Dimora defends himself: "Who doesn't argue to try to get a better price?"

Jimmy Dimora's talking again, trying to poke holes in the federal investigation of him, giving us more glimpses of his potential defense.

"We’re very confident," he told Duane Pohlman of NewsChannel 5 on Thursday. "I feel that I’ve done nothing wrong."

Dimora thinks he's found a weakness in the case the feds are building: the latest two contractors who've pleaded guilty to bribing him with home improvements didn't do any work for the county.

This is true: Nicholas Zavarella and John Valentin say they bribed Dimora to get recommendations for friends and family, not to get county work. (See my posts here and here.) Dimora says he's probably written thousands of recommendation letters.

"When I’m personally going to use them for my own use, I try to get companies and businesses that do no work with the government that I’m involved with," Dimora told Pohlman. He said his Ohio Ethics Commission disclosure forms list contractors who gave him discounts.

"I pretty much try to disclose for any type of discounting or any gift that I receive. Most of these people are friends." Dimora said he haggled with those friends for discounted work. "Who doesn’t argue to try to get a better price on work being done?"

Dimora also claimed a forthcoming state audit will show that his personal dealings did not involve taxpayer dollars. County staff "have been told by the auditing firm that the audits are clean, and they’re good, and they show that all the bids that were approved are all the lowest and best bids," he said.

Should we buy Jimmy's latest defense? Well, what he's saying may be true, but at most it highlights the gray areas in the feds' investigation of him. Dimora didn't address the prosecutors' claim that he didn't pay his contractor buddies until he learned the FBI was after him. Or the allegations that Dimora took $33,000 in cash and $60,000 in work from Steve Pumper, whose companies were very much involved in county business.

But we're seeing more and more of Dimora's defense emerge, and he's sounding a consistent theme: He still insists publicly that he's done nothing wrong.

Pohlman, NewsChannel 5's chief investigator, is good at getting Dimora to open up. The most infamous quotes from Dimora's already-legendary July press conference -- “I’m not an angel, but I’m no crook,” and “I’m not doing anything different than any other public official does” -- were responses to Pohlman's questioning. His interview style is probing, but seeks understanding; his questions sound almost sympathetic, but zero in on key parts of the charges.

Like other TV reporters, Pohlman also benefits from Dimora's running feud with the Plain Dealer. Dimora's decided the paper's out to get him, so he'd rather argue with PD reporters than give them straight answers. On Thursday, Dimora complained to Pohlman about the paper in front of PD reporter Henry Gomez. Awkward!

(You can watch most of Pohlman's interview with Dimora by clicking the six-minute video embedded above. The segment that aired on NewsChannel 5 on Thursday night, which includes a few more quotes, can be seen here. To read my Oct. 2009 profile of Dimora, "Life of the Party," click here.)

Patio party at Jimmy's! Another contractor pleads guilty

More swag for Jimmy Dimora!

That's if you believe construction contractor Nicholas Zavarella, who pleaded guilty yesterday to bribing the county commissioner with a retaining wall around his pool, masonry columns in his back yard, and brick walls in his outdoor kitchen. (Patio party at Jimmy's! Must've been good times, until the hammer came down.)

Total value: $25,000 to $28,000. Total the Big D paid: nothing, the feds say -- until Jimmy got a tip that the feds were on to him. Then, a $500 check and a belated request for an invoice.

So what? you, the scandal-fatigued public, might say. We already know Steve Pumper pleaded guilty to bribing Dimora with a patio roof, barbecue shelter and bathhouse, valued at $60,000 -- oh, and $33,000 in cash. And that John Valentin of granite retailer Salva Stone Design is accused of bribing him by installing granite in Dimora's indoor and outdoor kitchens and master bathroom ($3,250).

Well, here are a few so-whats. First, we're seeing the feds tighten the noose on Dimora, lining up witnesses. (Here is where I'll add the usual disclaimers: Dimora has not been charged with a crime, he proclaims his innocence, and the charges don't name him. Once again, the feds call him "Public Official 1.")

Second, a pattern is emerging. Every time another contractor admits he didn't bill Dimora for his services until months or years after the fact, the idea that Dimora just got good deals and paid late gets stretched thinner, and the feds color a bit more gray area with a little more black.

Third, Dimora's potential defense is emerging. It's not exactly, when does a gift become a bribe? It's: Putting in a good word for someone isn't an illegal favor.

Take a look at this quote from the Feb. 25 Plain Dealer:

Dimora's attorney Richard Lillie said Dimora helped Zavarella's daughter get a teaching job, but did nothing wrong.

"Writing a reference letter for somebody is not bribery," Lillie said.

What I said in my October profile of Dimora, "Life of the Party," still holds up: So far, the feds "never claim that he single-handedly rigged a bid or steered a contract, " I wrote then. "The filings depict Dimora doing little favors: He puts in a good word for people, nudges, recommends, asks for a meeting to be moved up, calls the county staff to see if anything can be done for a buddy — and takes gifts from his friends before or after."

That's the gray area Dimora's lawyer could exploit in a trial. (Not that I assume Dimora won't cut a deal with the feds -- it may well be in his best interest.)

Finally, the Zavarella charge gives us another quick glimpse at how Dimora allegedly acted when news came that the FBI tried to flip his pal, Pumper. (From the charging document, with Dimora and Zavarella's names substituted for "PO1" and "defendant." ZBC is Zavarella's company:)
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Dimora asked Zavarella to send him a bill for the work ZBC had performed at Dimora's residence. Dimora told Zavarella that something was happening and Dimora did not want Zavarella to get involved because Zavarella did not do county work. Dimora referenced Pumper's divorce and said that there were going to be some issues.

Zavarella sent an invoice to Dimora falsely stating that $6,687 worth of work had been completed "as of 3/31/08," when as Zavarella then well knew, the work had been completed in 2007 and earlier and was valued at more than $6,687.