Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Seven, twenty three, now here in Houston's Warning News. Mackenzie
Kelly is a former Austin City Council member. She wrote
a story for the Federals which is very interesting and
I'm guessing your average textan outside of Austin doesn't really
even know anything about this story. It's about a Republican
sentenced to seven years in prison, who, when you get
right down to it, didn't really commit a crime. And
(00:23):
you might be wondering yourself, how do you end up
in seven year prison sentence when you didn't really commit
a crime. That's where it gets complicated. McKenzie, So tell
us about how this came down, how this happened, and
I assume this gentleman is still in jail to this day.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Correct, Yeah, that's absolutely true, Jimmy Michael Shirley is still
in federal prison in Miami over this. Originally the court
had tried to charge him, or the Department of Justice
tried to charge him on bribery charges, but they pivoted
mid trial when their own witness he invoked the Fifth
(01:00):
Amendment nearly sixty times during questioning, and when they pivoted,
they ended up charging Mike Shirley with honest services fraud,
even though they weren't able to prove any bribe was given,
no money was stolen, and no public official ever claimed
they were deceived.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Okay, Michael Shirley is the Texas based Republican political consultant.
I'm guessing you are suggesting, and probably rightfully so, that
he was targeted because of his politics.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Absolutely, there's no doubt in my mind after reading through
the hundreds of hours of transcripts from the court and
the appeal and the original filings from the Department of Justice,
that they were going after him as a result of
what other people did as well. When you look at
the case altogether, there were jail house calls and testimony
(01:50):
that suggested that an individual who was testifying against Michael
Shirley was promised a lighter sentenced if he helped implicate Mike.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Okay, so it seems like a slam dunk on appeal.
Has he has he appealed the case and if so,
where is it in the appeal process.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, the case has been appealed.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It is currently waiting to be heard in front of
a court. And in addition to that, there are a
group of people who have been really close to Mike
in politics here in Austin and across the country, who
are also trying to get the attention of the Trump
administration as well.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Okay, so perhaps the Trump administration may get involved at
least you're hoping we will get involved either with the
oh yeah, yeah, but the pardon, or at least ask
enough questions that you know this, this gets more more
attension on it. Obviously, you're trying to shine a light
on the story, which is always one of the most
necessary things to get anything done.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah. Absolutely. I've talked to Aaron Wrights, who's President Trump's nominee,
and he got confirmed as the Assistant Attorney General for
the Office of Legal Policy. We've talked with other individuals,
and thankfully the federal government's listening. But this guy, mister Shirley,
Michael Shirley, has been in jail for over fourteen months.
(03:11):
And it is quite the injustice when the Department of
Justice argues that a consultant is a de facto public
official and wasn't able to invoice for services that were
provided it was a vague law with weaponized use.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Well, you just still started the biggest problem of vague law,
and it seems to me that when this law was passed,
I mean, the possible ways it could be misused were
sort of pointed out, weren't they.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
They absolutely were by the Supreme Court. They ruled in
twenty ten with Skilling versus United States that on a
services fraud should only apply to clear bribes and kickbacks,
not to routine contracts or even business overhead. And that
really has a chilling effect because if it stands, anyone
contracting with government entities could be at risk at prosecution.
(04:01):
So there's a bigger problem here if you think about
it more broadly.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, it's kind of ironic. We're talking about this right
before a nationwide protest plan for Saturday, including right here
in Houston and in Austin as well. The quote unquote
no Kings protest. I mean, that's what you want to
talk about. No Kings. That's what Kings do. They punish
people for their politics, and they put them in jail
and take away their livelihood as a form of punishment.
(04:27):
But as long as i've got you here, Mackenzie, you're
still in the Austin area, right.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, what has the protesting been like that there? So far?
Over what's been going on in Los Angeles and with
these ice raids.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know, it's frustrating to me as someone who believes
in a good protest. A good protest is one that
is peaceful, it doesn't provide any problems to anybody, and
that is respectful of law enforcement and the rules that
we have to allow people to do so. I firmly
believe in the First Amendment right to free speech. But
here in Austin from my home, I was watching Michael
(05:04):
quinn Sullivan who runs Texas Scorecard. He was out there
with a protesters showing what was going on. And there
were images and video that I saw of these protesters.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
They were.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Throwing things in.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
The street, they were being rude to police officers, they
were harassing individuals, and they were also putting graffiti on
federal buildings.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
The JJ Pickle Building had been just totally trashed on
the outside.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And to me, that is really not what a peaceful
protest is at all.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
That's just not at all, And I just so say
that's just vandalism as all that is.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, And I fear that it's just going to escalate
over the weekend and be a repeat of twenty twenty
after George Floyd.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I pray you're wrong about that. McKenzie. Thanks for joining us.
Mackenzie Kelly, former Austin City Council member, seven twenty eight
Seven, twenty three, now here in Houston's Warning News. Mackenzie
Kelly is a former Austin City Council member. She wrote
a story for the Federals which is very interesting and
I'm guessing your average textan outside of Austin doesn't really
even know anything about this story. It's about a Republican
sentenced to seven years in prison, who, when you get
right down to it, didn't really commit a crime. And
(00:23):
you might be wondering yourself, how do you end up
in seven year prison sentence when you didn't really commit
a crime. That's where it gets complicated. McKenzie, So tell
us about how this came down, how this happened, and
I assume this gentleman is still in jail to this day.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Correct, Yeah, that's absolutely true, Jimmy Michael Shirley is still
in federal prison in Miami over this. Originally the court
had tried to charge him, or the Department of Justice
tried to charge him on bribery charges, but they pivoted
mid trial when their own witness he invoked the Fifth
(01:00):
Amendment nearly sixty times during questioning, and when they pivoted,
they ended up charging Mike Shirley with honest services fraud,
even though they weren't able to prove any bribe was given,
no money was stolen, and no public official ever claimed
they were deceived.
Speaker 1 (01:17):
Okay, Michael Shirley is the Texas based Republican political consultant.
I'm guessing you are suggesting, and probably rightfully so, that
he was targeted because of his politics.
Speaker 3 (01:28):
Oh.
Speaker 2 (01:28):
Absolutely, there's no doubt in my mind after reading through
the hundreds of hours of transcripts from the court and
the appeal and the original filings from the Department of Justice,
that they were going after him as a result of
what other people did as well. When you look at
the case altogether, there were jail house calls and testimony
(01:50):
that suggested that an individual who was testifying against Michael
Shirley was promised a lighter sentenced if he helped implicate Mike.
Speaker 1 (01:58):
Okay, so it seems like a slam dunk on appeal.
Has he has he appealed the case and if so,
where is it in the appeal process.
Speaker 3 (02:10):
Yeah, the case has been appealed.
Speaker 2 (02:12):
It is currently waiting to be heard in front of
a court. And in addition to that, there are a
group of people who have been really close to Mike
in politics here in Austin and across the country, who
are also trying to get the attention of the Trump
administration as well.
Speaker 1 (02:31):
Okay, so perhaps the Trump administration may get involved at
least you're hoping we will get involved either with the
oh yeah, yeah, but the pardon, or at least ask
enough questions that you know this, this gets more more
attension on it. Obviously, you're trying to shine a light
on the story, which is always one of the most
necessary things to get anything done.
Speaker 2 (02:49):
Yeah. Absolutely. I've talked to Aaron Wrights, who's President Trump's nominee,
and he got confirmed as the Assistant Attorney General for
the Office of Legal Policy. We've talked with other individuals,
and thankfully the federal government's listening. But this guy, mister Shirley,
Michael Shirley, has been in jail for over fourteen months.
(03:11):
And it is quite the injustice when the Department of
Justice argues that a consultant is a de facto public
official and wasn't able to invoice for services that were
provided it was a vague law with weaponized use.
Speaker 1 (03:27):
Well, you just still started the biggest problem of vague law,
and it seems to me that when this law was passed,
I mean, the possible ways it could be misused were
sort of pointed out, weren't they.
Speaker 2 (03:38):
They absolutely were by the Supreme Court. They ruled in
twenty ten with Skilling versus United States that on a
services fraud should only apply to clear bribes and kickbacks,
not to routine contracts or even business overhead. And that
really has a chilling effect because if it stands, anyone
contracting with government entities could be at risk at prosecution.
(04:01):
So there's a bigger problem here if you think about
it more broadly.
Speaker 1 (04:06):
Yeah, it's kind of ironic. We're talking about this right
before a nationwide protest plan for Saturday, including right here
in Houston and in Austin as well. The quote unquote
no Kings protest. I mean, that's what you want to
talk about. No Kings. That's what Kings do. They punish
people for their politics, and they put them in jail
and take away their livelihood as a form of punishment.
(04:27):
But as long as i've got you here, Mackenzie, you're
still in the Austin area, right.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
Oh?
Speaker 1 (04:32):
Yeah, what has the protesting been like that there? So far?
Over what's been going on in Los Angeles and with
these ice raids.
Speaker 2 (04:40):
You know, it's frustrating to me as someone who believes
in a good protest. A good protest is one that
is peaceful, it doesn't provide any problems to anybody, and
that is respectful of law enforcement and the rules that
we have to allow people to do so. I firmly
believe in the First Amendment right to free speech. But
here in Austin from my home, I was watching Michael
(05:04):
quinn Sullivan who runs Texas Scorecard. He was out there
with a protesters showing what was going on. And there
were images and video that I saw of these protesters.
Speaker 3 (05:15):
They were.
Speaker 2 (05:18):
Throwing things in.
Speaker 3 (05:18):
The street, they were being rude to police officers, they
were harassing individuals, and they were also putting graffiti on
federal buildings.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
The JJ Pickle Building had been just totally trashed on
the outside.
Speaker 3 (05:34):
And to me, that is really not what a peaceful
protest is at all.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
That's just not at all, And I just so say
that's just vandalism as all that is.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
Yeah, And I fear that it's just going to escalate
over the weekend and be a repeat of twenty twenty
after George Floyd.
Speaker 1 (05:50):
I pray you're wrong about that. McKenzie. Thanks for joining us.
Mackenzie Kelly, former Austin City Council member, seven twenty eight
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