Sunshine or Lead

by Adam Van Susteren

  “No.”

  “If you want to pressure Congress to pass immigration legislation, maybe we need to get you and the news cameras into these detention facilities and show what they’re like. Then talk to businesses that have hired illegal immigrants. Really get the press to show that you are taking the lead on identifying a huge problem and are also coming to the table with a real solution. We can put a lot of pressure on Congress to debate the policy we set forth and get something passed.”

  “That’s a great idea. Let’s clear my schedule and hit a border city tomorrow. Get the Secretary of Homeland Security to join me, immigration runs under that department.”

  “Got it.”

  Four Secret Service agents entered a federal building and were escorted by two United States marshals to the chamber of Judge Preston Peterson who was sitting on a couch in his office reading briefs. Without being informed why, Judge Peterson agreed to accompany the agents to meet with the President.

  Judge Peterson had been involved in enough criminal prosecutions over the years to know that no matter how careful he was, there was always a chance of being caught or recorded. Even if Anthony Wai turned on him, there was no chance of finding admissible evidence to convict him of any wrongdoing.

  Judge Peterson waited outside the Oval Office and was called in. The President shook his hand. “Thanks for coming in, Judge. I apologize for the secrecy but I want to ask that everything said today stays between us.”

  “Of course, Mr. President.”

  Both men sat down across from each other on the chairs surrounding the coffee table.

  “I’ll just cut right to the chase. I was informed that one of the Justices on the Court is in ill health and will be retiring shortly. You are on my short list for nomination to the Supreme Court.”

  Judge Peterson was not expecting that. “I’m honored and surprised.”

  “I am trying to move the country past partisanship. You have a good balanced track record and are clearly qualified. I don’t care if you were first appointed to the bench by a Republican. Heck, that would make confirmation go a lot easier.”

  “Thank you Mr. President,” was all Judge Peterson could say in response.

  “I’m sure you recall the vetting process for your appointment to the Court of Appeals. Don’t thank me until the process is over,” President Shortree joked. “Chief of Staff Joseph will be calling you to talk things over. If you pass the vetting process, would you accept my appointment?”

  “Of course, Mr. President.”

  The President just couldn’t stop himself from looking intensely into the Judge’s eyes. “Any reason why your confirmation would be challenged or you are not the candidate I think you are?”

  Judge Peterson read the President’s eyes. In that moment, he knew that the President knew. “Well Mr. President, I presume you know the answer to that question but cannot prove it, which is why you asked me here today and why you are planning on investigating me thoroughly.”

  The intensity of the President’s stare did not lessen. Judge Peterson asked, “Is there a deal to be had?”

  Knowing the Oval Office recording device was on, the President asked, “What can you offer?”

  Judge Peterson thought back to how he was recruited into the network by Montgomery Singe and how he had such a huge crush on Helen Cluntz. And then he remembered how he became so scared of both of them. They were never afraid of a president. They seemed to always have the right cards to play. Judge Peterson saw the writing on the wall when Helen was arrested and he knew it was over when she was dead. Forty years was a good run. She had been grooming Nick Bitren to take over for her. With both of them dead, there was a leadership vacuum.

  “I don’t have anything to offer because I’ve done nothing wrong.”

  “Mr. Peterson.” President Shortree purposefully did not call him Judge. “Under the Patriot Act, I am authorized to declare you a financial terrorist and have you held indefinitely without any rights to due process.”

  “Then you are no better than a petty dictator. You cannot abandon the Constitution. I would gladly disappear to let the media speculate as to how a sitting federal judge could just disappear. Do not bluff, Mr. President, unless you are prepared to have that bluff called.”

  “You smug, arrogant prick. You will have your day in court.” The President reached into his pocket, pulled out what looked like a keyless entry remote, and pressed one of the buttons on it. Within five seconds, four Secret Service agents were in the Oval Office. “Take him to the FBI and have him placed under arrest.”

  The President walked back to his desk and called his Chief of Staff to come back to the Oval Office to let him know of his mistake. “Get me White House Counsel and the Attorney General right away. I want to do everything by the book. If I can provide an executive order to help in the law enforcement, I will. If a judicial warrant is required, obtain one. The system has got to work here. If it doesn’t, we may have just solved our immigration problem. Who would come here if we abandon the rulebook whenever it’s expedient?”

  Aaron Baker’s brand new dumb phone rang. He wondered how on Earth it was possible; he hadn’t set up call forwarding and no one had the number yet. Aaron didn’t even know his own number. He answered and heard the voice of the person he now recognized as Justin Chernick, the whiz kid from the NSA. “Aaron, if you’re going to buy ten phones at the same time, get different makes and models. From your last one, I could track this one and the next one.”

  “Ozzy, what’s up?” Aaron asked, feeling annoyed that the system he worked so hard on wasn’t up to the task of providing him privacy.

  “You weren’t answering your office line and I was asked to locate you immediately. Please hold for the President.”

  Five seconds later he heard, “Aaron Baker?”

  “Yes. President Shortree?”

  “Tomorrow I am flying to El Paso, Sonora, and San Diego to meet with people in order to get a better understanding of the border situation. I would like to take you and Tina to dinner tomorrow night.”

  “We’ll be there, Mr. President.”

  “Let’s plan on seven pm at the Hotel del Coronado.”

  “See you tomorrow, Mr. President.”

  Before Aurora was even at her car with the additional FBI escort to transfer Anthony Wai to the jail in the FBI headquarters, she received a call from the Chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission who was looking at trades made by Helen Cluntz and Judge Peterson.

  They had many trades made by a Chadwick Tons, an Executive Vice President of the huge financial institution, Greenman Holder. A SEC agent called to ask why Form 144 wasn’t filed to notify the SEC of a certain sale and found Mr. Tons was on vacation in Bali, Indonesia.

  Aurora recognized Indonesia as one of the countries that does not have an extradition treaty with the United States. She immediately called the Director of the FBI and found out he was the one who had instructed the SEC Chair to call Aurora and bring her into the loop.

  In the half hour it took to bring Judge Peterson to the FBI jail, Aurora received another call explaining that Chadwick Tons worked as a Member of the Board of Governors at the Federal Reserve before becoming the a Senior Vice President of Greenman Holder. Prior to that, he was a trader at Greenman Holder and two of his clients happened to be Judge Peterson and Helen Cluntz, both of whom made a fortune investing with him.

  At first glance, it seemed that Chadwick’s record of trading, specifically around news from the Federal Reserve such as jobs reporting, was only slightly better than average. But when you looked closer at the accounts and funds and size of the losses compared to gains, it became crystal clear that Chadwick Tons was a trader blessed not with a golden touch, but with insider information.

  The SEC agent on the other end of the line explained it was going to take months to figure out who won and who lost according to Chadwick’s trading. Over the next twenty-four hours, the full force and fury of the United States criminal inv
estigation team poured over the lives of the New Deal Soldiers and uncovered much. After a warrant was obtained, Justin Chernick from the NSA was able to recover a trove of deleted emails sent in the ‘90s between Helen Cluntz, Chadwick Tons, and Preston Peterson.

  After the President was fully briefed, he laid into effect a plan that would uncover the truth in a manner pursuant to the rule of law.

  Chapter 40

  “This is Aaron,” Aaron Baker answered while at the bar in the Hotel del Coronado with Tina Lee. They were a half hour early for their dinner with the President.

  “Brandon Joseph.”

  “Hi Chief, how are you?”

  “Do me a favor, please. Invite Xiaowan and James to meet with you and the President briefly.”

  “Happy to, I’ll call James right now.”

  “Tell Tina I said hello and I’ll see you guys in a little bit.”

  “Okay, bye,” Aaron said into the phone. “Chief of Staff Joseph says hello. He’ll be seeing us in a little while.”

  Tina smiled, she really liked the Chief.

  Aaron called James and told him and Xiaowan to get to the Hotel del Coronado right away. Xiaowan was still at work. Not only did she have to keep current on her work, but she also had to deal with debriefings that included heart-monitored polygraph testing. In the two days she had been back at work, she started to think that she would someday get through everything and be accepted again there.

  James called his wife to tell her to get to the Del to meet with the President. She told him she should be able to get out of work “early” enough to make it.

  Promptly at seven pm, a steward escorted Aaron and Tina to a private dining area with an incredible ocean view and a table set for six. Aaron was surprised to see President Shortree was accompanied by his wife, Meredith Shortree, and Chief of Staff Joseph was accompanied by his wife and fellow physician, Sheree Joseph.

  After introductions were made, Aaron asked, “President, Chief, I am excited to meet your wives, but why did you ask me to invite James and Xiaowan?”

  The President said, “I’ll tell you a little story, then we get to have a night of fun like regular people. Once a month, Meredith and I have a date night and we are going to make the most of it here tonight. So forgive me, honey, for the next twenty minutes. I need to catch Aaron and Tina up on some things.”

  At that moment, James and Xiaowan arrived at the Del and were escorted to a hotel room. When they entered the room, Xiaowan’s heart stopped beating, her face went flush, and she started crying.

  “Mama! Papa!” Xiaowan cried and ran into her parents’ arms.

  They responded in Mandarin, “Daughter, son,” and took turns embracing.

  The First Lady swooned at the President when he explained what led to the part of the story where Xiaowan was currently reuniting with her parents. “That’s why I fell in love with him,” she professed.

  Aaron asked, “How did you make this happen?”

  “Six of the believed seven New Deal Soldiers are recently deceased or in custody. We identified the seventh, Chadwick Tons. The former Federal Reserve Governor crossed paths with Helen Cluntz and had accumulated twenty year old emails between the two that we recovered via a lawful warrant. He dumped stock to raise cash and ran to Indonesia where we do not have an extradition treaty. I had to think of a legal way to get him to return to the United States.”

  “How did you do it?”

  “When I ran for reelection, people claimed I didn’t have enough foreign policy experience and it was going to hurt our status in the world. So for the debates, I studied like hell. Indonesia and China signed an extradition treaty in ‘09. I had unfinished business with Premier Mao and our team found that Chadwick Tons used insider information that resulted in losses in several funds that he controlled, including a bond fund that he held on behalf of the Chinese government. He is to be extradited to China to face charges of possible fraud.”

  “That’s better than letting him lie on a beach in Bali for life. But it seems a little weak. And won’t they have huge jurisdictional issues?”

  “Hold on, Aaron. Like I said, I had unfinished business with Premier Mao. The PRC is extraditing him to the United States to stand trial first. We got the bastard!” the President said as he smacked the table to emphasize how happy he was.

  “How in the…” Aaron started asking.

  “I told Premier Mao that we had to repair our relationship immediately; he agreed. I told him that I could not let a stealth program of espionage go unanswered and asked him, as sign of good faith in our future relationship, to help me get Chadwick back to the United States.”

  Aaron shook his head in disbelief. “What’s the catch?”

  “As a gesture of good faith, I agreed to extradite one of our permanent residents, Kenji Bo. He’s not an American citizen. Citizenship is special. Mr. Bo was a permanent resident for over twenty years but never took the oath to become a citizen.”

  “What about the espionage program?”

  “I’m taking a page from the Adam Smith Society. What can be done? If one country doesn’t want to play by the rules, you identify that country and determine if it’s still worth doing business with them. In this case, it is. China has four times the number of citizens than we do. If we can open up their ports to our natural gas and our food, we can kick-start our economy and create a massive number of jobs. Jobs that would be well-suited for an influx of legal immigrants.”

  “So you’re responding to an espionage program with greater transparency?”

  The President nodded. “Unless people have done anything to harm Americans or American interests, such as selling troop movements or defense technologies, we will bide our time while uncovering their spy program. I told Premier Mao that via executive order, I will rescind the ban on exporting natural gas to China. If they want our clean fuel, let the private sector find a way to expand ports and ship it there.”

  “That’s the exact opposite of the trade sanctions I was fearing.”

  “Free trade with all will help our economy more than anything else. Today I toured three of our busiest border crossings and processing centers. They are sad, unsanitary, and a stain on this great country. We have people at the top of the system, Helen Cluntz, Chadwick Tons, and Judge Peterson, who are picking winners and losers. Our government is rigging the game and still people flock here with the hope that they can have a chance to succeed because it is the best system on Earth. God help me, I will work within the system to ensure people like Helen, or even myself, can’t abuse it,” President Shortree vowed, thinking about his own threat to Judge Peterson yesterday.

  As the sun set on the Pacific Ocean, Aaron Baker squeezed his fiancée’s hand under the table. For the first time in a long time, he thought the country was in good hands. The sun would rise again and help disinfect the secrecy and back-handed deals that permeate all levels of all governments.

  * * *

  [1] Jung v. Association of American Medical Colleges (2004) 339 F..Supp.2d 26, 40 (“Plaintiffs understandably are frustrated. They won a significant victory in court; Congress now has snatched it away. As a result, they have spent a significant portion of their brief discussing the "highly peculiar" legislative path Section 207 took before its passage. They point out that there were no hearings, no testimony, no significant debate, and vigorous opposition from those few Senators and Representatives who cared enough or were importuned enough to focus on the Match legislation. "By furtively attaching the Match Legislation as a rider to an unrelated bill on the eve of imminent passage rather than introducing legislation through normal procedures, defendants were able to avoid public and Congressional awareness and avoid opposition to their scheme." As Bismarck suggested, "the making of laws, like the making of sausage, is something from which the fastidious person would often be well advised to avert his or her gaze."”(citations omitted)).

  [2] http://www.house.gov/coxreport/

  [3]http://money.cnn.com/2013/06/28/news/com
panies/china-wind-sinovel/

  [4]http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052970203363504577187502201577054

  [5]http://intelligence.house.gov/sites/intelligence.house.gov/files/documents/Huawei-ZTE%20Investigative%20Report%20%28FINAL%29.pdf