ETHICS : Kentuckians Amazed That $400 Can Buy a Lawmaker

It’s not easy being a Kentucky state legislator these days. There are too many jokes going around and they are depressing at best, insulting at worst.

“People stop you on the street and say things like, ‘Hey, I’ve got four hundred bucks--I can buy the Legislature for that, can’t I?’ ” longtime state Sen. Hank Hancock complains. “It gets pretty hard to listen to.”

The taunts stem from an ongoing FBI investigation known as Operation BOPTROT. BOP stands for the Legislature’s Business Organizations and Professions Committee, a focus of the inquiry, and TROT is a reference to harness racing. So far, BOPTROT has led to the indictments of seven legislators or former legislators, one lobbyist and two state officials for, among other things, accepting bribes as low as $400 in exchange for influencing legislation. In fact, discounting the largest bribe of $20,000 allegedly accepted by one state official, the entire operation was accomplished for a meager $15,000 in undercover money.

Although corruption in state government is not exactly unheard of to Kentuckians, many were impressed by just how much bang one could get for a buck. “Four hundred dollars--that’s not a bribe, that’s a tip!” one local attorney said.

BOPTROT began as an undercover sting operation in September, 1990, but went public with a bang on March 31 last year when the marble halls of the state Capitol echoed with the footsteps of three dozen FBI agents who fanned through the building passing out subpoenas and interviewing white-faced legislators. Of those indicted, all but two have pleaded guilty, and the FBI says the investigation may continue for years. Once news of the investigation broke, in fact, the FBI installed a separate 800 phone line to handle the calls from eager whistle-blowers.

The trouble started with a legislative tiff between respective partisans of Kentucky’s beleaguered harness racing industry and its more popular rival, the thoroughbred racers. To bolster the racing industry as a whole, the Legislature had passed a law instituting intertrack wagering, in which a track can receive telecasts and accept wagers on races at other tracks.

In awarding intertrack wagering dates, however, the state racing commission snubbed Riverside Downs, a harness racing track in Henderson, Ky., in favor of cross-town thoroughbred rival Ellis Park.

Subsequently, Riverside Downs owner M. L. Vaughn was approached by lame-duck Sen. Helen Garrett, who told Vaughn the problem could be fixed for $2,000. Vaughn contacted the FBI and agreed to cooperate in passing an undercover bribe to Garrett, who has since pleaded guilty.

After that first bribe changed hands, more legislators fell as they were snared accepting money to influence racing legislation, and then persuaded to cooperate with the FBI in exchange for leniency. Decades-long friendships were shattered as colleagues drew colleagues into the net. There were trips to Florida and parties in Las Vegas, where legislators were handed gambling money on behalf of Riverside. And there were hidden microphones, hidden cameras and wiretaps.

Frankfort is buzzing with stories about videotapes made in the hotel condominium of prominent Kentucky and Washington lobbyist Jay Spurrier, where many of the stings were made. Although the FBI has insisted there was “no heavy sex,” rumors persist that call girls were brought in for additional attitude adjustment.

The trial of House Speaker Donald Blandford, one of only two defendants to plead not guilty, begins next Monday. Bruce Wilkinson, a state official and nephew of former Gov. Wallace Wilkinson, was convicted of extortion late last month. Blandford is charged with taking $1,500 in bribes, lying to federal agents and other crimes, including stealing from campaign funds.

“I don’t think people blame the FBI or think that it was a frame,” says author and longtime Kentucky political observer John Ed Pearce. “I think that most people think the legislators were always a bunch of crooks, and sure enough, they’re a bunch of crooks. It was extremely unfortunate because this Legislature has an almost unprecedented number of honorable, progressive members.”