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..... History has a way of repeating itself.Portia, whey yuh deh??
Manatt again - American law firm claims it got US$15,000 more
Phillips renews call for enquiry into Manatt issue
BY ALICIA DUNKLEY Senior staff reporter dunkleya@jamaicaobserver.com
Thursday, July 15, 2010
THE Government of Jamaica yesterday remained mum over the latest claims by American law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips that the State paid it US$15,000 more for lobbying work on its behalf than was previously disclosed.
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips is the same law firm that Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) affiliates reportedly hired, after being given approval by Prime Minister Bruce Golding, to lobby the United States government on the extradition request for former West Kingston 'don' Christopher 'Dudus' Coke, which was made last August.
Prior to an admission by Golding in May this year that he had sanctioned the initiative, the Government had insisted that no arrangement was reached between itself and the firm. It, however, said that solicitor general Douglas Leys met with representatives of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips at the invitation of attorney-at-law Harold Brady but merely for "exploratory discussions" contrary to the firm said. It also said that any money which had changed hands was through a link between Brady and the firm.
But in a new Foreign Agents Registration Act (FARA) filing with the Justice Department, Manatt said it had got $15,000 more than the US$49,892.62 that was originally disclosed.
According to the 24-page supplemental filing dated June 30, the activities done under the firm's agreement with Jamaica involved consultations with Molly Warlow, director of the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, about extradition matters.
Particularly, the filing states that Manatt lawyers met with Warlow on December 17, 2009, to thrash out "extradition treaty process requirements". The filing made no mention of Coke.
Like in previous FARA filings, Manatt maintains that it "represented the Government of Jamaica in the US regarding existing political and economic matters, including existing treaty agreements between Jamaica and the US", until its engagement was terminated on February 8.
When contacted yesterday, JLP general secretary Karl Samuda said that he was unaware of the firm's latest claims.
"I can't help you at all, I am on my way to China, I am not in a position to comment. I don't know anything about what you're talking about. Call somebody in the JLP, call Mr Brady," Samuda said.
Information Minister Daryl Vaz, in the meanwhile, said that he was at a community meeting in his constituency but promised to 'investigate' the matter on his return to Kingston.
Repeated calls to Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Affairs Minister Dr Kenneth Baugh went unanswered as well as to the JLP's public relations chairman, Andrew Holness.
But the disclosure has forced People's National Party's Dr Peter Phillips, who was the first to bring the Government's involvement with the firm to the attention of the Parliament in March of this year, to reiterate his call for a commission of enquiry into the matter.
"With relation to Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and the other matters arising from the extradition of Mr Coke and the handling of that request, we need a properly appointed commission of enquiry. It is clear that the Government has not been telling the country all the facts. It is clear that we are still being treated to a cover-up of sorts," Dr Phillips told the Observer last night.
He said that the Opposition was not ruling out bringing a resolution to Parliament to cement this call.
"It is not going to be a matter that goes away. More facts and matters are going to come out. It is not a private matter that can just rest with Mr Golding in consideration of the fortunes of the JLP," he noted.
In addition he said that matters, such as whether "monies were still owed", the terms of reference given to Manatt, Phelps and Phillips and the involvement of Government officials were yet to be made clear.
"There is a lot to be answered and it can't be just treated with disdain by a contemptuous government," Dr Phillips said.
It is still unclear whether or not the additional US$15,000 had also been paid by contributors to the party as said by the prime minister in relation to the source of the payment of the previous US$49,000.
The matter of Manatt, Phelps & Phillips' involvement emerged, following attempts by the US government to have Coke extradited, and subsequent efforts by the Jamaican Government to delay the process, citing several reasons, among them the illegal gathering of information by US authorities in respect of the extradition request.
Coke was captured last month and flown to the US to face drug-trafficking and gun-related charges, after he waived his right to an extradition hearing in Jamaica. He is being kept in a New York detention centre, pending trial.
If he is convicted of the charges, Coke could spend the rest of his life in prison.
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