Board Backs Romney's Legal Fee Plan
Aug. 25, 2000
The Salt Lake Olympic Committee voted today to give Mitt Romney the green light to negotiate a way out of paying the legal fees for Tom Welch and Dave Johnson.
Welch and Johnson have been indicted for fraud and bribery in the Olympic scandal
and the Salt Lake Organizing Committee has been paying their legal bills to this point.
News Specialist John Daley has the story.
It was a tense and long two-and-a-half hour meeting today.
During that closed-door session, the SLOC's Management Committee essentially set the wheels in motion to a process that is likely to result in Welch and Johnson having their legal fees shut off.
For Olympic athletes, the philosophy is often win at all costs.
When it comes to Tom Welch and Dave Johnson, Salt Lake Olympic organizers seem to be following that same approach.
The pair have been charged with federal crimes in the Olympic bribery case.
Organizers have been paying their legal bills, but now they are one step closer to pulling the plug.
Both the Management Committee and Board of Trustees unanimously sign off of a motion to allow Mitt Romney and top Olympic leaders to negotiate a way out of paying their legal fees.
Rocky Anderson/Salt Lake City Mayor: "IT WOULD PROVIDE MISTERS JOHNSON AND WELCH WITH A DEFENSE IN PENDING CRIMINAL PROCEEDINGS BY MEANS OF PAYMENT BY THE INSURANCE COMPANY OF LEGAL FEES WHILE RESOLVING ALL OTHER CLAIMS AGAINST SLOC."
In essence, the board passes the buck and backs Romney's plan: To cut off their fees unless Welch and Johnson promise not to sue.
Mitt Romney/SLOC President: "THIS PUTS THE WHOLE MATTER OF THEIR DEFENSE IN THE HANDS OF THE INSURANCE COMPANY. AND THAT'S SOMETHING THEY CAN PURSUE DIRECTLY WITHOUT US."
For his part, Tom Welch says he's open to negotiation.
But he tells Eyewitness News, as outlined by Romney, the proposal "wasn't acceptable then, isn't acceptable now and won't be acceptable in the future...Any solution will have to take into consideration our rights and will have to be fair."
What organizers did today, in essence, was pass the buck to their insurance company.
One likely scenario is that Welch and Johnson refuse to give up the right to sue the SLOC later, the insurance company refuses to cover the pair's legal defense, and ultimately Tom Welch and Dave Johnson are out on their own.
