The Oscar-nominated film “American Hustle” was based on the ABSCAM scandal of the 1970s, where a fake sheikh lures politicians big and small with loads of cash in exchange for influence.
Last week, an FBI undercover operation nabbed California State Senator Leland Yee in a sting involving among other things, campaign cash and the promise of arms from a Muslim rebel group in the Philippines.
Was it an Asian American hustle? Such an odd scenario still has those who’ve known Yee puzzled and saddened.
But there was one story last week that indicates we might see more of this sort of thing.
In Friday’s New York Times, there was nothing about the troubled Yee.
There was, however, a short graph on the signing of a Philippine peace accord between the government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front after years of negotiations.
Global Filipinos, aware that the struggle has claimed more than 120,000 lives in violent acts in Mindanao since the 1970s, have reason to rejoice.
The peace accord is the culmination of years of discussion between the government and the group with the unfortunate MILF acronym, the largest Muslim rebel group in the Philippines.
The pact calls for more political autonomy in exchange for an end to armed rebellion starting by 2016.
Good news for the Philippines, but possibly bad news for American politics.
What with these unneeded MILF weapons needing a home, it could inspire more unscrupulous politicians in the U.S. to try to sell arms for campaign cash.
Politicians like the aforementioned California State Senator Leland Yee.
Sound ludicrous?
I know. I thought so too, until I saw the details about Yee, 65, and his arrest last week.
The California state senator was caught in an FBI sting acting as a middleman for a local Bay Area Filipino dentist (Dr. Wilson Lim), whom Yee claimed could provide arms from Moro rebels to the undercover FBI agent.
Of course, undercover agents need weapons like they need a hole in the head. Yee, apparently, has a hole in his head. Getting indicted for illegal arms trafficking and public corruption?
The Internet has been quick to rush to judgment on Yee.
And while it’s popular to be snarky and outraged over Yee’s behavior (especially among the web crowd), those of us who have known Yee for three decades as a community leader are a little more willing to let justice run its course.
You know, innocent until proven guilty. It’s a Justice 1.0 concept.
Indeed, most people I know are just stunned, looking over for clues as to what went wrong.
The obvious thing is that American politics got to Yee.
American politics? Here’s an example.
Later this week in Las Vegas, the billionaire casino owner Sheldon Adelson will be in Las Vegas at a Republican Jewish Coalition conference. Adelson, worth about $38 billion poured more than $100 million into Republican campaigns in 2012, and candidates vying to be his beneficiary in 2016, like former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, Gov.Chris Christie of New Jersey, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, and Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, will all be there. So will others in lesser offices needing money.
Adelson has a special issue. As a casino owner, he wants to install a ban on Internet gambling. He hopes his donations work as a motivator.
That’s how the game is played. Big money corporate interests rule.
Little guys like Yee are small time by comparison. But to Yee, a $70,000 debt from his last failed run in San Francisco for mayor was a big deal.
And having been termed out in the state Senate this year, he needed another job. Secretary of State? That’s not like John Kerry’s job. On the state level, it’s about overseeing elections.
Exciting, right? That’s one thing about term limits. It only encourages career politicians to play the musical chairs game and find the open seat. But it also means feeding the campaign cash machine.
No problem for the wealthy who can self-finance a run, or Republicans who turn to folks like Adelson. But Democrats like Yee? Who do they turn to? More often than not, the grassroots.
Which may explain why Yee mentioned a wealthy Filipino dentist in his district, Dr. Lim, whom Yee referred to as the arms trafficker. Lim is named in the indictment.
That Filipinos like Lim show up in the Yee story is no mistake. These were also the people he served. As an Asian American of Chinese descent, Yee grew up in my diverse neighborhood in San Francisco, and went to Mission High. Yee was always known as one who made it out and made good. He started in politics at as a trustee on the San Francisco Board of Education.
Filipino American Rod McLeod served on the school board with Yee.
McLeod, a retired attorney, now living as a global Pinoy in Israel, had just finished reading the federal indictment.
“The allegations tell a story that looks like he was induced, by his campaign debts, to commit these illegal acts,” McLeod said. I never would have imagined it of him. At one point in the indictment, Leland tells one of the FBI undercover guys that he is unhappy with his life. Revealing, I think. He latched on to the political rice pot and couldn’t let go. A far cry from our School Board days together. I just feel saddened for him getting to this nadir.”
So do all of us.
Yee goes before the court again this week, and then the long process of justice continues.
Some people have suggested an entrapment defense, but experts say it’s unlikely, as the affidavit indicates Yee offered to do things for the agents and took the initiative on arms dealing. Then again, in ABSCAM, all the convictions were upheld on appeal. And that case wrote the rules on such operations. It knows where the lines are. Yee should have.
Said McLeod: “If true, (Yee) definitely crossed the lines when he made it “pay to play” for his efforts, a big no-no for politicians. Don’t think entrapment is a defense for those violations. Look for a plea bargain. The indictment is pretty strong given its details.”
To me, the case just looks manufactured in such a way to embarrass Yee to maximum effect.
The anti-gun, reform-minded Democrat is caught pushing guns from a Philippine Muslim rebel group? If someone was out to get Yee, they did a good job.
In the meantime, Asian Americans, and Filipinos in particular, have lost a longtime political advocate.
He showed up at all the events where I’d often see him.
Sometimes, it did seem like he was just going through the motions. At age 65, he seemed to be thinking of other things.
But it’s hard to imagine gun-running as an exit plan.
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