Turner acts in self-defense

Councilor mounting PR effort against bribery charge

George Rizer/Globe StaffCity Councilor Chuck Turner, here at a press conference Nov. 26 in Dudley Square that was also a rally, has launched a public relations effort that has similarities to a political campaign. (George Rizer/Globe Staff)

Ever since his arrest on a federal bribery charge two weeks ago, Councilor Chuck Turner has been talking. And talking. And talking.

He has held high-profile rallies and press conferences defending his integrity, including boisterous events outside City Hall in Boston and US District Court in Worcester. He has gone on cable television to deny the FBI's allegations against him. He distributed a family history he said would confirm his solid character. He spoke in his own defense yesterday at the first City Council meeting held since his arrest. And today he plans to sit down with black ministers from Boston to, once again, profess his innocence.

It is all part of a concerted public-relations strategy, Turner said yesterday in his first extensive newspaper interview since he was charged with accepting a $1,000 bribe from a Roxbury nightclub owner who was working in cooperation with the FBI.

"I'm trying to act as my own lead lawyer in the trial that's going on in the court of public opinion," Turner said, explaining that he plans to run for reelection next year and wants to sow "reasonable doubt" about the FBI's case against him.

There is more to come. Turner and liberal activists who support him are creating a campaign-like apparatus, with a phone bank set for this weekend to encourage supporters to attend a rally - it will be his third - on Tuesday and to show up for his expected court appearance Wednesday. The councilor and his backers are issuing almost daily "Stand with Chuck" press releases, updating a special website, and considering raising money to help defray his legal bills.

Horace Small, executive director of the Union of Minority Neighborhoods, said the activists behind Turner, including members of the Green-Rainbow Party and various union members, are prepared to support the councilor for as long as his legal process lasts, even if it takes two years.

"In the world I come from, you stick with your boys because you know them and you love them, and I love this man," Small said.

Turner is accused of not only accepting the $1,000 bribe, but of lying to federal investigators about it.

He is the second person to be arrested in the ongoing corruption probe; the first was former state senator Dianne Wilkerson of Boston, who resigned after she was indicted last month.

Turner's highly public remarks stand in marked contrast to Wilkerson's strategy of shunning the spotlight. She has not granted any interviews and has kept her public remarks to a minimum.

Turner's effort carries greater risks, public-relations specialists said. His public positioning reflects the councilor's worry that if he and his supporters do not aggressively address the allegations, the information void will be filled by others, said a Boston University crisis communications researcher.

"He appears to be following an approach that could be a disaster, but appears on the surface to at least be cohesive," said Steve Quigley, associate professor of public relations at BU.

Boston political consultant Joyce Ferriabough said Turner runs the risk of taking it too far.

"The fact that he's cultivated relationships not just in the black community but in liberal white communities will probably work well on his behalf," she said. "I think his standing up and defending himself is a smart move, but he risks overkill by these constant press conferences. I think he's made his point and now it's time for the community to take it to the next step."

Turner's own lawyer, Barry Wilson, has cautioned the councilor. He said in an interview that he supports his client speaking publicly about character and due process, but has warned him against getting into detail.

"I'm acknowledging my client may say things; I'm not acknowledging how they pertain to his defense," Wilson said.

The five-term councilor continued speaking out yesterday. During a public meeting of the City Council, he told his colleagues that because of a federal court order, he will not be able to defend himself if they consider disciplining him.

Council President Maureen Feeney has said that once an indictment is handed down, she will convene the council's Rules Committee to consider whether any action should be taken, including efforts to remove him. But Turner told his colleagues that the federal magistrate judge in his case has forbidden him from discussing the case with other councilors.

"There's little doubt that I will be indicted," Turner said, as his 12 colleagues listened intently. "Because of the restrictions imposed on me by [US Magistrate] Judge [Timothy] Hillman, I cannot defend myself against any action you may choose to take."

Turner said he could be indicted today, but a spokeswoman for US Attorney Michael J. Sullivan, who rarely comments on grand jury proceedings, said yesterday that no indictment was expected today.

Earlier yesterday, other councilors chatted and joked around the council chamber as they waited for Feeney to gavel the meeting to order, but Turner sat alone for at least five minutes. He was later greeted with warm handshakes by the three councilors who sit on his row of council desks, John Tobin, Sam Yoon, and Charles Yancey, the last of whom placed his arm around his embattled colleague.

In the interview, Turner refused to say whether he accepted the $1,000 in cash from businessman Ron Wilburn, who has identified himself to the Globe as the Roxbury nightclub operator who served as the FBI's cooperating witness. The FBI has released a surveillance photograph that it says depicts Turner accepting a bribe in his district office in Roxbury in August 2007.

Turner has said that, hypothetically, if he had accepted $1,000 in cash, it was a campaign contribution, not extortion.

That in itself would violate state laws, however. Campaign contributions are capped at $500, and cash contributions in amounts exceeding $50 are prohibited.

Also, Turner never listed a contribution from Wilburn on his annual campaign finance statements, which would be another violation.

Turner is accused of accepting the bribe as he was agreeing to hold a City Council hearing on liquor licenses. The FBI affidavit outlining the allegations said he later canceled the hearing when state lawmakers approved granting new liquor licenses for Boston.

Prosecutors allege that those licenses were approved only after Wilkerson, in return for thousands of dollars in bribes, pushed state and city leaders to make them available.

"I proposed the hearing order, and I was asked by certain people to pull it back, once the agreement had been made around the home-rule petition in the meeting at the State House," Turner said in the Globe interview. "It wouldn't be appropriate to say who the people were."

Turner also denied an allegation in the FBI affidavit that said he accepted a bribe in return for writing a letter of recommendation. The affidavit says the cooperating witness told investigators about the payment.

"When I saw a statement saying that someone had given me money to write a letter for them, I just laughed. It's so ridiculous," he said.

Describing his arrest on the morning of Nov. 21 at City Hall, Turner said he was in his council office on the phone with his wife, who called after FBI agents showed up at their home in Roxbury, when about 10 law enforcement officers showed up.

"I started to laugh because it's so, I don't know, Keystone Cop-ish," he said. "The first thing they said was 'hang up the phone.' "

He said he continued laughing as he was led out of City Hall.

"I knew I was innocent, and I just had a deep, internal sense that they had created a problem for themselves," Turner said.

He said the ride to Worcester for his initial court hearing was uncomfortable because he was handcuffed behind his back, but he decided not to say anything.

"There was this one voice inside me that said to ask them to stop the car so you can get out and . . . stand up and bring some relaxation to your shoulders, and then there was another voice that said . . . 'Look, Chuck, what you're going though now, compared to what the people of Guantanamo and other places go through as the American injustice system works its thing, is so slight that you need to suck it up."

He added that he chanted to himself while sitting in the Worcester jail cell, "in order to cleanse the vibrations around me and to focus my mind on a higher level of energy."

He said he was not worried about himself, saying he had previously been arrested for acts of civil disobedience.

But he said he was worried about the effect the federal investigation will have on his family.

"They know periodically I'll put myself in a situation to be arrested, but this one, with federal charges and such, puts an extra level of stress."

John C. Drake can be reached at jdrake@globe.com.