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New twist to Manatt saga
Former junior minister says PM sent him to meet with law firm
BY PAUL HENRY Crime/Court co-ordinator henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Former junior minister says PM sent him to meet with law firm
BY PAUL HENRY Crime/Court co-ordinator henryp@jamaicaobserver.com
Sunday, January 30, 2011
WHEN Dr Ronald Robinson resigned his post last year as junior foreign minister and senator during the height of the Christopher ‘Dudus’ Coke extradition saga that threatened to topple the Government, he cited among his reasons two “inappropriate” meetings with lawyers from the United States firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips (MPP).
Now, Robinson is contending that he did not act independently but that he was instructed by Prime Minister Bruce Golding to meet with the principals of Manatt “to brief them” on Jamaica’s concerns with the August 2009 extradition request, in an effort to secure the firm’s services to lobby Washington for a favourable outcome on the matter.
ROBINSON… said to be deeply hurt over the turn in his career
Embattled attorney Harold Brady with his lawyer Georgia Gibson-Henlin (right) appearing before the Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston last Monday. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)
Embattled attorney Harold Brady with his lawyer Georgia Gibson-Henlin (right) appearing before the Dudus/Manatt Commission of Enquiry at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston last Monday. (Photo: Lionel Rookwood)
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According to Robinson, the instruction came during a meeting with Golding at Vale Royal, the prime minister’s official residence in St Andrew.
The claim comes in the form of Robinson’s written statement to the commission of enquiry looking into the Government’s handling of the United States request for Coke’s extradition on drug- and gun-running charges.
The statement, a copy of which was obtained by the Sunday Observer, is sure to lend credence to the widely held view that Robinson was made the fall guy in the months-long debacle that drew international attention and strained relations between Kingston and Washington.
Already, Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) members with knowledge of the statement have expressed disappointment at how Robinson, who in 1999 co-founded the party’s young professionals arm, Generation 2000 (G2K), had been treated.
“As it turned out, he did nothing wrong and was only following instructions,” said an influential party member who spoke on condition of anonymity.
In his statement, Robinson said that around November 17 or 18 of 2009 he met with the prime minister and Harold Brady, the attorney at the centre of the ensuing controversy, and was advised that a meeting had been arranged with the US State Department to discuss the “breach” of the extradition treaty by the US and “the dilemma” faced by the attorney general of Jamaica. Robinson, according to the statement, was supposed to inform the Manatt lawyers about Jamaica’s position ahead of the State Department meeting.
“The HPM,” said Robinson, using the acronym for the title Honourable Prime Minister, “instructed me to go to Washington to meet with the principals of MPP to brief them. My presence would also give some credence and strength to Mr Brady’s involvement.”
According to Robinson, Golding undertook to advise Foreign Minister Dr Kenneth Baugh of the travel plans. Robinson then flew to Washington the day following the meeting with the prime minister.
While in Washington, Robinson said, Brady introduced him to several individuals at the law firm, including ‘Chuck’ Manatt. Robinson said he was briefed on the nature of the meeting that was slated to take place with the State Department. However, Robinson said he did not attend the State Department meeting, contrary to an April 2010 Washington Post article, as he was not instructed to do so.
Following the State Department meeting, Robinson said he was invited to join Brady and a lady he named as “Susan” from MPP for a meeting that took place at a wine bar where he was briefed on the outcome of the State Department meeting. Brady, according to Robinson, told him that as a result of the meeting, Washington had a “better understanding” of Jamaica’s position and that “a way forward could be found mutually satisfactory to both countries”.
“We returned to Jamaica and went to Vale Royal to brief the HPM,” said Robinson. “Mr Brady again expressed confidence that he felt, based on the meeting, that the matter would be satisfactorily resolved. The HPM commended Mr Brady.”
The 42-year-old Robinson, who was a deputy general secretary in the Labour Party, said he played no further part in the matter.
Robinson’s statement marks the first time since the tendering of his resignation to the prime minister on May 20 last year that he publicly addressed the issue.
In his resignation letter, Robinson admitted that his contact with Manatt “could have been inappropriate. For that I accept responsibility and should not have met them, and for that I apologise,” he said.
The ex-junior minister’s statement to the commission is a far cry from the line carried by the Labour Party leadership, that Robinson’s meeting with the MPP lawyers had not been sanctioned.
The statement is also vastly different from an account given by Golding in his own signed statement to the commission of enquiry, a leaked copy of which was broadcast last week by Nationwide Radio.
Golding’s statement is silent on whether or not he had approved Robinson’s meeting with Manatt’s lawyers, and only spoke of a meeting in which Brady and Robinson had visited him at Jamaica House on September 6, 2009 with concerns about the “difficulties” surrounding the extradition request which needed to be resolved.
According to Golding’s statement, the men suggested that the impasse could not be resolved at the level of dialogue with the US Embassy in Kingston, “especially in view of the publicity that the extradition request had attracted”.
Robinson and Brady, the prime minister said, suggested that contact be made with “influential figures” in the US, with a view of helping to resolve the issues over the extradition request, which the Golding administration was adamant contained wiretap evidence that had been illegally obtained and was in breach of Coke’s constitutional rights.
Golding said he then instructed the men to proceed with their plans to engage these “influential figures” in the US.
Though it is not reflected in the statement, the Golding administration was also concerned that Coke’s extradition would trigger violence and social upheaval, which proved true in the latter part of May when police and soldiers moved to arrest Coke, who had been holed up in his barricaded Tivoli Gardens stronghold.
The operation — which was launched after gunmen loyal to Coke fired on police patrols, torched two police stations in West Kingston and shot up other communities in Kingston — cost the lives of just over 70 civilians and law enforcement personnel.
The unrest resulted in the shuttering for three days of the downtown business district.
In the week of September 13, Golding said in his statement, both men briefed him on the meetings with former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who ran the firm Giuliani Partners, and Frank Fahrenkopf, a former chairman of the US Republican party.
(Robinson said in his statement that he was only able to meet with Fahrenkopf and that he did not accompany Brady to New York. Golding’s statement, however, said that Robinson had said he met with Giuliani.)
Golding said he was told by Brady that Fahrenkopf had informed him (Brady) that Charles Manatt would best assist, as he is a former chairman of the Democratic party, which at the time was the ruling party in the US.
Golding said he was told by Brady that Fahrenkopf had informed him (Brady) that Charles Manatt would best assist, as he is a former chairman of the Democratic party, which at the time was the ruling party in the US.
Golding said he then gave permission for Brady to secure Manatt’s services on behalf of the Labour Party, not the Government, and instructed the party’s Deputy Treasurer Daryl Vaz to make arrangement for the payment of US$100,000 to be made to Manatt on behalf of the party.
Golding said Brady informed him later in September that Manatt had said that it would be better able to handle the matter if the firm were acting on behalf of the Jamaican Government instead of the JLP. Golding said he opposed the idea and instructed Brady to terminate discussions with Manatt if it insisted on acting for the Government.
It was this arrangement that, when later exposed by the People’s National Party’s Dr Peter Phillips, would lead to public but futile outcry for Golding’s resignation, and led to Robinson’s resignation.
When word of the relationship first surfaced in the latter part of 2009, Golding denied that the Government had retained Manatt. What was said to be an “internal investigation” was then opened up to determine who had sanctioned the alliance.
As the Manatt saga unfolded, and pressure mounted, the party said that “its investigation” revealed that an element within the organisation had given the goahead to enter into the arrangement with Manatt.
Later, however, Golding finally admitted under pressure that he had sanctioned the arrangement, but on behalf of the party and not the Government. The saga heightened when Brady claimed otherwise but later indicated in a radio interview that the prime minister had been correct on this matter.
A few days after Golding decided at a May 16 emergency meeting of the JLP’s Central Executive not to resign as prime minister, Robinson tendered his resignation, citing the ill-health of his wife and his meeting with the Manatt officials.
Last week, the Sunday Observer was told that Robinson, described as a “promising and ambitious” politician, had been deeply hurt over the turn in his career.
“The period leading up to his resignation was especially painful for him,” said one person close to Robinson and who asked not to be named. “It pained him to have to leave politics like this.”
Both Robinson and Golding are expected to testify before the enquiry being held at the Jamaica Conference Centre in downtown Kingston.
For his part, Brady has refused to testify before the commission, citing attorney-client privilege, among other things. Arrangements are being made for him to be charged and brought before the Corporate Area Resident Magistrate’s Court where he faces a fine of $500 or three months’ imprisonment if the fine is not paid.
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