.com reports:
"I never thought this circumstance would arise," she said to the judge.McCafferty spoke to the media outside the courtroom. Hilow was not with her.
She said she was "completely surprised," when she received a call on her cell phone as she was heading to work this morning asking her to surrender to authorities.
"I did nothing wrong," she said. "This will make me a better judge and a better person. "I saw things from the other side and what happens when someone is wrongly accused. It is a Kafka-esque nightmare of insane proportions."
Several time she said she had not engaged in any illegal or unethical activities.
Update: The AP has quotes from Dimora outside the courthouse —
A defiant Dimora said outside court that he would serve out the remaining 3 1/2 months of his term as commissioner but would take a brief leave of absence to resolve prosecution concerns about him supervising county employees who might become witnesses in his case."I'm not guilty and I'm going to defend it, fight it tooth and nail," he said.
Dimora attributed the charges to "a whole lot of people that got in trouble that made up lies that were cutting deals with the federal government for less jail time."
***
Many, many more updates after the jump, plus the original story.
