Stan Quoted in Legal Times re: Investigations in New Congress

But it is Dingell and Waxman who have the most investigative experience and are attracting the most attention from veteran defense attorneys.

“Dingell has been around longer, and he’s a bit more senatorial,” notes Stanley Brand, who was counsel to the House of Representatives from 1976 to 1984 and now has his own law firm. “Waxman’s a little less so. Stylistically, they are different. Waxman’s a little more bombastic, and I don’t mean that in a negative sense. He’s just a little hotter. Dingell is very methodical.”

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And avoid the often-unforeseen damage that can come from testifying under oath.

“You have to be worried about collateral prosecution for perjury and false statements or obstruction,” notes former House counsel Brand.

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"Let the Investigations Begin"

Stan's Op/Ed Column in Sunday's NY Times.

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Stan Quoted in Roll Call re: "Defeat Doesn’t Spell End to Probes of Lawmakers"

In fact, some attorneys said the loss of an election only spells more trouble for politicians under federal investigation, prompting prosecutors to pursue more aggressively a case since the potential defendant no longer has the institution of Congress defending him or her.

“It makes prosecutors less reluctant, more aggressive. It emboldens them,” said Stan Brand of Brand [Law Group].

In addition to Weldon, Burns and Harris, Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) is facing the increasing likelihood that he will be battling a federal probe without the aura of incumbency behind him, as Jefferson is now slated for a runoff election next month. Jefferson, who saw his home and Congressional offices raided as part of a probe into alleged bribes he took in exchange for steering contracts to firms doing business in Africa, finished first in the New Orleans-based open primary but with just 30 percent of the vote in a field with a dozen challengers.

Brand noted that a former client, ex-Ways and Means Chairman Dan Rostenkowski (D-Ill.), lost re-election in the fall of 1994 but his corruption probe continued until he pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud in April 1996.

It’s unclear how much the loss of a Congressional seat hurts an ex-Member still dealing with a corruption investigation. The same privileges that apply to sitting Members — such as the Speech or Debate Clause exempting much legislative work from criminal investigations — continue to apply to former Members.

But one critical element of any Member’s defense disappears, that being the ability to raise money into a campaign account that can be used to pay legal bills. “That’s a real issue for some of these guys. It gets a lot bleaker,” Brand said.

Without a campaign war chest or a Congressional legal defense fund to pay mounting legal bills, Brand said, some ex-Members are forced into caving and making a plea deal with prosecutors.

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Stan Quoted re: Ney's Resignation

"From what I understood he stuck it out...so he could stay on the payroll," said Stan Brand, a defense attorney who has represented members of Congress in public corruption cases. "It's the end of the pay period, I guess."

House members earn $165,200 and are paid monthly.

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