NATION : Congressman Predicts Acquittal
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MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Rep. E. Harold Ford, the only black congressman in Tennessee history, predicted acquittal today as he went on trial on charges he took $1.5 million in fraudulent bank loans in return for backing a candidate for governor.
Ford, a flamboyant eight-term Democrat who controls a political machine with the power to deliver the votes of Tennessee’s most populous city, strode smiling confidently past reporters into the federal courthouse for the start of jury selection.
The 1987 indictment alleges that Ford took $1.5 million disguised as loans from banks controlled by brothers Jake and C. H. Butcher Jr. in 18 payments between 1976 and 1983. In return, Ford delivered the votes of his congressional district to Jake Butcher in the banker’s unsuccessful race for governor in 1978, the indictment says.
Ford maintains the loans were for his legitimate business interests, including his family’s funeral home.
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