WEBVTT - When Blackmail Accidentally Uncovers Political Corruption 0:00:02.240 --> 0:00:06.559 Welcome to Criminalia, a production of Shondaland Audio in partnership 0:00:06.600 --> 0:00:07.520 with iHeartRadio. 0:00:13.960 --> 0:00:17.360 This is a story of a Texas oil tycoon, a 0:00:17.440 --> 0:00:22.240 congressman from Idaho, and a financial commodities broker in Oklahoma City, 0:00:22.800 --> 0:00:26.760 and is the story of blackmail, Yes, but it's also 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:31.320 a story of political corruption and ethics uncovered by that blackmail. 0:00:31.960 --> 0:00:35.159 There's a lot going on here and almost everyone is guilty. 0:00:35.640 --> 0:00:38.200 Welcome to Criminalia. I'm Maria Tremarky. 0:00:38.760 --> 0:00:42.400 And I'm Holly Frye. Let's meet this trio. We're going 0:00:42.479 --> 0:00:46.440 to start with the Texan tycoon. It was estimated that 0:00:46.600 --> 0:00:51.160 Nelson bunker Hunt was worth between eight billion and sixteen 0:00:51.240 --> 0:00:55.960 billion dollars, yes, billion with a B. Hunt was a 0:00:56.000 --> 0:01:01.320 Texas oil company executive who also owned one thousands, drove 0:01:01.360 --> 0:01:04.640 a Cadillac, and lost most of his fortune when he 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:08.400 and two of his brothers, William, Herbert and Lamar tried 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:12.720 to corner the market in silver. Quote A billion dollars 0:01:12.760 --> 0:01:15.560 ain't what it used to be, he famously said. After 0:01:15.600 --> 0:01:19.600 the collapse. Early in nineteen eighty one, bunker Hunt received 0:01:19.800 --> 0:01:23.440 a blackmail letter demanding he paid four hundred and forty 0:01:23.520 --> 0:01:28.000 thousand dollars in exchange for the blackmailer's silence about an 0:01:28.040 --> 0:01:31.880 eighty seven thousand dollars bribe that Hunt had arranged for 0:01:32.080 --> 0:01:36.760 Idaho Republican Representative George Hanson in the form of a 0:01:36.800 --> 0:01:42.520 silver futures purchase for his wife, Connie Hanson, but actually 0:01:42.600 --> 0:01:46.479 intended to line the pockets of her politician husband. 0:01:47.440 --> 0:01:51.120 George Hanson served in the United States House of Representatives 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:56.160 for fourteen years, representing Idaho's second district between nineteen sixty 0:01:56.160 --> 0:01:59.280 five and nineteen sixty nine, and then again from nineteen 0:01:59.320 --> 0:02:03.400 seventy five nineteen eighty five. He was, as reported by 0:02:03.440 --> 0:02:08.640 The New York Times, known for his quote flamboyant's impulsiveness, affability, 0:02:08.720 --> 0:02:13.360 and tireless campaigning. He was also a convicted swindler. 0:02:14.320 --> 0:02:17.360 The third major player in this story is the blackmailer, 0:02:17.639 --> 0:02:21.679 a man named Arthur Greenhill Emmons. The third Arthur was 0:02:21.720 --> 0:02:26.000 an Oklahoma commodity's brokerage employee at the trading firm Mingen 0:02:26.120 --> 0:02:29.680 Company that was where Connie Hanson had made a profit 0:02:30.080 --> 0:02:33.760 of eighty seven thousand dollars speculating in silver in nineteen 0:02:33.840 --> 0:02:38.200 seventy nine. Hunt had recommended the firm to the Hansons 0:02:38.520 --> 0:02:41.400 and Emmons always believed that Hunt set up the silver 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:45.040 deal as a way of funneling bribe money to George Hanson, 0:02:45.160 --> 0:02:47.079 although he could not prove it. 0:02:48.200 --> 0:02:52.480 Outraged about the blackmail letter, Hunt's first instinct was to 0:02:52.520 --> 0:02:56.560 report it to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Hanson, though 0:02:56.600 --> 0:03:00.720 hearing of the blackmailer's letter, instead insisted it reported to 0:03:00.760 --> 0:03:04.240 the Justice Department as he held political office, and then 0:03:04.280 --> 0:03:07.280 the whole time he was insistent that he was innocent 0:03:07.360 --> 0:03:12.040 of any financial wrongdoing. That led Emmons, worried he'd be 0:03:12.080 --> 0:03:15.640 exposed as a blackmailer by the Department of Justice, to 0:03:15.680 --> 0:03:18.360 send a second letter to Bunker Hunt, asking him to 0:03:19.040 --> 0:03:22.200 just forget about the whole thing. He signed it as 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:24.920 he had the first letter with the alias Gordon Warner. 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.760 The FBI, which is the department that handles such cases, 0:03:28.840 --> 0:03:32.080 didn't forget about the whole thing and tracked him down, 0:03:32.520 --> 0:03:33.919 and Arthur turned himself in. 0:03:35.640 --> 0:03:39.040 Emmons pleaded guilty to a single count of blackmail for 0:03:39.120 --> 0:03:42.160 trying to demand money and threatening to tell the FBI 0:03:42.240 --> 0:03:46.720 that he discovered Hunt had bribed Representative George Hansen circuitously 0:03:46.800 --> 0:03:51.560 through his wife, Connie Emmon's attorney, James Lyons, refused to 0:03:51.600 --> 0:03:54.600 comment on the case to the press, simply stating that 0:03:54.680 --> 0:03:59.720 his client was quote extremely remorseful. The Washington Post reported 0:03:59.760 --> 0:04:04.040 Slash speculated at the time that Emmon's blackmail attempt was 0:04:04.160 --> 0:04:08.600 likely because Hunt had allegedly caused wild fluctuations in silver 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:14.040 prices in January of nineteen eighty fluctuations that financially hurt 0:04:14.120 --> 0:04:15.800 a lot of small investors. 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:20.800 Because Emmens cooperated with the government, he was granted immunity 0:04:20.800 --> 0:04:24.560 from prosecution. He received a suspended one year sentence and 0:04:24.720 --> 0:04:28.440 was fined two thousand dollars, but the investigation didn't stop 0:04:28.480 --> 0:04:32.040 with him. It opened questions and authorities began to look 0:04:32.040 --> 0:04:34.920 at the nature of the relationship between the Texas billionaire 0:04:35.000 --> 0:04:39.280 and the politician, and they found a bombshell. Hansen had 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:43.640 made false statements on his congressional financial disclosure forms, including 0:04:43.839 --> 0:04:46.359 that eighty seven thousand dollars that Emmons noted in his 0:04:46.440 --> 0:04:47.719 blackmail letter to Hunt. 0:04:48.800 --> 0:04:52.480 These disclosure forms were part of the Ethics and Government Act, 0:04:52.640 --> 0:04:56.080 a federal law enacted in nineteen seventy eight, passed in 0:04:56.120 --> 0:04:59.680 the wake of the Nixon Watergate scandal. Under the law, 0:05:00.080 --> 0:05:04.120 all major government officials are required to file annual financial 0:05:04.160 --> 0:05:08.400 disclosure statements of their sources of income. That law remains 0:05:08.440 --> 0:05:12.839 in place today, and it includes one amounts of income, 0:05:13.040 --> 0:05:18.200 gifts and reimbursements, two the identity and approximate value of 0:05:18.279 --> 0:05:24.760 property held and liabilities owed. Three transactions in property, commodities 0:05:24.800 --> 0:05:30.320 and securities, and for financial interests of a spouse or dependent. 0:05:31.320 --> 0:05:35.760 It excludes the reporting of sources of political campaign funds, 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:40.800 including campaign receipts and expenditures. Campaign reporting falls under a 0:05:40.839 --> 0:05:41.599 separate law. 0:05:42.520 --> 0:05:46.920 Lawyers for Hunt and Hanson took swift action six days 0:05:47.160 --> 0:05:50.840 after the blackmail attempt. Hunt's lawyers had Connie Hansen sign 0:05:50.960 --> 0:05:54.560 notes for each loan in question. The loans they felt 0:05:54.560 --> 0:05:57.560 needed to be clearly listed in Connie's name, and this 0:05:57.760 --> 0:06:02.200 extra step was assurance they were. According to federal prosecutor 0:06:02.240 --> 0:06:05.560 read Winegarden, the real motive for it was that Hunt 0:06:05.600 --> 0:06:08.520 and Hanson quote wanted to get their ducks in a row. 0:06:10.320 --> 0:06:12.159 We're going to take a break here for a word 0:06:12.160 --> 0:06:15.359 from our sponsors, and when we return, we'll talk in 0:06:15.440 --> 0:06:19.760 detail about what Hanson didn't disclose and why he thought 0:06:19.920 --> 0:06:20.719 he didn't have to. 0:06:34.400 --> 0:06:38.480 Welcome back to Criminalia George Hanson was charged for failing 0:06:38.520 --> 0:06:41.159 to comply with the Ethics Act, and he was indicted 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:44.680 and went to trial. So let's talk about what went 0:06:44.760 --> 0:06:45.920 on in that courtroom. 0:06:47.720 --> 0:06:50.880 George Hanson was indicted by a federal grand jury in 0:06:50.960 --> 0:06:54.120 April of nineteen eighty one and tried on charges that 0:06:54.160 --> 0:06:59.760 he failed to disclose four major financial transactions, including one 0:07:00.000 --> 0:07:03.400 an eighty seven thousand, four hundred seventy five dollars profit 0:07:03.720 --> 0:07:06.720 on the purchase and sale of one hundred twenty five 0:07:06.839 --> 0:07:10.680 silver futures contracts over a two day period in nineteen 0:07:10.760 --> 0:07:15.840 seventy nine. Two A fifty thousand dollars personal loan in 0:07:16.000 --> 0:07:19.800 Connie Hanson's name from a Dallas bank co signed by 0:07:19.880 --> 0:07:24.840 Hunt in nineteen seventy eight. Three, A sixty one thousand, 0:07:24.960 --> 0:07:29.200 five hundred three dollars and forty two cents loan directly 0:07:29.280 --> 0:07:33.720 from Bunker Hunt in nineteen eighty two, Connie Hanson, and 0:07:33.840 --> 0:07:38.200 four personal loans totaling one hundred thirty five thousand dollars 0:07:38.280 --> 0:07:44.200 in nineteen eighty one by individuals in Virginia. Feeling surprisingly 0:07:44.240 --> 0:07:48.280 optimistic about his case, Hanson stated things quote could be 0:07:48.400 --> 0:07:51.280 over before it starts. They were not. 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.960 On the first day of trial, Bunker, Hunt testified that 0:07:56.000 --> 0:07:59.480 he had lent money and given financial advice to Connie Hanson, 0:08:00.120 --> 0:08:03.080 but only after George Hansen had assured him that the 0:08:03.120 --> 0:08:07.200 couple had made separate financial arrangements. He stated he had 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:11.000 quote some reservations about giving money directly to a politician, 0:08:11.320 --> 0:08:14.080 but that Hanson had convinced him it would be quote 0:08:14.160 --> 0:08:16.360 all right to help Connie make some money. 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:21.000 Hunt, who described himself on the stand as quote largely 0:08:21.160 --> 0:08:26.520 self employed, testified for more than two hours. Federal prosecutor 0:08:26.560 --> 0:08:30.000 Weingarten questioned him about his dealings with the Hansons and 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:32.720 if he had dealt only with Connie Hanson as a 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:36.439 quote way to provide George Hanson money and not get 0:08:36.520 --> 0:08:40.120 yourself in trouble, to which Hunt replied, quote, I wouldn't 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.440 put it that strongly. I was trying to help the 0:08:42.480 --> 0:08:46.360 Hanson family with the problems they had. As to how 0:08:46.559 --> 0:08:50.040 these two men knew each other, Hunt testified that Hanson 0:08:50.080 --> 0:08:53.320 had approached him a few years earlier, in nineteen seventy eight, 0:08:53.679 --> 0:08:57.200 after they had met at a dinner function. Hanson had 0:08:57.240 --> 0:09:01.160 confided that he needed contributions to overcome between three hundred 0:09:01.240 --> 0:09:05.120 thousand and four hundred thousand dollars in debts resulting from 0:09:05.120 --> 0:09:08.280 his congressional campaign, as well as the cost of his 0:09:08.360 --> 0:09:12.520 defense against charges that he had violated federal campaign laws. 0:09:12.760 --> 0:09:14.479 In nineteen seventy five. 0:09:15.440 --> 0:09:18.640 The prosecution discovered that Hanson and his wife had signed 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:22.680 a financial separation agreement dividing their property, which we mentioned earlier, 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.719 but they also discovered the couple didn't really play by 0:09:26.760 --> 0:09:29.960 those rules. They had continued to keep everything in both 0:09:30.040 --> 0:09:34.600 their names and filed joint tax returns. In addition, lawyers 0:09:34.600 --> 0:09:37.480 for the prosecution traced the loans in question through a 0:09:37.520 --> 0:09:41.760 network of banks to prove Hanson one hundred percent knew 0:09:41.920 --> 0:09:45.160 about transactions in his wife's name and that he had 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:50.440 benefited from them. Addressing the jury, federal prosecutor James Cole 0:09:50.559 --> 0:09:55.000 stated that Hanson had intentionally hidden transactions by filing false 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:58.280 statements and that quote, the evidence will show that he 0:09:58.360 --> 0:10:00.559 knew they were a false and he and tended them 0:10:00.600 --> 0:10:04.480 to be false when he filed them. Spoiler alert it did. 0:10:05.960 --> 0:10:08.440 During the trial, it came to light that with a 0:10:08.480 --> 0:10:11.720 bit of sleight of hand, the eighty seven thousand dollars, 0:10:11.800 --> 0:10:14.680 which was actually eighty seven thousand, four hundred seventy five 0:10:14.760 --> 0:10:20.160 dollars profit from the silver contracts had been suspiciously run 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:24.160 through two banks. Connie testified that the money was used 0:10:24.160 --> 0:10:27.559 to pay off loans, but she could not recall what loans. 0:10:28.040 --> 0:10:31.520 The Hunt backed fifty thousand dollars bank loan was intended 0:10:31.520 --> 0:10:34.480 for Connie to cover a thirty three thousand, eight hundred 0:10:34.520 --> 0:10:37.920 and fifty five dollars loss on a nineteen seventy seven 0:10:38.120 --> 0:10:42.240 soybeans commodities deal, a deal that the Hunt family had 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:46.760 also lost money in. Connie Hanson, though, failed to repay 0:10:46.800 --> 0:10:49.720 that loan, and when the bank collected from Hunt, her 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.920 co signer, he then sought to get his money back 0:10:53.000 --> 0:10:56.440 with interest, a total of sixty one thousand, five hundred 0:10:56.480 --> 0:11:01.439 three dollars from the Hansons. These loans and the silver contracts, 0:11:01.520 --> 0:11:04.680 they were all in Connie's name, a fact the prosecution 0:11:04.920 --> 0:11:08.640 used to show that Representative Hanson knew exactly what he 0:11:08.679 --> 0:11:10.760 was doing, and that was hiding money. 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:15.560 Hanson's explanation for the one hundred and thirty five thousand 0:11:15.559 --> 0:11:19.199 dollars loan was that the money, at least in part, 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:23.040 was for the Association of Concerned Taxpayers, a group that 0:11:23.120 --> 0:11:27.400 promoted his book criticizing the Internal Revenue Service. He later 0:11:27.480 --> 0:11:29.880 explained that he didn't declare it on his nineteen eighty 0:11:29.880 --> 0:11:34.120 two financial disclosure statements because he claimed the money was 0:11:34.160 --> 0:11:37.680 given to an organization he created and headed to promote 0:11:37.679 --> 0:11:42.360 his tax legislation and related book. He had, though, reported 0:11:42.400 --> 0:11:45.200 the interest on his income tax returns, which were filed 0:11:45.280 --> 0:11:49.800 jointly with his wife. John Mead Junior, a former Southern 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:54.840 Virginia banker who was himself later convicted of embezzlement, testified 0:11:54.880 --> 0:11:57.840 he had lent Hanson fifty thousand dollars on November twenty first, 0:11:57.920 --> 0:12:01.760 nineteen eighty one. Now, this was also part of the 0:12:01.840 --> 0:12:05.000 one hundred and thirty five thousand dollars in question, so 0:12:05.080 --> 0:12:07.320 he meant it while he was trying to rally support 0:12:07.400 --> 0:12:10.720 to convince the United States Army to explore research into 0:12:10.800 --> 0:12:15.320 hydrogen cars. The loan, Meat also stated was intended to 0:12:15.320 --> 0:12:18.439 help Hanson promote a book he was writing about Iran. 0:12:19.760 --> 0:12:23.920 Defense layer Stephen Braga argued the government's evidence was immaterial 0:12:23.920 --> 0:12:26.920 to the charges and that it failed to prove Hanson 0:12:27.000 --> 0:12:30.760 was calling the shots for his wife's financial dealings. Another 0:12:30.800 --> 0:12:34.600 of Hanson's attorneys, Nathan Lewin called the congressman a quote 0:12:34.720 --> 0:12:38.440 man of limited means who had quote an enormous personal 0:12:38.480 --> 0:12:41.800 debt of nearly four hundred thousand dollars and that he 0:12:42.000 --> 0:12:46.040 was in a quote terrible financial bind. He argued that 0:12:46.120 --> 0:12:49.600 Hanson wasn't trying to hide anything and highlighted that it 0:12:49.679 --> 0:12:52.120 was on an attorney's advice that he and his wife 0:12:52.160 --> 0:12:56.200 had drawn up an agreement to separate their finances. When 0:12:56.240 --> 0:13:00.480 Hanson filed the disclosure statements, Lewyn explained, quote he thought 0:13:00.520 --> 0:13:03.440 those loans had been the property of missus Hanson, and 0:13:03.480 --> 0:13:06.240 we're therefore not reportable on the forms. 0:13:06.760 --> 0:13:09.280 So on that we're going to take a break for 0:13:09.320 --> 0:13:12.120 a word from our sponsors. When we're back, we'll talk 0:13:12.200 --> 0:13:13.440 more about Hanson's trial. 0:13:25.720 --> 0:13:31.840 Welcome back to Criminalia. Guilty not guilty, Let's find out. 0:13:32.840 --> 0:13:35.640 As we talked about earlier in the show, the Ethics 0:13:35.679 --> 0:13:39.440 and Government Act requires Congressmen and other high ranking government 0:13:39.480 --> 0:13:43.360 officials to file annual reports disclosing their income and other 0:13:43.440 --> 0:13:48.200 financial transactions. Hanson's attorneys claimed his omissions from the Ethics 0:13:48.240 --> 0:13:52.480 Disclosure Statements were not a willful violation of any law 0:13:52.559 --> 0:13:55.920 because Congress did not intend to use those statements for anything, 0:13:56.520 --> 0:14:01.080 but the jury didn't buy that. A United State's District 0:14:01.200 --> 0:14:04.800 Court jury, which was sequestered in a local motel during 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:07.839 the trial, deliberated for three and a half hours and 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:11.320 found the congressman guilty on all four counts. 0:14:12.280 --> 0:14:15.120 Hanson was the first public official to be tried for 0:14:15.240 --> 0:14:19.160 violating the Ethics and Government Act, and if he was convicted, 0:14:19.240 --> 0:14:22.080 he was facing a maximum of five years in prison 0:14:22.480 --> 0:14:26.360 and a ten thousand dollars fine for each charge. He 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:30.160 was found guilty of four counts of filing false financial 0:14:30.160 --> 0:14:31.400 disclosure statements. 0:14:32.680 --> 0:14:36.640 In June of nineteen eighty four, United States District Court 0:14:36.760 --> 0:14:40.960 Judge Joyce Hens Green sentenced Hansen to serve five to 0:14:41.040 --> 0:14:44.760 fifteen months in prison and find him forty thousand dollars 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:48.720 for filing false financial disclosure forms to Congress in direct 0:14:48.840 --> 0:14:52.640 violation of the nineteen seventy eight Ethics in Government Act. 0:14:53.320 --> 0:14:58.040 Hanson could have been reprimanded, censured, or expelled from office, 0:14:58.040 --> 0:15:01.880 and Green told him that she based his quote deterrence, 0:15:02.320 --> 0:15:08.600 setting an example, punishment, rehabilitation, and justice. At his sentencing, 0:15:08.680 --> 0:15:13.280 Hanson stated, quote, there was no theft, no scandalous stuffing 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:16.320 of money, into a politician's pocket. There was no kick 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.680 back from the staff or misuse of public funds. There 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:23.280 was no active drunkenness, no act of violence, no accident 0:15:23.400 --> 0:15:27.760 leaving someone dead or injured. Hanson's lawyer, Lewin stated to 0:15:27.760 --> 0:15:29.800 the press that he planned on filing for a new 0:15:29.840 --> 0:15:34.040 trial on grounds that quote errors were made in the proceedings. 0:15:35.120 --> 0:15:38.920 After his trial, Hanson accused the Justice Department of singling 0:15:39.080 --> 0:15:43.040 him out for prosecution because he had criticized their department, 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.840 as he had the Internal Revenue Service. In a letter 0:15:46.920 --> 0:15:50.800 to the House Standards of Official Conduct Committee, Hanson accused 0:15:50.920 --> 0:15:55.280 Special Counsel Stanley Brand, who conducted the ethics investigation, of 0:15:55.360 --> 0:15:59.400 having a quote direct conflict of interest, and wrote, quote 0:15:59.840 --> 0:16:03.320 confidence in the non partisan deliberations of your committee has 0:16:03.360 --> 0:16:08.120 been destroyed. Hanson also stated in his letter that Brand, 0:16:08.240 --> 0:16:11.320 who was general counsel for the House of Representatives before 0:16:11.320 --> 0:16:15.280 he entered private practice, was on retainer to the Democratic 0:16:15.320 --> 0:16:19.880 Congressional Campaign Committee during the investigation, and that was a conflict. 0:16:20.760 --> 0:16:24.440 Brand did work for the campaign on quote a limited matter, 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.440 but he had disclosed that to the Ethics panel, and 0:16:27.480 --> 0:16:29.720 it was a non issue. 0:16:29.840 --> 0:16:34.680 Federal Prosecutor Winegarden stated that Hanson quote took great care 0:16:34.840 --> 0:16:40.040 to hide very suspicious and potentially embarrassing transactions. In his 0:16:40.160 --> 0:16:43.440 closing arguments addressing the jury, he stated that Hanson was 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.080 using his wife as a quote front for concealing his 0:16:47.120 --> 0:16:51.680 financial dealings with Bunker Hunt. Winegarden called the financial separation 0:16:51.800 --> 0:16:56.080 agreement quote phony and something that Hanson's used to avoid 0:16:56.080 --> 0:16:59.520 the legal requirements of the Ethics Act, yet not when 0:16:59.560 --> 0:17:03.040 it came to time to pay their taxes. He also 0:17:03.200 --> 0:17:07.240 argued that Hanson's actions quote, when exposed to the fresh air, 0:17:07.520 --> 0:17:10.199 emit an odor that can be picked up all the 0:17:10.240 --> 0:17:14.200 way from Pocatello. It was not an odor of spring flowers, 0:17:14.240 --> 0:17:19.560 but the stench of political corruption. Hanson, he continued, quote, 0:17:19.680 --> 0:17:22.439 went to great lengths to hide that stench from his 0:17:22.560 --> 0:17:25.880 colleagues on the hill, the press, and from the good 0:17:25.880 --> 0:17:26.960 people of Idaho. 0:17:28.440 --> 0:17:32.320 Defense attorney Lewin, who strongly believed that Wingarten brought the 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:36.840 indictment against Hanson for quote personal ambition, said after the 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.800 verdict that the impending appeal would cover a quote whole 0:17:39.920 --> 0:17:44.119 range of issues involved in what he called quote an injustice. 0:17:44.920 --> 0:17:48.439 Lewin also stated that he believed that jury sequestration had 0:17:48.520 --> 0:17:52.399 led to quote an unfair verdict. Hanson stated that he 0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:55.000 didn't blame the jury for that, but that the quote 0:17:55.040 --> 0:17:58.639 smokescreen made by the Justice Department obscured the facts for 0:17:58.720 --> 0:18:04.600 the jury. I consider myself innocence. Prosecutors Weingarten and Cole 0:18:04.720 --> 0:18:08.879 stated they were quote satisfied justice was done. 0:18:09.240 --> 0:18:13.360 So despite all this, Hanson ran for reelection that year 0:18:13.480 --> 0:18:18.280 while appealing his conviction, and he lost only by one 0:18:18.440 --> 0:18:23.000 hundred and sixty seven votes. Instead of serving in public office, 0:18:23.119 --> 0:18:26.280 he served a year in federal prison. Actually he served 0:18:26.280 --> 0:18:29.240 six months and then another six months for violating his parole. 0:18:30.080 --> 0:18:34.760 In nineteen ninety five, after many appeals, the charges against 0:18:34.840 --> 0:18:38.919 him were dismissed by the Supreme Court. This wasn't Hanson's 0:18:38.960 --> 0:18:41.600 first time in the courtroom, though, he was convicted in 0:18:41.680 --> 0:18:45.400 nineteen seventy five of election law violations, and it also 0:18:45.560 --> 0:18:49.200 wasn't his last. He was subsequently convicted in an entirely 0:18:49.240 --> 0:18:52.840 different case on forty five counts of bank fraud, for 0:18:52.880 --> 0:18:57.080 which he was incarcerated for forty months. In nineteen ninety two, 0:18:57.200 --> 0:19:00.639 Hanson was also convicted and incarcerated on charges of defrauding 0:19:00.640 --> 0:19:04.000 too Idaho banks and two hundred people in a thirty 0:19:04.040 --> 0:19:08.400 million dollar investment scheme. In true Hanson form, he denied 0:19:08.560 --> 0:19:12.560 he'd done anything wrong and claimed the accusations against him 0:19:12.760 --> 0:19:16.239 were nothing more than a government vendetta, which we've heard 0:19:16.280 --> 0:19:17.560 a couple other times from him. 0:19:19.480 --> 0:19:23.359 Who Hanson, do you want to have a sip of 0:19:23.440 --> 0:19:27.040 something yummy to wash the taste of all of this 0:19:27.160 --> 0:19:27.919 out of our mouths? 0:19:28.040 --> 0:19:28.520 Yes? I do? 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:40.000 Okay. This one was actually tricky for me to think about, 0:19:40.119 --> 0:19:42.560 because I was like, how do I want to approach this. 0:19:43.400 --> 0:19:45.320 I thought about a few different things. I looked at, 0:19:45.320 --> 0:19:49.400 like lists of crops in Texas, of things we might 0:19:49.440 --> 0:19:50.800 include the usual stuff that I. 0:19:50.760 --> 0:19:52.639 Do, right, what goes on in Idaho? Kind of do 0:19:52.720 --> 0:19:53.520 something with potato? 0:19:53.680 --> 0:19:56.520 Yeah, don't worry, there's going to be a potato, but 0:19:56.560 --> 0:20:00.960 it's optional. And then it occurred to me like what 0:20:01.400 --> 0:20:04.720 kind of drinks were people drinking in the seventies when 0:20:04.720 --> 0:20:08.960 this actual criminal activity was going on? And what popped 0:20:09.000 --> 0:20:11.240 into my mind was the Harvey wallbank. 0:20:11.359 --> 0:20:14.320 Oh, I haven't heard thought of this drink in a 0:20:14.359 --> 0:20:14.960 long time. 0:20:15.600 --> 0:20:17.960 Here's the thing about a Harvey wallbanger. I think if 0:20:18.000 --> 0:20:20.840 you're you know, I remember when we are of an 0:20:20.840 --> 0:20:24.119 age where we heard about it as kids. And I 0:20:24.119 --> 0:20:26.199 don't know about you, but to me it sounded like 0:20:26.760 --> 0:20:31.959 a badass what a name, right, That's a masculine hard drink. 0:20:32.240 --> 0:20:33.880 And actually don't think I've ever had one. 0:20:34.000 --> 0:20:36.720 No, it tastes like a creamsicle like. It tastes like 0:20:36.760 --> 0:20:39.520 a creamsicle. It's not like a shot of whiskey and 0:20:39.560 --> 0:20:41.919 a punch in the eye. It's like literally, it tastes 0:20:41.960 --> 0:20:46.040 like magic. But it has its own interesting history because 0:20:46.080 --> 0:20:49.040 it was actually a really popular drink in the seventies 0:20:49.119 --> 0:20:54.520 because it was promoted by the McKesson Imports company to 0:20:55.240 --> 0:20:58.040 try to get attention on the liquor they were on 0:20:58.080 --> 0:21:01.840 the liqueur they were importing, which is Galliano, of which 0:21:01.880 --> 0:21:05.760 I am a fan Galliano. If you haven't had it before, 0:21:05.800 --> 0:21:09.640 I've probably talked about it in recipes. Sometimes people will 0:21:09.680 --> 0:21:12.320 refer to it as a vanilla liquor I probably have. 0:21:12.480 --> 0:21:15.080 That's a little misleading because it also has notes of 0:21:15.160 --> 0:21:18.760 annis and some other like citrus tones. There's a little 0:21:18.800 --> 0:21:22.000 smoky note to it. It's its own interesting thing, and 0:21:22.119 --> 0:21:24.840 their original one. They came up with this. It had 0:21:24.880 --> 0:21:26.960 like a cartoon character that went with it, who was 0:21:27.000 --> 0:21:29.560 like a surfer named Harvey Wallbanger, not at all like 0:21:29.600 --> 0:21:33.119 the dudes in this story. Their original recipe for a 0:21:33.160 --> 0:21:36.359 Harvey Wallbanger, and it's like a variation on a screwdriver. Okay, 0:21:36.480 --> 0:21:40.520 six ounces of orange juice, one ounce of vodka, stir 0:21:40.640 --> 0:21:44.399 with ice, splash in a half ounce of Galliano. So 0:21:44.480 --> 0:21:46.480 I thought, how can we take this drink that was 0:21:46.600 --> 0:21:49.720 very popular then and make it something different and a 0:21:49.760 --> 0:21:53.399 little interesting and maybe even a little silly and also 0:21:53.520 --> 0:21:57.080 very yummy, because that just sounded right. So for ours, 0:21:57.160 --> 0:21:59.960 here's what we're doing. We're keeping the vodka, but we're 0:22:00.280 --> 0:22:02.159 bumping it up to an ounce and a half. And 0:22:02.200 --> 0:22:05.240 this is where I'm gonna make my case in case 0:22:05.359 --> 0:22:09.680 anyone out there has not had a potato vodka, because 0:22:09.840 --> 0:22:13.440 now it's the time. I love potato vodka. It's very smooth. 0:22:13.600 --> 0:22:16.160 By the way, vodka can be made out of almost anything. 0:22:16.320 --> 0:22:21.119 There are actually arguments in among countries about the laws. 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:23.439 There was a big argument in the EU about what 0:22:23.600 --> 0:22:27.600 could and cannot be considered vodka some years back. But really, 0:22:27.640 --> 0:22:29.800 if you have like a sugar and something starchy, and 0:22:29.840 --> 0:22:32.719 you can ferment those, you can make a vodka. But 0:22:32.760 --> 0:22:36.640 a potato vodka is really like smooth and delicious. They're 0:22:36.680 --> 0:22:39.800 not hard to find. There's several brands that are really good. 0:22:39.880 --> 0:22:42.879 Most liquor stores carry them. If you can't find it 0:22:42.920 --> 0:22:44.639 on the regular shelf, as the person that works at 0:22:44.680 --> 0:22:47.359 your liquor store, sometimes it's on like that little narrow 0:22:47.520 --> 0:22:50.200 shelf where they put like what they consider the higher 0:22:50.320 --> 0:22:51.120 end vodkas. 0:22:51.200 --> 0:22:52.879 That's a good point, yeah, but it's. 0:22:52.760 --> 0:22:56.040 Usually not that expensive. Try potato vodka if you haven't. 0:22:56.040 --> 0:22:59.160 It's amazing. So an ounce and a half of vodka, 0:22:59.200 --> 0:23:01.960 a half ounce of Galiano. Look, if you can't find Galliano, 0:23:02.040 --> 0:23:03.960 get a vanilla liqueur. It won't be quite the same, 0:23:04.000 --> 0:23:05.880 but you can do it. And then you're gonna add 0:23:05.920 --> 0:23:09.440 an ounce of pineapple juice. And I know they wanted 0:23:09.440 --> 0:23:11.800 their stirred, but I like to shake this because the 0:23:11.800 --> 0:23:14.960 liqueur and the juice, it just makes it all smooth 0:23:15.000 --> 0:23:16.840 out together. And then you're gonna shake that with ice, 0:23:16.880 --> 0:23:20.080 strain it over fresh ice in a highball glass. And 0:23:20.119 --> 0:23:22.520 then we're not doing orange juice, but what we are 0:23:22.560 --> 0:23:28.399 gonna do is orange soda. This makes this the silliest, 0:23:28.800 --> 0:23:32.639 tastiest drink. I will confess a thing. I made this 0:23:32.680 --> 0:23:35.800 twice this morning. I did not drink two cocktails before 0:23:35.800 --> 0:23:37.439 we came in. I didn't have to make it twice 0:23:37.760 --> 0:23:43.000 the first time. Often I'll look for a low sugar soda. Yeah, 0:23:43.280 --> 0:23:47.160 I got one of the fancy pantsy unicorn orange sodas 0:23:47.200 --> 0:23:49.880 that has low sugar and prebiotics in it. 0:23:49.920 --> 0:23:50.280 Wow. 0:23:51.240 --> 0:23:53.639 It was fine, but it wasn't what I was after. 0:23:54.040 --> 0:23:55.879 Do you want the soda from our childhood? 0:23:56.160 --> 0:23:59.359 Then? Yeah, I had to go back and get the 0:23:59.520 --> 0:24:02.720 SODA's of our childhood. There are a few different very 0:24:02.840 --> 0:24:07.320 yummy orange sodas that, depending on where you lived, might 0:24:07.359 --> 0:24:10.520 have been your jam. And that that's perfect. This is 0:24:10.560 --> 0:24:13.879 one that literally tastes like it just is that moment 0:24:13.880 --> 0:24:17.720 in Ratituey. Yeah, when anton Ego remembers being a kid, 0:24:17.840 --> 0:24:20.359 it took me right back to like being a kid 0:24:20.400 --> 0:24:21.120 on my skates. 0:24:21.160 --> 0:24:23.040 I know exactly what you're talking about. 0:24:22.840 --> 0:24:24.680 Go into the pool. I was like, I'm gonna skate 0:24:24.720 --> 0:24:26.240 down to the pool and then I'm gonna swim, and 0:24:26.240 --> 0:24:28.000 then I'm gonna put my skates back on and go home. 0:24:28.040 --> 0:24:30.560 It was like that, and I like that it brought 0:24:30.600 --> 0:24:33.680 about that sense of innocence when we have been talking 0:24:33.720 --> 0:24:38.320 about nothing but corruption. It's like the antidote to this time. 0:24:38.400 --> 0:24:40.520 I was just about to say that it's a nice. 0:24:40.320 --> 0:24:46.119 Pairing to make this a mocktail is easyspie. We are 0:24:46.240 --> 0:24:49.359 gonna say sometimes we'll do a bump up and be like, 0:24:49.440 --> 0:24:51.760 just use more juice. Don't in this case because it's 0:24:51.800 --> 0:24:55.280 already really sweet. So you will still use your ounce 0:24:55.320 --> 0:24:57.960 of pineapple juice. When I mentioned top it off with 0:24:58.240 --> 0:25:01.600