“Please forgive me for bothering you at this hour, Your Honor. My name is Patrick Carlton. I have wanted to give you certain information for several days, but I haven’t been able to.”
“What information?”
“The Banco Napolitana’s computer information.”
Adrenaline jolted Leonida’s body. He put down his glass. “You realize, of course, that the bank exploded in flames and that all the computer evidence we had on Arcangelo was lost.”
“That is exactly why I am calling.”
“What information - exactly - do you have?”
“All of it.”
The statement forced Leonida down into a chair. “All of it? Is this a joke? Because I assure you—”
“I don’t have time for jokes, Your Honor.”
“Then you will tell me how you obtained the information.”
“I’m not at liberty to discuss that, Your Honor. But let’s just say that the information was called in. I have to assume that all of your telephone lines are tapped. So a fax and the Internet are out of the question, particularly given the lengths the perpetrators went to destroy the evidence. And I cannot assume that the evidence will be safe with anyone but you. So I will ask you please to go in person to the U.S. embassy to the Vatican in Rome. Ask for special intelligence attaché Tom Pink. He will give you the information you need. He will not give the information to anyone but you.”
“Special intelligence attaché? You mean CIA?”
“I have a great deal of respect for you, Your Honor. As a prosecutor, I know you will find the information invaluable. I apologize again for having bothered you at this hour. Good night, sir.”
Later that morning, having barely slept through nightmares of American mafia dons in Washington, Leonida sat down with his wife and two children for breakfast. Bleary-eyed, he sipped his second double espresso as an antidote to the night’s four whiskeys and lack of sleep. The bodyguard brought in the morning edition of the Corriere della Sera. A large headline proclaimed: WHITE HOUSE CHIEF OF STAFF ARRESTED FOR BRIBERY. Leonida had barely finished the second sentence when he let his coffee cup fall on its saucer. “Santa Lucia. He’s for real.”
“What is it, amore?” His wife inquired.
Leonida continued to read the paper, now out loud. “United States Justice Department antitrust prosecutor and United States Navy Reserve Lieutenant Patrick Carlton made the arrest in Mr. Fress’s White House office.” He looked at the bodyguard. “We need to get to Rome immediately. Make the arrangements.” He turned back to his wife and kissed her hard on the lips, then looked up.
Grazie Signore.
86 TRIAL
United States District Court
District of Columbia
9:14 A.M.
The government’s prosecution of the surviving defendants in the “Diamondgate” scandal progressed with all deliberate speed, first through Congressional indictments, then through federal criminal trials mainly on the charges of treason for accepting bribes from foreign agents and conspiracy with foreign agents to further Waterboer’s monopoly of the international diamond market. Carlton played no role other than to serve as a witness against Harry Jarvik, a job he thought he would relish but in fact found pathetic and depressing. Never again would ‘Stalin’ terrorize DOJ’s Antitrust Litigation Section lawyers. Instead, for Carlton and Erika was reserved the most important case of all: the Justice Department’s prosecution of Waterboer Mines Limited.
The United States could not bring Waterboer to justice directly, for want of jurisdiction against the South African monopoly. But the team would use Carlton’s simple legal theory to mete out punishment against Waterboer by prosecuting the companies and other groups in the U.S. who knowingly and intentionally furthered Waterboer’s monopoly of diamond supply and demand in the United States: diamond seller associations and the media, which published ads for diamonds under the Waterboer name in print, radio, and television. It was an odd way of getting at Waterboer, akin to prosecuting Al Capone for tax evasion, but with want of U.S. jurisdiction against the slippery foreign company, it was the best theory that Carlton could conceive.
During the next three months, Carlton, Erika, and Monet forgot sleep and meals, family and friends. Even before Carlton fully recovered from his injured knee, from dawn to dusk he and Erika researched every applicable federal antitrust case in the books, crafted legal arguments, drafted pleadings and interrogatories, and interviewed and deposed expert witnesses. The chain-smoking Monet relentlessly tracked down a century of advertisements and journalistic corporate ownership chains.
For his part, President Douglass had guts. The African-American president’s famous honesty also made the former general and preacher a class act. The man was personally innocent of any wrongdoing in the Diamondgate scandal, except for his excessive trust and reliance on his chief of staff. But instead of cravenly hiding behind the culprits he had appointed, he took the public blame and confessed his sins to the American people, a people who forgave mistakes but did not tolerate lies. Within days, President Douglass announced a new Executive Order that placed each appointed federal official above a certain rank under financial and personal supervision not just at the time of appointment and Senate confirmation, but randomly throughout their period of appointment. The mandate would be exercised by a special team from the Department of Homeland Security. It would add to the federal budget, but in light of Diamondgate and 9-11, would likely save billions over the next several administrations. To distance himself from the traitors themselves, Douglass vociferously denounced Waterboer, praised the Church’s recent flooding of the international diamond market, and backed his DOJ team in its case against Waterboer’s American conspirators, most notably during a speech in the White House Rose Garden at the prosecution’s inception, at which he praised Carlton’s and Erika’s exposure of the Diamondgate scandal. Under the glare of reporters’ cameras, the president bestowed on Carlton the Navy Cross, elevated him to the rank of Lieutenant Commander, and promoted him to Chief of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Litigation Section, directly below Deputy Assistant Attorney General Gail Rothenberg. On Erika he bestowed the DOJ Medal of Service. Outside the public eye, through Randall Forbes, he bestowed the CIA Medal on Pink.
The wily American media knew when it had a story. Soon the press clamored for interviews with Carlton, and to a lesser extent, with Erika. Unable to discuss the case due to the rules of confidentiality, they discussed everything else about the group’s ordeals with Scott Fress and his thugs—carefully excising any mention of their role in the Russian and Vatican diamond affairs. On all of the popular news and interview shows. On Larry King Live. On Nightline. On Charlie Rose. On Oprah. The press ate it up. So did the American people, who couldn’t get enough of the young Justice Department lawyer and Naval Reserve officer. Like Orlando Leonida destroying Don Arcangelo’s mafia empire on the other side of the Atlantic, Carlton had become a star.
For weeks, doggedly, rabidly, the defendants had made motion after motion to get the case thrown out. Each had been denied. Jury selection was particularly rancorous, the defense wanting to reject any juror who had ever purchased or attempted to purchase a diamond ring to be excluded for cause. Unfortunately for them, Waterboer’s century-long marketing campaign made it impossible to grant such a request. Defense counsel asked that the media be banned from the courtroom, even though most of the defendants were members of the media. The judge was not about to make the error of barring the media from one of the most explosive cases of the decade.
On the first day of trial, the federal courthouse was packed with television crews and journalists from nearly every news service, domestic and foreign. Brought by the Department of Justice on behalf of the United States of America, the case named as defendants every newspaper, magazine, radio and television station that had ever published an ad on behalf of Waterboer Mines Limited and every company and trade association that had contracted for the ads to be published under license
from Waterboer. In fact, so many defendants were named in the lawsuit that their lawyers took up nearly every seat generally reserved for the public.
“All stand!” The large bailiff announced. “Hear ye, hear ye! The United States District Court for the District of Columbia is now in session. The Honorable Nancy Taggart presiding.”
A tall African-American woman of fifty, with graying hair and dressed in a somber black judicial robe appeared behind the bench and sat in the high-backed leather chair. She nodded to the lead attorneys on both sides, smiled at the jury then leaned forward. “Good morning, counsel. State your names for the record, please.”
“Good morning, Your Honor. Patrick Carlton, United States Department of Justice. For the United States,” Carlton announced through his microphone, a lump in his throat. For the United States. God help me.
“Lester Churchman. Fox, Carlyle, Ashton, Chase, Whitfield & Whyte. Lead counsel for the defense, Your Honor. Good morning.”
“The case is docket number 140-1022786,” Judge Taggart announced gravely. “United States of America versus Diamond Sellers League, et al. The prosecution may proceed with its opening statement.”
Carlton approached the jury. The sound of his spit-shined cowboy boots on the hardwood floor echoed through the silent chamber. He stopped and looked directly at each juror. Pay attention, people. This is the real deal. Good versus evil.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this case is about monopoly,” he stated flatly, standing erect. “Not the board game we all played as little kids, but real, live monopoly. The monopoly of the diamond market.” They’re as nervous as you are, Carlton. He relaxed his posture, smiled. “Monopoly. Antitrust law. Conspiracy. Market shares. Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? It isn’t. It’s just about monopoly, pure and simple.”
He pulled a small object from his pocket and held it up. “You see this? This is my fiancée’s engagement-ring diamond. Actually, I haven’t asked her yet, so don’t tell her.” The jurors laughed and relaxed, now at ease with the Justice Department lawyer. “It’s a one-carat diamond. It’s real. I checked. I paid $7,000 for it. On my Visa, of course,” he added.
“That’s pretty much what all the jewelry stores charge for it. Seven thousand dollars. But you know how much this stone is really worth?” He paused, let the diamond fall to the ground, stomped on it with the heel of his cowboy boot. The jury gasped.
“Why are you shocked? Because you think this diamond,” he pointed to the floor, “is worth $7,000. Right? Well you’re wrong. That diamond,” he pointed to the intact stone on the floor, “if prices were not controlled by Waterboer Mines Limited through the willing, knowing, aiding and abetting of the defendants, should sell for about fifty bucks.”
He paused as the jurors let out a collective gasp. “That’s right, folks. You heard me. Fifty dollars. Five-zero. Now how can that be, you ask? The answer is simple.” He leaned toward them, lowered his voice to a whisper. Each member of the jury craned its neck to hear him. “Diamonds aren’t rare.”
He straightened. “That’s right. Diamonds aren’t rare. In fact, diamonds are one of the most common gemstones on Earth. Pure carbon.” He saw the expression of disbelief in their faces. “You didn’t know that either, did you? If you did, you wouldn’t have willingly paid such crazy prices for your own engagement rings.”
The married or engaged female jurors looked down at their near worthless diamonds. The male jurors frowned silently.
“Yes. So many people have been ripped off. And that’s exactly why monopolies are illegal in the United States. A monopoly controls production, sales, and prices. Waterboer controls diamond production and supply all over the world. By doing that, Waterboer controls the price of diamonds. I’ll give you an analogy. If there were only one telephone company in the United States, it could charge you $1,000 a minute per call. Think that’s too much?” He grinned.
Perspiring heavily, Lester Churchman finally heaved himself out of his chair. “Objection, Your Honor! The telephone company is not on trial here. Where is counsel going with this?” It was an idiotic objection, but he couldn’t let Carlton continue to mesmerize the jury. “I move to strike it from—”
“Sustained.” Judge Taggart ruled, then turned to the jury. “The jury will disregard the prosecution’s last remark, and it will be stricken from the record.” She turned back toward Carlton. “Come to the point or your opening is over, counsel,” she snapped.
“Yes, Your Honor.” He squinted at the jury. The objection had worked perfectly. “Judge Taggart is right, ladies and gentlemen. I will come to the point. The point is simply this,” he said softly. “Waterboer is a monopoly. That’s undisputed here. For over a hundred years, Waterboer has used every means at its disposal to control diamond production and diamond prices, including assassination, bribery, torture, and child labor. It supported the Nazis during World War II, communism in the Soviet Union during the Cold War, white supremacists, the Russian mafiya and Russian nationalists. All to control diamond prices. You don’t have to take my word for it. It’s a fact, all documented by these unclassified CIA and FBI reports right here.” He placed his hands on two stacks of velobound documents so high they hid Erika from the jury, as intended.
“American law—our law—is fair and just. It has prohibited monopolies ever since 1890. I’ll read you that law. You don’t have to be a lawyer to understand it. It’s very simple, very clear.” Carlton picked up a book that Donna the DOJ librarian had found, dating back to 1890. He opened it, blew dust off the pages to show how old the law really was and read:
Every contract, combination in the form of trust or otherwise, or conspiracy, in restraint of trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, is declared to be illegal...Every person who shall monopolize, or attempt to monopolize, or combine or conspire with any other person or persons, to monopolize any part of the trade or commerce among the several States, or with foreign nations, shall be deemed guilty of a felony, and, on conviction thereof, shall be punished.
He slammed the heavy book closed. “You see, the law is simple. Monopolies are illegal. And under the law, anyone who knowingly and willfully aids and abets a monopoly is guilty of the exact same crime.”
“Which comes to the entire reason for this lawsuit: How does Waterboer do it? How does Waterboer keep its monopoly over the $15 billion annual U.S. market for diamonds? Pretty tough thing to accomplish, don’t you think? But Waterboer is tricky, see. They’re a South African company. So they’re outside the U.S. government’s jurisdiction. But the United States is the largest market for diamonds in the world. Waterboer can’t ignore it. Waterboer has to sell in the U.S. And to sell in the U.S., Waterboer has to advertise in the U.S. And it has been advertising. For over a hundred years. You’ve seen the ads. You’ve heard the ads. ‘Diamonds are Beauty’. All of us have seen and heard those words. That’s a Waterboer ad. They’re all over the place, these ads. Of course, Waterboer itself can’t publish these ads because they can’t operate in the U.S. So they licensed the Waterboer name to the Diamond Sellers League to run them instead. And those ads are then published by the other defendants. The defendants’ newspapers run them. The defendants’ magazines run them. The defendants’ radio stations play them on the air. The defendants’ television stations show them on TV. The defendants are the ones who enable Waterboer to sell their diamonds in the United States and keep their lock on the U.S. diamond market. And that’s why you pay $7,000 for this crummy diamond,” he pointed to the diamond on the floor, “instead of $50. And remember, under the law, anyone who knowingly and willfully aids and abets a monopoly is guilty of the exact same crime.
“The defendants,” he pointed to them, “are conspirators with Waterboer to further an illegal monopoly. If they are conspirators with Waterboer, they should be held accountable for the same crimes as Waterboer.”
Carlton paused for what seemed like minutes. The jurors had just become used to the silence when he rushed to the defense counsel
’s table, pointed at the defendants, and shouted at a volume he hadn’t thought possible.
“The United States of America accuses the defendants of actively participating in an international conspiracy to monopolize the United States diamond market!
“The United States of America accuses the defendants of being willing, active, and paid participants in an ongoing monopoly of the United States diamond market!
“The United States of America accuses the defendants of artificially inflating diamond prices on behalf of Waterboer!
“The United States of America accuses...”
The list was long.
87 VERDICT
United States District Court
District of Columbia
11:14 A.M.
The trial lasted over a month. Flooded with information about Waterboer through interminable media coverage, the American people, already incensed by Waterboer’s corruption of the highest levels of their government in Diamondgate, were outraged. Outraged by Waterboer’s support of Russian nationalists, the Russian mafia, and the slimly averted new Cold War. Disgusted by Waterboer’s financing of the white supremacist Afrikaaner Volksfront in South Africa. Repulsed by Waterboer’s historical support of apartheid, Nazism, Soviet Communism, and child labor. Shocked by the way they had been manipulated like sheep by Waterboer and its media conspirators into willingly forking over thousands of dollars for stones with little inherent value.
And though the American people held sacred their constitutional right to free speech, they disliked the media itself, which they considered biased, elitist, and condescending, just like Waterboer. Particularly when the two had profited for over a century on the backs of hardworking Americans. Combined with Waterboer’s misdeeds, to the American people, this was not a mere crime. This was treason against the people of the United States of America.
Patrick Carlton 01 - The Diamond Conspiracy Page 52
