David Radler Is On The Stand

CBC NewsNet has just reported that David Radler has taken the stand. According to CTV reporter David Akin, his testimony had just begun as of the lunch break. The direct examination of him began at the beginning; his oath was emphasized. He made a mistake right off the bat, when he said that he and Mr. Black met in 1971, and that got Mr. Black speaking to Eddie Greenspan. (Mr. Radler later corrected that mistake.) He also testified about their personal as well as business relationship during those years. Mr. Akin had worked for Mr. Black and Mr. Radler, at the Hamilton Spectator and the National Post, and described Mr. Black as the "good boss" and Mr. Radler as the "bad boss."

Amanda Lang, interviewed on BNN as of 1:35 PM or so, reported that he seemed relaxed as he began his direct testimony. The hard part for Mr. Radler, of course, won't start until the cross-examination. There's also a written CP report out, webbed by 680 News, which has a mention of the start of Mr. Radler's testimony, plus a little background on him.

Bloomberg also has an updated report, starting with the news that Mr. Radler has begun testifying. After the oath business was gotten out of the way. he testified that he "'took money from Hollinger International in circumstances that were not allowed.' ...[H]e told prosecutor Eric Sussman [under preliminary questioning] that he understood that, if he was found to have lied on the stand, his plea arrangement would be cancelled... [Mr. Radler also] told the jury he paid restitution of more than $8.5 million and, under the agreement, he will serve almost 2 ½ years in prison regardless of the trial's outcome." A further update relates that Mr. Radler testified to Conrad Black's habit of wooing powerful people while Mr. Radler "focused on financial details and cost-cutting." [A fourth update reports that Conrad Black's personal assistant testified about Mrs. Black's 60th birthday party before Mr. Radler took the stand.]

The Associated Press report, by Mike Robinson, is also out, as webbed by the Chicago Sun-Times. It discloses that, before the lunch break was declared, Mr. Radler testified about how he met Mr. Black, why he agreed to partner with him, and about the early days of their partnership. (At that time they were both running Sterling Newspapers. Trivia: The word "argent" is French for "silver" as well as "money.) Near its end, this report has a slightly different version of the quote reproduced by the Bloomberg report: "'''I took money from Hollinger in a way that isn't allowed,'' he told the jury after settling into the witness box."

Romina Maurino's report, on the start of Mr. Radler's testimony, has been webbed by the Vancouver Sun. It adds detail on a point which Mr. Akin's CTV report mentioned: "On taking the stand, Radler acknowledged his plea bargain with prosecutors: My obligation is to tell the truth, Radler told court as he prepared to testify against his long-time friend and business partner." [An updated version of the same report, webbed by CBC News, notes, amongst other additional facts, that "Black's lawyers objected repeatedly to prosecutor questions, especially those framing the two men as friends or describing the depth of their friendship."]

Added details are also in Paul Waldie's latest, written with Christie Blatchford and webbed by the Globe and Mail, about Mr. Radler and Mr. Black's first meeting. It also discloses that, when Eric Sussman asked Mr. Radler to specify what he pleaded guilty to, he answered "'I pleaded guilty to fraud. To taking money from Hollinger International in circumstances that were not allowed.'"

CTV NewsNet has also aired an updated report from Mr. Akin at 3 PM ET. He related the story of how Mr. Radler started off ownership of the Sherbrooke Record: laying off 40% of the staff. Mr. Black was "the public face" of the two. The prosecution wants to paint a picture of the two as "inseparable." Mr. Akin also reported that the plea agreement is contingent upon Mr. Radler being both "truthful" and "helpful" to the prosecution. If he's discredited, in other words, his sentence might be upped.

A report by Mary Vallis, webbed by Global National, covers the same subject too, but relates that Mr. Black "stared into his own hands as Radler passed." The Reuters report, by Andrew Stern and James Kelleher, adds a detail about Mr. Radler's initial testimony: when asked by Eric Sussman how "'major financial and business decisions [were] made'" back in those days, Mr. Radler replied, "'They were jointly made'". It also describes Mr. Radler as appearing, while on the stand, "rumpled and wispy-haired, frequently mumbling. He was told to speak up."

(As Mark Steyn notes below, Mr. Radler will probably testify later that decisions were always made jointly until the two split apart, which would cover the time of the transactions covered by the indictment.)

According to the latest report by Havard Gould, broadcast by CBC Newsworld at 4 PM ET, Mr. Radler's testimony is proceeding at a "glacial pace" because the prosecution is going out of its way to show how close the two were as partners.

The report from Stephanie Kirchgaessner of FT.com, as webbed by MSNBC.com, has a third version of that "not allowed" quote: "'I [pleaded] guilty to fraud . . . to taking money from Hollinger International . . . in certain senses that were not allowed,' Mr Radler said, in response to questions from the chief prosecutor in the case, Eric Sussman, on his 2005 plea agreement. "

Reuters' latest report, webbed by KPLC7.com, has details on some of Mr. Radler's afternoon testimony at the bottom of it, which continues with the history of his and Mr. Black's partnership (in the colloquial sense) as their publishing empire grew through the 1970s and '80s.

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Mark Steyn's own take on the beginning of Mr. Radler's testimony ends with: "The prosecution are evidently trying to play this as a classical tragedy - the seeds of Conrad Black's downfall were sown in the fatal character flaws he demonstrated in rural Quebec nearly 40 years ago. It makes a change from arguments over auditing advice."


(On the lighter side, CNN has reported that Conrad Black is sharing a counsel with singer R. Kelly. It also reports that the judge scheduled to hear the case, Vincent Gaughan, "fell off a ladder at home, sending him to the hospital with multiple fractures." That accident is something I can relate to, having been through the same ordeal at the end of September, 2005.)