Six Months before the Event

The Senator had just arrived in his office when his Chief of Staff Gerry Hausch came bursting into his office holding up the Washington Post newspaper in his hand. The Senator, dressed in a dark gray pinstripe suit, white shirt and a red striped tie, looked very much like the power broker he was. His office reflected his style. The office was very masculine, professional and void of any personal touches.

The Senator was only a warm person when he needed to present such a demeanor. The truth about the Senator's success was his wife. The voters over the years had come to love and adore her. She was his winning ticket.

Hausch asked the Senator. "Did you see the paper this morning? The Post says that there is going to be an investigation inquiring into the allegations made last week by CNN regarding Albatross."

"No, I had an early committee meeting this morning. I barely got past some of the press corps when I came in." The Senator complained.

"We still don't know where they got their information?" Hausch gently inquired, having experienced firsthand the Senator's wrath.

The Senator said with irritation. "I have put some calls out to find out but I haven't heard anything back yet,"

"Wait until you read this article calling Albatross a think tank for defense contractors and a money maker for you. The article makes further allegations that you received income as a consultant for Albatross." Hausch remarked.

The Senator replied. "Who cares, the articles are just a slur against my good character!"

"There are allegations that the defense contractors had direct access to you as Chairperson of the Appropriations Committee. There is also mention of the fact that you're a member of the Armed Forces Sub-Committee. These are serious allegations that obviously were not dispelled by your statement Friday." Hausch said rather accusatorily.

"What can I say? I merely gave a speech without any fees involved," the Senator retorted.

Hausch decided to push the blade in further by saying, "you think this will bring up the issue that there should be a law requiring members of Congress to maintain their investments in blind trusts while serving in Congress? The same type of insider trading has sent others to prison."

The Senator snapped back at Hausch. "The two issues are not related. What are you worried about, nothing came of that case. This has been an issue that has always been a thorn in the side of the members of Congress."

"If you say so, Senator, I was only trying to help." However, Hausch really wasn't trying to help. He despised the Senator so much he hated being in the same room with him.

"The only ones required to hold their investments in a blind trust are the President and Supreme Court Justices. Blind trusts and insider trading issues haven't anything to do with the alleged speaker fees." Senator Wolfe replied with a wave of his hand in the air discounting his Chief of Staff's opinion.

Hausch wanted another dig and hammered back at the Senator. "Nevertheless, you might recall there were allegations it was paramount to an ethical violation. I think there is some validity to that point of view."

"There are two separate issues here, the trust fund and insider issues which have nothing to do with the Albatross issues. Get your facts straight and stop badgering me." The Senator yelled at his Chief of Staff.

Hausch knew they were separate issues; he merely wanted to agitate the old goat.

Growing weary of the conversation, the Senator threw up his arms and waved Hausch out of the room. Once his Chief of Staff closed the door to the office, the Senator sighed. He thought Hausch was such an idiot. If Members of Congress were required to have their investments in a blind trust, nobody would run for office.

Yet he had to admit that some Members of Congress were privy to information regarding banks, military spending and other issues. However, he considered these benefits of the job. Enhancing his own worth wasn't a crime as far as he was concerned. His contacts at Albatross would pay off only when he retired. Currently he hadn't shown any favors to the members of Albatross. Nor had he received any information from them.

The Senator was getting agitated too easily over these new allegations of possible misconduct involving his relationship with Albatross. What a stroke of genius it was when he was approached with the idea of the think tank five years ago. He had to admit it was touchy but not unethical. He wasn't a consultant but a Senator giving a public speech. He wasn't a public speaker who received payment from Albatross. At least not yet, he thought with a smile.

Even so, he was furious with the Washington Post and the news stations that were making such an issue of it. The reporters were attempting to gather information from his staff and the employees of Albatross. While appearance of possible ethical issues existed, his attorney and the legal counsel of the Albatross were not worried.

His wife, a daughter of a retired General, was the one who approached him with the idea. He had never been quite sure whether it was her or her father's idea. Her father was a very tight- lipped and rigid person with whom he didn't engage in conversation of this kind.

Over the years, he had learned to live with the fact that the old fart had something on him. To this day, he hasn't been able to figure out what information the General possessed. God knows he had never been what one calls a saint. The General was far from perfect. Although his sudden retirement from the Army left many wondering what had happened.

Nevertheless, he clearly remembered the General approaching him prior to the wedding. The General warned him directly that he had information that could harm the Senator if he ever caused his daughter, the soon-to- be bride, problems of any kind. Senator Wolfe took his wife's father at his word. Sometimes the Senator truly doubted the General had anything on him.

Since his retirement years ago, the General had maintained his contacts and his resources, and the mere thought of this had made the Senator a very cautious man. The General, now in his seventies, was still powerful. However, if the Senator did well financially so did his wife. Over the years, they had been able to amass modest wealth and to live a comfortable lifestyle. Now if he could manage to survive this latest crisis, in three more years he would retire.

He had had enough of campaigning every four years. Without his wife, the prospects were not good. After retirement, it was time for a change of scenery. Albatross was his future, and he looked forward to the change. However, first, he had to survive the current investigations without censure. Otherwise, Albatross would drop him like a hot potato.

Thinking he needed to stay on top of this matter, he reached for his phone to call his attorney. He remained troubled by the timing of these allegations since the elections were last year. He had only three more years to go. He feared censored by his fellow Members of Congress. Something is amiss, but what, he thought, as he dialed his attorney Alex Timmer's telephone number.

"Alex, how are you? Do you have any information?" He asked his attorney.

His attorney had read the article and asked if there was any truth to the allegations. Why were the articles saying he was paid? The Senator's attorney was perplexed at the sudden interest in the Senator.

"How the hell should I know why they are insinuating I was paid," the Senator shouted into the phone. "No, I am not losing it, I just want some answers. Alright, I'll wait to hear from you this afternoon," the Senator said as he slammed down the telephone.

Sometimes his attorney was an irritation that he had to live with because he was a great attorney and an old friend. A friend who had never steered him wrong,

Georgetown Six Months before the Event

"Good morning General, how are you? Are you pleased with this morning's paper and the headlines?" The middle-aged man in a white shirt, sitting with his face to door, inquired, as the General took a seat at the table.

The two men had been meeting at the fast food restaurant every Monday morning for the past six weeks. Their meetings might be portrayed as reminiscing about the Cold War clandestine meetings. In some ways, it felt that way for the middle-aged journalist.

"I am fine, thanks for asking," the General replied while sitting down. "I have read the article, if that is what you're inquiring about," the General answered curtly. "Once again how many follow-up articles are you folks planning on doing?" The General asked with a subtle voice laced with anger.

"We have enough planned to submit all the evidence we have gathered on the Albatross and the Senator," replied the journalist.

"The information I passed on to you was sufficient?" The General asked with distain. The General felt disdain for the journalist, but it wasn't anything personal. The journalist was merely a means to an end.

"Oh, it was more than sufficient. Although I still haven't figured out why you're hell bent on bringing down the Senator," the journalist interjected.

"Trust me, I have my reasons. You need not be privy to my reasons to complete your task. Besides, outing of the Senator's consulting plans after retirement is a great story. Has your position at the Washington Post improved since your story broke? I noticed on the early morning news stations the story is a sensation." The General fired back at the journalist.

The journalist answered the General patiently. "Yes, it will give me my fifteen minutes of fame and then some. The public will be upset and the story will run its course before it burns out faster than people realize." The journalist's own professional history included numerous journalistic awards. He wanted the story, not the fame.

"I don't care about that. There was enough pressure from the article to give the Senator more than a case of heartburn," the General replied with contempt.

"Even so this isn't an election year, and there are substantial other problems facing the nation. I can't figure out why you didn't bring this future money- making scheme to the public years ago if you hate him so much?" The journalist asked, refusing to let the General have the upper hand.

"I have already answered your question. You have no need to know more in order to do your part. Try not to forget that you too are profiting from all of this." The General reminded the reporter with a bit of anger, one of his trademarks. The General never had any patience for those he considered beneath him.

"Yes, you're right about that, which causes me some concern about your motives. I couldn't help but wonder what the outcome will be. I wonder what you may be withholding from me," the journalist said throwing the ball back in the General's court.

"Once again my motives are none of your concern. Let the cards fall where they may." The General spit out.

"Now if you don't have any further questions I need to leave for another meeting. Please remember, your source remains confidential and we will not meet again. Given all the publicity, I need to give the impression I stand behind my son-in-law," instructed the General as he rose to leave.

"Thank you, General," the journalist responded as he stood to shake the General's hand. However, the General had already risen from the table and turned his back to the reporter.

The reporter watched as the General exited the restaurant and climbed into the back of a black sedan. The reporter had a great distaste for the General. Nevertheless, personal feelings had no place in the job of a journalist. He reported everything the General told him that he was independently able to verify. He had several independent sources.

The journalist found having objectivity while being a journalist at times was very difficult. Yet he prided himself in never crossing the line by allowing his personal feelings to cloud the story he was reporting on, he thought as he watched the black sedan pull away from the curb into traffic.

"Where to sir?" the driver inquired as he pulled onto New York Ave, in the nation's capital.

"To the hospice and turn on the radio, I want to listen to the news," the General sighed.

The General became lost in his thoughts regarding the events that were unfolding. Hindsight tends to give the best answers, but foresight lays the best offense. His arrogant son-in-law was clueless of how and why the information regarding his consulting plans appeared out of nowhere after all these years. It would give the General immense pleasure to watch his son-in-law dragged through the mud.

The General despised his son-in-law and never understood what his daughter, his only child, saw in him. For years, the General had waited for the destruction of the son of a bitch. Now that his daughter had fallen ill and was close to death, he was going to destroy the bastard. His daughter was in seclusion in an undisclosed medical facility lying very close to death. He planned to be at her side shortly. With this last thought, he closed his eyes and listened to the news.

He knew when the story broke out in the Washington Post that his daughter was beyond caring and out of the reach of the press. The General had thought of doing this sooner. He kept hoping the Senator would learn from his mistakes. However, over the last ten years it became clear he wouldn't. The General was relieved that his daughter and the Senator were never able to have children for it made destroying the Senator easier.

The General's wife had always wanted grandchildren. She had grown over the years to accept the fact there would never be any. Now the General didn't have to worry about the effects of the Senator's demise on any grandchildren. Furthermore, his daughter would be out of the equation very shortly.

As his daughter's cancer treatment neared the end, they could no longer hope for a cure. His daughter was now terminal and it was a matter of days. The General couldn't bear the thought of the Senator being the recipient of his constituent's prayers and sympathy as his wife was at her deathbed.

With all the outrage over the alleged speaking fees mirrored by both the news commentators and press, the Senator wouldn't be at his wife's deathbed. The Senator cared more about his career than his wife's final moments here on earth.

While the General's daughter may not have agreed with his method for the Senator's downfall, she grew up as an Army brat. She knew the pitfalls of war and the life of an army family, moving frequently over the years, always going to new schools and leaving friends.

Once her husband decided to run for the U.S. Senate twenty-one years ago, she had resigned herself to the life of a politician's wife. She was used to this lifestyle because her father was a career military man. She merely changed one hat for another. She was a gracious host and a loving wife, and everybody wondered what she saw in the Senator. She served her country in her own capacity.

The General was grieving already for the loss of his daughter as she was surrendering to an inevitable death. She never had a chance. She had put off her annual physical because of the demands of her husband's re-election. By the time, the election was over and she went in for her physical, she already had stage four ovarian cancer.

The General knew he must be stoic for his wife when he arrived at the medical center in less than two hours. He was allowing the hatred he felt for the Senator to simmer beneath the surface as he rode silently in the car. As the car exited the Washington D.C. area and entered the Baltimore -Washington Parkway, he listened to the hourly news station. The announcer called on the Senator over the airwaves to answer the questions put forth about the ethics of his speaking engagements and alleged fees received, as revealed in the recent Washington Post article.

The loudmouth radio announcer was calling on his listeners to express their outrage of the practice of speaker fees that were clearly a conflict of interest for a think tank whose membership fees were gleaned from defense contractors. Lobbyists and contractors that supported the think tank had access to Members of Congress. They lobbied and influenced Congress for funding in their budgets in their various congressional committees.