Brady - loyal to what?

Corrections & Clarifications

In today's Gleaner, Dr. Hume Johnson was quoted as saying that Mr. Harold Brady seemingly conspired to help the Jamaica Labour Party to contravene the Constitution of Jamaica and deceive the Jamaican people.  Upon reflection, Dr. Johnson acknowledges that the particular statement was misleading and retracts same.

Attorney-at-law Harold Brady's association with the Jamaica Labour Party (JLP) is well known. In fact, it is debatable whether Brady is a lawyer first and a 'Labourite' after, or a 'Labourite' first, and then a lawyer.

These distinctions have become fashionable since Prime Minister Bruce Golding made his explosive presentation to Parliament last Tuesday.

Brady has run unsuccessfully on the JLP ticket in past elections, so closely allied is he to the party.

His legal skills and loyalty to the JLP would have been essential requirements to approach US law firm Manatt, Phelps & Phillips.

A contract between Brady's law firm and Manatt posted on the United States Justice Department's website indicated that Manatt, through Brady, was acting on behalf of the Government in political and economic matters, including treaties.

As the public sought to unravel the Manatt mystery, Brady claimed that aspect of the contract was a mistake, which was corrected.

Prime Minister Golding argued that Brady was never a government consultant and did not have the authority to represent the administration.

Manatt's insistence

But despite Brady's claim, as well as that of Golding, Manatt continued to insist that it was acting on behalf of the Jamaican Government.

Information Minister Daryl Vaz was left to handle the Manatt issue, as a curious public refused to let up.

Vaz sought to put distance between the Government and Brady, but the attorney would have none of it.

In an ensuing verbal tussle in April, Brady claimed that he and Information Minister Daryl Vaz knew more than they were letting on.

Vaz had suggested a day earlier that Brady would be punished at the party level because he had not adequately cleared up the Manatt mess.

The attorney was expected to submit documents clarifying that he had not acted on the Government's behalf when he hired Manatt.

Talk of punishment appeared to pump up the attorney.

In less-than-subtle tones, Brady suggested that Vaz was grandstanding, and argued that he had done nothing wrong.

Brady's central role

Political analyst Dr Hume Johnson harbours no doubt that Brady played a central role in the drama.

"He seemingly conspired to help the Jamaica Labour Party to contravene the Constitution of Jamaica and deceive the Jamaican people," she argues.

"He appeared to have facilitated the efforts by persons within the current administration in their attempts to seek concessions from another government, bypassing diplomatic and constitutional channels."

Johnson contends that an extraordinary amount of funds changed hands to allow for this contravention of the Constitution to take place.

"It is noteworthy, however, that had not the truth been revealed, Brady would simply have been a fall guy in this sordid affair," Johnson declared.

She suggested that attempts were obviously made by the administration to deny its involvement in the Manatt hiring by elevating Brady as an independent actor.

Johnson said it remains unclear whether Brady on his own volition - as a member and sympathiser of the JLP - approached the party and volunteered to assist in resolving treaty issues between the Jamaican Government and the United States government, or as Karl Samuda argued in his April 27 press release, that "persons within the JLP approached Mr Brady".

"What seems clear, however, based on the information known so far, is that Mr Brady was unwilling to lie about the nature and extent of his involvement and, hence, his subsequent retreat from the situation is understandable, though perhaps not justifiable."

Misunderstanding

Another analyst, Ann Shirley, is of the view that the problem for Brady revolves around the "misunderstanding" that Manatt, Phelps & Phillips had that its client was the "Government of Jamaica through Harold Brady & Company".

"Was this a genuine misunderstanding, or deliberate deception?" she asked.

Shirley noted that the Foreign Agency Registration Act filings by Manatt had this designation, and it was never corrected.

"Yet the Foreign Agency Registration Act does have a box that can be checked if the lobbyist is representing a foreign political party," she noted.

"This is the main issue that he will have to deal with, as well as what exactly were his instructions from his client, and what interest did a political party have in lobbying officials from another country with regard to bilateral treaty arrangements between two sovereign governments."

According to Shirley, Manatt will have to file another document with the US Department of Justice at the end of June, which will detail any meetings and other contacts that it had with US officials on behalf of "the Government of Jamaica through Harold Brady and Co", and any funds received during the period January 1, 2010, to March 30, 2010.

"So there is possibly still more to come," she said. "'He seemingly conspired to help the Jamaica Labour Party to contravene the Constitution of Jamaica and deceive the Jamaican people'