Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil

Under a subpoena, State Rep. Don Clemons (D-Bridgeport) told the story of a situation in which he was involved during the summer of 2004 (Courant, by Christopher Keating). Heretofore, he had never told his story publicly, including to “his colleagues in the legislature.”

So what was the story?

It was a story about a meeting of Rep. Clemons, former State Senator Ernest Newton (D-Bridgeport) and one other individual. Rep. Clemons acknowledged that he saw an attempted shakedown.

"I didn't want to be in that position to hear that," Clemons said of the extortion attempt. "I was shocked. I was dismayed. I did not open my mouth in any way, shape, form or fashion."

And now House Republican leaders are appropriately calling for legislative action, but Speaker Amann doesn’t seem too excited. Although he has called for non-legislative bodies to investigate, the Courant quoted him saying:

"I would assume if there was a crime, the FBI probably would have issued an indictment of Don Clemons by now," Amann said. "They've said the Newton case is over."

That attitude is wrong. At minimum, Speaker Amann should immediately remove Rep. Clemons’ title and the commensurate “perks.” And he still ought to do the same thing with Rep. Pat Dillon for her admission of drunk driving in January. But apparently he’s not too concerned about whether his own caucus “leadership” consists of true leaders.

Tim White