Buie transactions refuted

In today’s Albany Herald, Carlton Fletcher reveals he has apparently gotten his hands on a document that refutes the allegations that he wired $1,600 to his estranged wife. This adds some credence to the second, handwritten statement by Nicole Brown that she didn’t give him anything. But does it really?

There now more questions than answers, even after purchasing authority was stripped from Buie. The GBI investigation won’t answer many of them, since they’re mostly concerned with whether a crime occurred or not. If they can’t determine that, then they’re finished. If they determine that a crime didn’t happen, they’re done. But these questions remain.

First, Nicole Brown is claiming now that she was coerced not just by Phil Cannon, but also her own mother, and that Cannon told her a criminal investigation was underway. Based on Cannon’s comments to SWGAPolitics.com, that may have been a misunderstanding. However, she flat out calls her mother a “lair”. Judith Brown, in her own defense, tells the Albany Journal, “give me a lie-detector test.”

We know that Buie had a relationship with either an employee or a contractor, depending on your perception. Either should be grounds for disciplinary actions. In no world is a boss allowed to have a relationship with a subordinate unless the boss actually owns the business. Romantic relationships with contractors open up allegations of impropriety, something that those who work in government most definitely need to avoid.

We also know that Brown signed the affidavit. That’s not in dispute at all. She claims she was coerced by both Cannon and her mother. Unfortunately for her, neither was there when she signed that affidavit. Either she told the truth, or she lied. Cannon told SWGA Politics that he didn’t know whether the incident happened or not, only that Brown told him that it did. Brown has managed to destroy her own credibility right now, labeling herself a liar. After all, she signed an affidavit with information that is appearing to not be factual in nature.

The truth needs to come out soon enough, but the argument presented that people are out to “get” Buie are irrelevant. Phil Cannon, a criminal defense attorney, would hardly have been coerced allegations so easily proven false. He’s seen what kind of evidence that law enforcement can get and get easily, so if he was going to coerce allegations he would probably come up with something harder to disprove.

Buie, however, is far from innocent. He put himself in a position where he could appear to be improper in his conduct. It’s not the first time, and it won’t be the last time I suspect. Had he conducted himself appropriately, this is far less likely to have happened. After all, it’s harder to believe he asked a random contractor to do something like this than to believe he asked his girlfriend/employee to do something like this.

There’s also been no explanation as to why Brown suddenly received such a large payment as the $2000 check when her averages were much, much lower. There’s been no answer as to why there wasn’t more oversight in Buie’s activities. Why isn’t there a playoff in college football?

OK, the last one has nothing to do with Buie or Brown, but a lot of people want the answer to that one too. However, the rest of the questions are 100% serious and demand an answer before we can begin to get back to normal around here.