March 13, 2019

"Huffman was arrested in L.A. on Tuesday in relation to the charges, but her famous husband William H. Macy was not."

"Transcripts from wiretapped phone calls included in the documents mention Huffman’s 'spouse,' and even have quotes from him. But Macy is never named in the documents and has not been charged so far, unlike Loughlin’s fashion designer husband Mossimo Giannulli."

From "The 10 most shocking revelations from the Operation Varsity Blues scandal court docs" (Entertainment Weekly).

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

146 comments:

mccullough said...

Like every husband he deferred to his wife.

Can’t prosecute husbands for that.

Nonapod said...

Maybe we'll see a scene like this soon?

CJinPA said...

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

The investigators kept saying:

"Who is this guy again?"
"You know. That guy. In that movie."
"Steve Buscemi?"
"No. That other guy."
"John Turturro?"
"Yes. Secure a warrant for John Turturro."

Leland said...

I think Rush covered it. Essentially they have tapes of Macy only talking to the fixer, but none of the conversation is incriminating. For Huffman, they have taped conversations verbalizing the quid pro quo with the fixer.

Mike Sylwester said...

The FBI is wire-tapping citizens because of how they get their children into colleges?

We already know that the FBI was wire-tapping Carter Page because some British dude said Page was a Russian spy.

How many FBI employees are busy wiretapping citizens?

mccullough said...

Macy has a better career at this point. He was too busy for this college application stuff. Huffman hasn’t been in much lately.

Michael K said...

He was good in "Boogie Nights" I liked the scene where he shot himself.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Macy wasn't charged because he wasn't in on getting the older daughter into USC. He didn't get involved until it was the younger daughter's turn and they didn't go through with the cheating, so no case against him.

Indictment is here if anyone wants to read it.

JPS said...

"Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?"

Fled the interview?

mccullough said...

The FBI is wiretapping some citizens for this.

The FBI doesn’t wiretap the Untouchables.

NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...

Sorry that's the complaint, not inidctment!

Mike Sylwester said...

The FBI should investigate Felicity Huffman for her performance in the 2004 movie Christmas With the Kranks, but the statute of limitations probably has expired by now.

robother said...

Felicity's gonna roll over on Macy, and I don't mean in a sexual way. He's the big fish they're really after.

Bay Area Guy said...

How come rich Hollywood assholes get to rig the college application process at major universities for their spoiled kids?

mccullough said...

Because universities are corrupt.

Kevin said...

If suddenly Macy sees frogs falling from the sky all around him, he knows that the jig is up.

Jim said...

He’s 69 today. Happy birthday William H. Macy.

Leland said...

Maybe Macy was on vacation?

mccullough said...

Macy and Huffman seem to have a good marriage. Not easy in Hollywood.

William said...

It's edifying to read of a scandal involving Hollywood and sports figures that does not involve sex or doping. Finally, a scandal that parents can discuss with their kids.....,.Who would have thought that a woman's volleyball coach could find a way to become rich and corrupt? Well, at least she didn't shave points and the integrity of woman's volleyball remains intact.

Rob said...

He's cooperating . . . darn tooting.

Rabel said...

He offered the FBI $100 dollars off on the TruCoat.

Worked like a charm.

mccullough said...

Lol. He offered some FBI agents tickets to the Dodgers game to erase a few of the tapes. FBI agents are known to violate policy and accept sports tickets and meals.

Freeman Hunt said...

Lack of evidence.

narciso said...

they don't like shameless, he also played the president on the unit,

mccullough said...

It’s unfortunate Johnnie Cochran’s is dead. He could get an acquittal here in his sleep.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

Wow, it’s even worse than originally reported. Who knows why Macy wasn’t included, I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.

Robert Cook said...

"How many FBI employees are busy wiretapping citizens?"

Ahem...as per Ed Snowden's revelations from six or seven years ago, the NSA is surveilling all of our electronic communications all the time.

The FBI may very well be doing separate wiretaps on people for various and sundry things, but it's a bit late to be express alarm about the government's violation of our privacy rights.

William said...

I wonder if any in Hollywood who criticized the Covington kids for their privilege and arrogance will find it in their hearts to criticize these kids......The British Empire was founded in nepotism and preferential treatment. Some of the Imperial toffs weren't such bad people, but what I like best about them was they never pretended that they were just plain folks who arrived at their station in life based on their talent and pluck.

Robert Cook said...

"How come rich Hollywood assholes get to rig the college application process at major universities for their spoiled kids?

Given these indictments, they don't.

Humperdink said...

My favorite revelation: " Instead, Singer would help parents fake medical documentation saying their kids had a learning disability that required “extra time” so they could take the test on their own over multiple days."

Kids that are learning disabled are college material? When did this start? How do they matriculate? Do they get extra time in college?

The higher education version of "everyone gets a trophy".

traditionalguy said...

Jerry Lundegard can talk his way out of anything.

mccullough said...

Humperdink,

That particular scam has been going in a long time. Mostly girls do it.

Athouuse can share her experiences with how many students at her former law school got extended periods for a “timed test” in long school.

It was a farce back in the mid 1990s.

narciso said...

remember this matter:


https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/guilty-plea-likely-in-sex-slave-case-against-self-help-group/ar-BBUIguN?ocid=spartandhp

AllenS said...

I have no idea why Macy wasn't indicted, but maybe he wasn't a "cuck", or maybe he was a "cuck". I'll wait for Howard to sort this out.

narciso said...

Kristen kreuk, wasn't charged but Alison mack was, if memory served.

Big Mike said...

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

Probably he was smarter than his wife in terms of saying nothing clearly incriminating.

Wince said...

No footage?

You mean CNN wasn't camped out in anticipation of their arrests?

Rabel said...

Freeman Hunt said...

"Lack of evidence."

Yes. Although they probably could have charged him with something if they had wanted. Note the nice round number of indictments - 50.

They were selective.

My name goes here. said...

Because you can't indict The Shoveler.

mccullough said...

The DOJ play would be to pressure Huffman into pleading guilty by promising not to prosecute Macy.

That’s how the federal government works.

Jim said...

“Bob, I'm gonna tell you what the old whore said, and this is the truest thing I know: "When you start cumming with the customers, it's time to quit."
”The FBI couldn't find Joe Louis in a bowl of rice.”

William H. Macy as Tim Sullivan in Homicide, written by David Mamet.

Kevin at 3:31, great Magnolia reference.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

Somehow earlier I clicked on Huffman's facebook page. Her photos are " Hey look how skinny I am." She is really skinny.

Prestige. It's all about Prestige. and possibly - getting those brats out of the house with some dignity. Their grades couldn't cut it. Embarrassing.

The real crime tho should not be forgotten in the celebrity. The bribery scam is huge.

Martin said...

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

Just a guess, but a friend of a friend dropped a dime (or, alternatively, if Macy has any big projects coming up, someone with a financial interest in Macy being available to work and not personally too dirtied up). He couldn't get the wife off, but Macy was distant enough from the literal criminal activity that someone could do a favor.

Amexpat said...


The FBI needs to get Marge Gunderson involved in this. She'll sort it out.

Christy said...

Hey! Once a woman has sucked off a gross producer for her career shouldn't she get a pass on everything for the rest of her life?

Jim at said...

Fled the interview?

Perfect.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

It's really freeing not giving a rat's butt what happens to people in ivory-tower D-bubble-land. Other than the illegal smirk I have on my face right now.

Laslo Spatula said...

I thought I explained it sufficiently in a comment late last night:

Blogger Laslo Spatula said...
Maybe the reason why the husband Bill Macy wasn't charged is that he simply sucked cock for his daughter's college entrance.

No cancelled check to be found there.

Although: you're an esteemed Hollywood actor, you suck some college coach's cock, AND your wife still has to fork over cash to seal the deal?

Maybe they should've had their agent help them make a better deal.

I am Laslo.

3/12/19, 11:46 PM

Drago said...

"Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?"

Clinton Foundation donor?

DNC donor?

exhelodrvr1 said...

white man privilege

Rick said...

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

He was a member of the Obama Administration?

rehajm said...

Saved by division of labor with the missus.

Freeman Hunt said...

"Yes. Although they probably could have charged him with something if they had wanted. Note the nice round number of indictments - 50.

"They were selective."

Yes. There are so many, all of a non-violent nature, that if I'm the prosecutor, I'm not bothering with anyone who isn't a slam dunk.

If I were a prosecutor, I'd also be highly annoyed with these people for committing a bunch of silly crimes that I have to deal with. It is so stupid to pay bribes for college entrances. Look at the bios of prominent people in every field. They went to school at all kinds of places. And half a million for entrance to USC? Salesmen everywhere take note of these primo leads.

Karen of Texas said...

Anyone think this is the FBI's way of trying to burnish their tarnished reputation?

"Look at us! See what we did?! We went after non-deplorables. We went after someone other than Trump or Trump's family, friends, business affiliations, or acquaintances! We aren't biased!"

Gregg said...

I think they are following the money. Macy just doesn't have the kind of money the Mossimos (sp?) have. Mossimo, or whatever his name, is a billionaire, and his bail was set at a million. So, they'll be able to hose him with restitution etc, and whip up far more "eat the rich" indignity than sad-sack Macy--whose a bit of a bore anyway. But, they do need Felicity to draw attention. Isn't this sort of like Cheerleader Moms on steroids type-of-thing? It's always the rabid Moms who push for the best schools, and Felicity fits into that scenario perfectly. Macy---hapless Dad, sagging career, without money doesn't fit their claims as easily.

Drago said...

So, ah, was that your child's college application in the wood "chippa"?

Ken B said...

Cookie, Cookie, Cookie. I am shocked at you. This isn’t *wiretapping*. No actual wires were actually tapped.

Leland said...

Anyone think this is the FBI's way of trying to burnish their tarnished reputation?

Yes, and something for potential jurors to keep in mind.

mccullough said...

It’s a combination that the higher ups are told to stay away from the serious criminals and that so many in the DOJ and FBI aren’t very bright or hard working. They are as star struck as most people and these silly cases are fun and easy.

It’s difficult to go after complicated financial crimes of the politically untouchable. That’s how you lose your career. And most of these folks are careerists.

Wall Street jagoffs have been skating away for almost 30 years now. They own our leaders. Burn down the economy and have your companies pay some fines.

Anyone who can carry a badge or prosecute people after that is not worth much.

Drago said...

The US Attorney's want to make a name for themselves so they can stay in LA until spring time.

Dave Begley said...

Maybe the husband didn't commit any crime.

Dave Begley said...

Or maybe the FBI doesn't have any admissible evidence against the husband.

Gregg said...

Felicity is a scheming Harridan.

She's a latter-day Virago who plotted and plotted for months. Exhausted Macy is simply the long-suffering husband who didn't have strength to stand up to her wicked ways.

Classic stereotypes. Hollywood jury will buy it too.

gilbar said...

medical documentation saying their kids had a learning disability that required “extra time”????

Back in the olden days, when i was young; the time limit was pretty much The Whole Point of the tests. More questions than you could answer, and MINUS points for wrong answers.

Each question was pretty straightforward
{what's the squareroot of 49 + 15? a) 8 b) 22 c) 11.234}
but you had to answer Quickly, In a crowd, after attending the obligatory pre-test night party.

If Stupid kids get more time, how is different than giving clumsy nerdy kids (like ME!) more time to run/walk in track? To which i mean: In high school i could run a 32 minute 3 mile cross country race... WHERE WAS MY COLLEGE SCHOLARSHIP?

Shouting Thomas said...

The Train to Nowhere.

Covington Boys

Jussie’s Hate Crime Hoax.

Diversity is our greatest strength revealed as a con job by Varsity Blues.

What’s going to come along to crash Althouse’s feminist BS to the ground?

rehajm said...

Donna Heinel...who previously coached swimming and water polo at the University of Massachusetts...

Every big scandal somehow involves at least one person from Massachusetts

-Howie Carr

..and he's right!

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

William Rick Singer, the main facilitator of the conspiracy — and also the government’s primary cooperating witness — established the Key Worldwide Foundation (KWF) as a nonprofit around 2012. Soon after, it was given tax-exempt status from the IRS. The KWF became the vehicle for the whole conspiracy, because the bribes were disguised as payments to this “charity” for “underserved kids.” In one of the phone call transcripts, Singer informs Trendera CEO Jane Buckingham that, in addition to getting her son a high ACT score, her bribe check will also count as an IRS tax write-off. “Oh, even better!” Buckingham said.

Tax Exempt Southern Poverty Law Center or tax Exempt Media Matters could have helped set that stuff up too.

ken in tx said...

Humperdink,

"Kids that are learning disabled are college material? When did this start? How do they matriculate? Do they get extra time in college?"

Since 1974, and yes. Because of the Americans With Disabilities Education Act.

rehajm said...

And half a million for entrance to USC? Salesmen everywhere take note of these primo leads.

Acceptance rates at USC are less than 20% so it's tough to get in. Why it's so popular I dunno. When I was applying to schools Boston College was regularly featured as having the best campus life experience. They had a similar acceptance rate the time...

Sally327 said...

I don't know the answer to this question but the question I would like to have an answer to is what unrelated case was being investigated where some witness/suspect tipped the investigators to this conspiracy? Who was that?

Greek Donkey said...

Separate bank account?

PJ57 said...

Maybe they'll find Macy in the chipper. There is no one in the FBI as competent as Marge Gunderson.

n.n said...

What possible reward or incentive justified the risk and expense of this venture?

fivewheels said...

"Maybe the husband didn't commit any crime."

Impeach first! Investigate later.

It's not hard for me to imagine a guy, every time his wife tries to involve him in her complicated scheme, exasperatedly saying, "Didn't I just spend 25 years building that trust fund? Why do I care where she goes to college? If she goes to Valencia CC and majors in Skateboarding Studies, she'll still be fine. Just let me watch this Dodgers game."

Gregg said...

"What possible reward or incentive justified the risk and expense of this venture?"

Publicity. Felicity is too old for another series, so, if nothing else, she can bask in the glow of notoriety.

For an aging actress, it's better than nothing. The talk show circuit, a full-on mea-culpa/rehab tour with the lots of redemption.

Does Playboy still do pictorals?

Heartless Aztec said...

Wood Chipper

Quaestor said...

I think Rush covered it. Essentially they have tapes of Macy only talking to the fixer, but none of the conversation is incriminating.

Or Macy is a cooperating material witness.

Mattman26 said...

JPS wins (the entire day).

Drago said...

Dave Begley: "Maybe the husband didn't commit any crime."

Easy enough to manufacture one.

Just have another "witness" testify to something that is in dispute and the prosecutors choose the person they believe.

Or interrogate Macy multiple times hoping he forgets that he went to lunch at a restaurant on a Wednesday months and months ago rather than a Thursday.

Call it the Pappadopoulos standard.

Batko Bulba said...

I bet all the parents are Democrats and supporters of affirmative action.

Rabel said...

"I don't know the answer to this question but the question I would like to have an answer to is what unrelated case was being investigated where some witness/suspect tipped the investigators to this conspiracy? Who was that?"

A good guess is that the tip (this whole thing was dropped into the FBI's lap) was from a suspect in the Adidas college basketball recruiting case.

Rick said...

fivewheels said...
"Maybe the husband didn't commit any crime."

Impeach first! Investigate later.


You know they're itching to claim Macy wasn't charged due to gender. If we were Democrats we'd just say the fact that all the parents are white proves the FBI is racist.

JES said...

Why weren't any of the students charged? Apparently, lying and cheating to get into college is not a crime.

effinayright said...

mccullough said...
Like every husband he deferred to his wife.

Can’t prosecute husbands for that.
**********************************************

Correct. The dictionary definition of a husband is...

..."a man with a wife...and a broken spirit".

FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
FullMoon said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
narciso said...

let me try that again:


https://pjmedia.com/trending/sam-donaldson-tucker-carlson-should-be-treated-like-serial-sexual-harassers-charlie-rose-and-matt-lauer/

Big Mike said...

Kids that are learning disabled are college material? When did this start? How do they matriculate? Do they get extra time in college?

@Humperdink, your blunder is assuming that learning disabled necessarily implies mentally challenged. I know of a bright child who lost his dominant arm. Are you suggesting that he was not college material l, despite a high IQ, because circumstances beyond his control forces him to try to write and mark in a standardized answer sheet with his non-dominant hand? Would you care to try it? And yes, he got extra time in college. Under the law they have to accommodate his handicap.

Rabel said...

Another good guess is that the tipster was Tony Bland, former Associate Head Men's basketball coach at USC.

He's currently awaiting sentencing in the Adidas case after taking a plea deal resulting in a single charge of bribery.

Stephen Taylor said...

UT-Austin has just dismissed tennis coach Michael Center. his mouthpiece states that "he's despondent...."

AZ Bob said...

She is on the wire; he isn't. In fact, I bet she's on video.

stevew said...

I wasn't able to determine, from all the coverage, what crime had been committed, which law had been broken. I get the outrage to 11 of manipulating and gaming the college admissions system, but what illegal thing did they do, exactly? Then I read the complaint and see that this is all alleged mail fraud... Kinda like pinching Al Capone via tax evasion.

The kids involved were, as students and athletes go, pretty meh. They're in top rated schools but will, most likely, come out pretty, um, meh, in both achievement and degree. Other than taking a spot from someone more deserving and capable of excelling, what's the harm?

mccullough said...

It’s “honest services” mail fraud. The schools aren’t out a dime. The parents paid the tuition.

But according to the law Reagan signed in 1987 to expand the scope of the federal government mail fraud law, these parents “deprived the schools of the honest services of the coaches “ they employed.

The schools aren’t out a dollar.

Honest services mail fraud is bullshit.

Let the schools or the state’s police this nonsense.

Bill Peschel said...

Why didn't they indict Macy?

The Simpsons said it best: https://youtu.be/BTx-9X3Kr34?t=18

mccullough said...

The feds don’t like to lose.

Makes them look like they are fools who waste taxpayers money.

They’ve had a slew of high profile losses the past decade — Bonds, Clemens, Stevens, Edwards, McDonnell, and the Wife of the Pulse Jihadi.

Memendez was technically a tie but since they didn’t reprosecute him I’d call it a loss. And he won re-election which tells you all you need to know about what a shiyhole New Jersey is.

They don’t have much Macy. Enough to indict and take to trial.

But his lawyer would wipe the floor with the prosecutors.

And stick them with another embarrassing high profile loss

BJM said...

Perhaps they keep their money separate and share living expenses, as many professional couples are wont to do; especially those with disparate earnings. Maybe the funding came from her account(s).

robother said...

So many shocking developments. College athletics coaches and administrators motivated by personal greed to undermine the academic integrity of reputable universities. Shocking as well that the rigorous academic discipline of such universities didn't flunk out the cheaters whose real ACT/SAT performance predicted failure. Head of a socially responsible fund (endorsed by Bono!) would resort to bribery to cheat deserving applicants in favor of his son.

What if someone created a serious educational college, without the sports teams, the SJW pollution of the humanities, the amenities catering to students' every whim or fear? A rigorous environment where high standards of excellence in mastering science and arts produce serious men and women capable of contributing to civilization? But who'd want that?

rcocean said...

The patriarchy - sometimes we do this.

Shouting Thomas said...

@robother

Granted, I’ve been retired for 6-1/2 years, but in my field, tech, nobody took academic credentials at face value.

When we hired, we looked for solid evidence of concrete skills.

Microsoft certification or online college certification courses in specific skills carried a lot more weight than academic credentials.

The Gipper Lives said...

"Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?"

His agent dropped the ball?

Michael K said...


Another good guess is that the tipster was Tony Bland, former Associate Head Men's basketball coach at USC.

He's currently awaiting sentencing in the Adidas case after taking a plea deal resulting in a single charge of bribery.


No, the LA Times informed us today that it's Trump's fault. Manafort probably ratted them out.

Bob Boyd said...

I'm not worried about the moral judgement of a few people trying to get into these schools. I'm worried about the moral judgement of the people coming out of them.

Drago said...

Macy (early evening, overcast, long shadows, alone, wandering along a seemingly empty Sunset Blvd, looks up at the sky as if pleading): "What does a washed up actor have to do to get indicted in this town?!"

Lurker21 said...

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

Because he already looks like he spent most of his life in prison?

Henry said...

stevew said... Kinda like pinching Al Capone via tax evasion.

They're going to get some of these people on tax evasion as well. One way the money was laundered was by the parents calling it a charitable donation, then deducting it from their taxes.

Freeman Hunt said...

Maybe he hasn't been arrested yet because he said he didn't do it, and the officer in charge hasn't been out to dinner with a guy from high school yet who will make her realize, in retrospect, that people sometimes tell bald-faced lies.

Or maybe that was something else...

stevew said...

"They're going to get some of these people on tax evasion as well. One way the money was laundered was by the parents calling it a charitable donation, then deducting it from their taxes."

Nice catch, hadn't thought of that angle. What a bunch of dopes. Very Fargo-esque.

walter said...

stevew said.
Other than taking a spot from someone more deserving and capable of excelling, what's the harm?
--
Fauxcahontas Warren has a beer for ya.

Ryan said...

My son is a freshman at USC and got in ON HIS OWN. I mean, it's a good school and all, but I had no idea that people would go to such lengths to get in.

BJM said...

Michael K said "No, the LA Times informed us today that it's Trump's fault."

Isn't everything?

Samantha Powers sent the dumbest DTS tweet of the day:

"Flying to California this am, I typed the words, “Does JetBlue have...” & what popped up on Google was “737 Max.” People scared. What a dismal state of affairs that we don’t trust criteria by which Trump admin making decisions on fleet. Trump’s whims, investments, or safety?"

People scared. Really? A former UN Ambassador who is too stupid to look at her boarding pass or ask at the gate BEFORE boarding the aircraft is what's scary.

WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...

I think it's good that the women are going down ahead of the men.

Equal opportunity and all that.

effinayright said...

mccullough said...

"They don’t have much Macy. Enough to indict and take to trial."

>>>>>>>But they DIDN'T indict him, which indicates that "not much" was IOW insufficient evidence to indict.

"But his lawyer would wipe the floor with the prosecutors."

>>>How do you know? Are you in Inga's Mindreader's Club? Maybe they DIDN'T indict him because they had insufficient evidence.

"And stick them with another embarrassing high profile loss"

>>>Which is a good reason not to indict him in the first place!

>>>Why not tell us why they DID indict all the others, and how the feds will lose the cases nonetheless?

Ryan said...

I have a game I play with my wife: "see if you can make it my fault." She always wind.

Dems are playing the game with Trump.

narciso said...

I think that was what they prosecuted conrad black and Ted Stevens with and it was reversed on appeal.

Inga...Allie Oop said...

“Are you in Inga's Mindreader's Club?”

Inga doesn’t read your minds, Inga only reads what you write. There is a mindreader’s club, but it’s not mine.

cronus titan said...

There is a great story behind this. It would be better if Huffman lied to him that this was a legit outfit helping their daughter and concealed the fraud from her husband. Why? There's the rub -- maybe she knew Macy would not go along with it. Or maybe they made a decision to use only her name in case they got caught.

NotWhoIUsedtoBe said...

He ratted to the Feds?

mccullough said...

You only need probable cause for an indictment.

Conviction is beyond a reasonable doubt.

Most of these people will plead guilty and pay a fine and get probation. Singer will get a few years. He’s the one who made the most money and was the brains behind the scam. A few of the coaches will get 6 months and a fine.

A few parents will be acquitted.

The schools will continue to be the corrupt scams they’ve been for a long time.

USC’s athletic programs, like most schools, are corrupt. OJ’a alma mater.

The University of North Carolina is the biggest joke. Fake classes for students — mostly athletes. — in Black Studies. No problem for the Tar Heels. Gotta beat Duke.





mccullough said...

U$C

walter said...

I note Boston University, made famous by MENSA gal AOC, clocks in at "like" $53k plus change per semester.

MikeD said...

Just another victimless crime. The only ones affected are the equally academically challenged beneficiaries of "affirmative action" racism.

The Vault Dweller said...

I find I don't hold much anger towards the parents in this case, as well as not holding much to the students who were unwitting beneficiaries. (Though the story of the one kid who bragged about cheating on the SAT, made me wrinkle my nose in disgust.) The main people I'm upset at are the bribe recipients in the institutions themselves.

mccullough said...

Most people are greedy.

I don’t blame someone for taking $400,000 from a parent. This isn’t a violent crime and the parent gave the money voluntarily. There is no exploitation involved. These parents are wealthy. And the coaches did what they promised to do for the money.

And the schools are corrupt, anyway.

Drago said...

mccullough: "U$C"

OJ Simpson had to take a pay cut to go pro......

Michael K said...

USC’s athletic programs, like most schools, are corrupt. OJ’a alma mater.

SC has not been historically corrupt like Alabama and a few others. I spent the last 60 years associated one way or another.

Unless you think all college major sports are corrupt, of course. In my days as a student, football players raked leaves and had jobs to pay expenses. Later, as NFL contracts got so rich, we saw lots of black players from poor homes and lots of hangers on who were trying to make money themselves by corrupting players. The university tried to stop it with varying success.

Good sports teams attract alumni like me who go to games. The medical school has post graduate programs that keep medical alumni close. The law and business schools may have similar programs. For other alumni, it's football or other sports. Even Dartmouth has football as an alum attraction,

SC has serious problems with assholes, like Rick Caruso, has had bought a lot of power and is harming the school.

Like this.

Hagar said...

I do not understand how this came to be a Federal case with FBI and God knows what.

Seems like it all is local matters for local courts and the biggest thing really ought to be a big time fuss in the media exposing how corrupt these universities and their regents are.
But that is not going to happen, is it?

mccullough said...

Tom Seaver and OJ are the greatest athletes ever who went to USC.

Marcus Allen and Randy Johnson were also very good. They’ve definitely had some very good players in football and baseball over the years.

USC will probably offer Urban Meyer $20 million a year to build up their weak program. Not sure he’ll do it but he could bring them back from the dead in football. They can afford to pay him.





mccullough said...

Hagar,

The federal government, like the local and state governments, is mostly a jobs program.

This is a federal case because our federal government wont go after the actual villains. Mostly because the actual villains own them.

So they do these silly cases that grab headlines so people think they are “doing something.”

The FBI and DOJ were investigating steroids in baseball while the Villains were melting down the economy.

But most people are fucking stupid. This is a shiny distraction. Get a couple of B list celebrities caught up in a victimless crime.

Meanwhile there is $1.5 trillion in student debt (and growing) with many of these people struggling to pay it off because their degrees are worthless.

The Villains will get away with this as well. The taxpayers will be on the hook again.



mccullough said...

USC is paying out $215 million in a class action settlement to female students who were examined by a school gynecologist from 1989-2017.

That school has money to burn. Over $5 billion in endowment.



Ty said...

Any thoughts about how William H. Macy escaped getting accused?

I like to think it's right out of a Hollywood movie. He's the rat.

0_0 said...

Bribery is bribery.
And if you don't think the government is going to prosecute tax fraud, I'd like to ask if you just left Ted Kaczynski's neck of the woods.

Ty said...

Occam's razor instructs us that either Macy didn't do anything illegal or the prosecutor is a big fan of "Shameless".

Hagar said...

I think if anyone tried to find out, they would find that many, and maybe most, of these students have no intention of paying off their federal student loan debt.
At some point it will have to become obvious, and the world will come to an end - again.

Michael K said...

Tom Seaver and OJ are the greatest athletes ever who went to USC.

Not the only ones. Nobody remembers Jon Arnett who was a great running back for SC and the Rams.

He was a gymnast from Manual Arts HS in LA. He could reach down and steady himself running by putting his hand on the ground without falling.

I played golf with him. He took up the sport one year and by the end of the year was shooting in the 70s. I wondered why he did not turn pro after football.

SC was in the same class as Notre Dame going back to the 1920s. They have had an attack of stupidity since Pete Carroll left.

Jack Klompus said...

"Mr. Lundegaard…?"

dreams said...

Maybe he's a cooperating witness for the FBI. LOL.

Unknown said...

He was busy selling truecoat, or watching the Gophers....

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

It used to be a scandal when college athletes pretended to be students.

Carter Wood said...

mccullough said...
Tom Seaver and OJ are the greatest athletes ever who went to USC.


Don't forget Frank Gifford. His idealization by the Fred Exley character drives much of the great "A Fan's Notes."

Dude1394 said...

How long are we going to allow the fbi to knock on doors with guns drawn for someone who is absolutely no physical threat? It has become commonplace and very dangerous. I wish she had shot the effers.

Daytime said...

"Meanwhile there is $1.5 trillion in student debt (and growing) with many of these people struggling to pay it off because their degrees are worthless."

Worthless degree and, as Althouse said that one time in a blog: There are no refunds on education. All sales final. It's not about the degree. You didn't pay for a degree, you paid for an education. So, how you gonna give that back?

(Whatever happened to that Blog? One of my favorites---something about how law school graduates were failing to acquire jobs or some such??)

Bunkypotatohead said...

Someone in the family needs to keep working to pay the fines and the lawyers.

Freeman Hunt said...

"I will pay you half a million dollars to tell the admissions committee that you want this girl for the soccer team."

That is quite a test. If you don't have a strong sense of who you are and what your integrity means and requires of you, rare things to possess, you will probably fail. I can't generate much animus in myself for such failures. And not much more for these parents who did stupid, wrong things for their kids.

I have a lot more animus toward these opaque admissions systems and this false cultural idea that college is destiny, and it is of the utmost importance to go to very specific ones.

Freeman Hunt said...

"How long are we going to allow the fbi to knock on doors with guns drawn for someone who is absolutely no physical threat? It has become commonplace and very dangerous."

I agree. Certainly that's as stupid as bribing people to get your kid into a specific college.

gadfly said...

William H. Macy's most famous character, Jerry Lundegaard was the world's most inept criminal.

Just about everything Jerry tries to do is wrong. He cheats a customer into paying for an option he didn't agree to… and can't even pull that off convincingly. He thinks he can talk his father-in-law into loaning him $750,000. He's totally out of his league when it comes to serious crime.

So by the time we get to the woodchopper scene, Macy will be spending time in a cell instead of money.