Detroit Mayor Hopes Judge Will Let Him Further Shame Democrats

Not the Typical Fan

Democratic Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick, right: superdelegate, arrestee. (By Bill Pugliano -- Getty Images)

Vincent Bugliosi, the lawyer whose biggest claim to fame is prosecuting Charles Manson, tells us that a "conservative Southern congressman" called him on June 16 to say he had listened to Bugliosi's book "The Prosecution of George W. Bush for Murder" on tape and loved it. "He said he bought several copies of the book and told colleagues, 'Here, read this book. We've been lied to.' "

Bugliosi says he asked the mystery congressman if it would be better that the author not disclose the name of his biggest Republican fan on Capitol Hill. The congressman, according to Bugliosi, replied, "It's better that my name not come out at this point. But I promise you that after the election I'll be standing there by your side."

So Bugliosi would not name him but described him as "a southern Republican" who voted to authorize war against Iraq but later had a change of heart. "A man of deep conscience."

Would that be Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.), who during the lead-up to the war in 2003 renamed french fries "freedom fries" in House eateries but who later concluded that the president took the country to war under false pretenses and soon began calling for troop withdrawal? Bugliosi would not say.

Jones, a seven-term incumbent, is running for reelection in a district that encompasses the Marine Corps' Camp Lejeune. Through his chief of staff and his press secretary, he declined to return repeated calls and e-mails seeking comment about Bugliosi's book.

The congressman's chief of staff, Glen Downs, when told that On the Hill would be writing that Jones listened to Bugliosi's book on tape and even bought copies of the book to hand out to colleagues, didn't steer us away. He said in an e-mail: "I don't have any info for you. . . . It's basically up to him if he wants to call and comment."

But we hear from another source that Jones was wild for Bugliosi's anti-Bush tome. Mike Hirsch, a grass-roots activist with the group Progressive Democrats of America, tells us he met Jones during a recent visit to Capitol Hill and discussed Bugliosi's book with him. Hirsch said Jones was "thrilled and excited, very exuberant about the book."

According to Hirsch, Jones was "raving" about the book. "It took me aback," Hirsch told us. He said it "struck me as unusual that you'd have a Christian conservative from the South" talking about a book that espouses the prosecution of President Bush for murder.

All we can say is, Jones has come a long way in his personal odyssey from eating freedom fries to reading books whose titles suggest Bush should be jailed for murder.