PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — Attorneys on Thursday will enter their fifth day of questioning the government’s key witness in the federal bribery trial of Philadelphia City Councilmember Kenyatta Johnson, his wife Dawn Chavous, and two former executives of the Universal Companies.
Johnson is accused of taking a bribe from Abdur Rahim Islam and Shahied Dawan, in the form of a $66,000 contract between Universal and Chavous’ consulting firm.
Defense attorneys continued questioning the lead FBI agent on the case, Richard Haag. A starkly different picture of Johnson and Chavous’ finances emerged than had been previously cast during his testimony.
Prosecutors had Haag focus on one of Chavous’ bank statements, with an ending balance of zero dollars as well as overdraft fees on the couple’s account and credit card statements with high balances, apparently to back up the government’s theory that the couple was struggling financially in 2013-14, the period covered in the indictment.
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Defense attorneys widened the lens on the couple’s finances. Chavous, they revealed, had four other bank accounts that maintained balances of $9,000 to $11,000.
Johnson maintained balances of $21,000 to $30,000 in his accounts. Overdrafts in one account were covered by the others.
Haag acknowledged that credit cards covered business expenses, not just personal spending.
On Chavous’ biggest debt, her mortgage, she not only paid on time but added money to pay down the principal.
Chavous’ attorney, Barry Gross, also spent hours going over emails and text messages to and from Chavous, to rebut the government’s contention that Chavous did little work for her contract with Universal.
Haag, in fact, had put an exact number on how many hours Chavous worked over the course of her 16-month contract: 40 hours.
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So as Gross read out each new email thread or task it described, he asked Haag, “Did you factor that into your 40 hours?” Haag replied yes each time.
Gross’ frustration rose and the exchanges got snippier as the afternoon wore on.
He was in the midst of further cross-examination as court adjourned.
Cross-examination is expected to continue Thursday, with prosecutors getting the chance to question Haag again afterward.
Dozens of witnesses, including numerous elected officials, could be called to the witness stand during the trial. It was delayed for about two years due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It is expected to take about three weeks.
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