Criminal Lawyers:
John Williams
by Jerry Guarino
John Williams was a
lifelong Republican. From New England prep school
president to Yale and then Harvard law school,
John was always one of the fortunate few. Growing
up with privilege, he was accustomed to having
his way in life. But just because you lived a
charmed life doesn’t mean you’re not
vulnerable to life’s downturns.
He joined a Washington, D.C.
firm from law school and immediately started
making contacts with the GOP elites, congressmen,
senators, and even cabinet secretaries. By the
time he was 30, he became known as a fixer,
someone who could get clients out of trouble or
place the blame elsewhere.
A first-term senator came
to visit him in the summer. She had an affair
with one of her staffers and was being accused of
sexual harassment, the kind of charge that can
derail a promising career. Her name was Christy
Long. She made an appointment with John. They met
in his firm’s private conference room.
“Hello, Mr. Williams.
I’m Christy Long. I understand you’re a
criminal lawyer.”
“Yes, Ms. Long. I’m
a criminal defense attorney, although now I work
mostly with lobbyists and congressional staffers.
What can I help you with?”
“As you may know, I’m
a first-term senator from North Dakota. One of my
aides, Bill Lawrence, is accusing me of sexual
assault, even though we have had a consensual
relationship for months.”
“Why all of a sudden?
Did you do something to upset him?”
“Well, he found out
that I am bisexual and caught me sleeping with
his wife.”
“I guess that would do
it. But there’s blame on both sides. What
does the wife say?”
“She didn’t know
about our affair, but is using this to get a
favorable divorce settlement.”
“So, Bill isn’t
open to hushing this up?”
“His wife wants to
keep seeing me, so no.”
“Hmm. Let me make some
calls.”
***
John arranged for a D.C.
escort to meet with Bill and get some
compromising photos. He then brought Bill in to
discuss a deal – drop the charge against
Christy or have the photos given to his wife for
leverage. Bill acquiesced.
In the next election, John
was involved in cleaning up a charge of election
interference from several Republican congressmen,
from states with substantial GOP control. There
were dirty tricks, payoffs, and bribing judges
among other misdemeanors. As usual, John’s
first ploy was to embarrass and discredit the
persons bringing the charges. But that wouldn’t
be enough.
One of the congressmen,
Alex James, came in to meet with John.
“Thank you for seeing
me, Mr. Williams. I’m Alex James. I
understand you’re a criminal lawyer.”
“I’m a criminal
defense attorney, yes. I understand that CNN is
going to expose your election interference scheme.”
“Yes, I was ratted out
by a staffer.”
“That’s unusual.”
“Well, she was married
and her husband found out. He told her he would
leave her if she didn’t expose me.”
“Sex scandals in D.C.
Shocking. So, what are you being accused of?”
“A plan to limit
voting by minorities, bribing election officials
and threatening anyone who gets in the way.”
“Wow. A triple threat.
Didn’t you think you could win without
cheating?”
“I’m a Republican.”
“Of course, I
understand. Our party is taking it on the chin
lately. So, who is the CNN reporter?”
“Candace Livingston.
She contacted me to defend myself, but I wanted
to talk to you first.”
“Has she involved
anyone else at the network?”
“No, she wants an
exclusive.”
***
John contacted one of his
thugs to rough up Ms. Livingston, but the goon
killed her by mistake. It would have all
disappeared except that a hidden video camera in
Ms. Livingston’s living room caught the
murder on tape. Her surveillance was
automatically uploaded to a secure website.
When the police viewed the
footage, they noticed one other critical element
of the crime. The killer said something to Ms.
Livingston before killing her.
“John Williams sends
his regards.”
So, when police picked up
the thug, he had to turn on John, in an attempt
to minimize his culpability. They picked up John
Williams immediately.
But John wasn’t out of
options. He had one of his associates defend him
and bribe the judge to let him out on bail. No
such luck. The judge was related to Alex James’
opponent in the upcoming election. Williams tried
to get the judge to recuse himself from the case,
but their appeal was denied. The supervising
judge who heard the appeal was Byron Waters,
Christy Long’s grandfather.
Williams was sentenced to
conspiracy to commit murder and sent to prison in
Alabama, about as far from his New England
privilege could take him. Williams tried to call
in his favor from other D.C. elites, but to no
avail. He had become toxic, normally the only way
you could lose your power in the nation’s
capital. He wrote a book, exposing all the
secrets he knew about, to exact revenge on those
who abandoned him.
After the book was published, John was working in
the prison garden. A fellow inmate stabbed him
with a pruning shear and left him with a parting
word.
“Bill Lawrence sends
his regards.”
Criminal
Lawyers: John Williams by Jerry Guarino
Copyright April, 2023 – All Rights Reserved
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