Otto Passman - Legal Troubles

Legal Troubles

Passman was legally implicated in the Tongsun Park scandal in 1978, by which time his congressional service had already ended. Media reports, however, of the scandal began in 1975–1976, and they worked to sink Passman's reelection.

Park, a South Korean businessman, described himself as an "American success story," when he came to the attention of the FBI. Park lavished valuable gifts to prominent politicians in an influence peddling scheme known as Koreagate. The scandal involved alleged bribery of over a hundred sitting or former members of Congress, including Louisiana Governor Edwin Edwards. In April 1978, Park sat before television cameras in a U.S. House hearing and listed a long list of payments—mostly in cash—to some thirty members of Congress. He said that he had given the money in little white envelopes. Only ten members of Congress were seriously implicated. Three avoided prosecution through the expiration of the statute of limitations. Passman was not immediately prosecuted because of illness.

Thereafter, the Justice Department in 1978 indicted Passman, the biggest recipient of Park's largess – $213,000. He was charged with conspiracy, bribery, and accepting an illegal gratuity. The indictment was expanded to include tax evasion. Because of the tax evasion charge, Passman was able, through his Alexandria attorney, Camille F. Gravel, Jr., to get the case transferred to Monroe. While Passman had been defeated for reelection two years earlier, there was still a reservoir of good feeling for him in many quarters of Monroe.

Attorney William G. Hundley (1925–2006) offered these observations of the Passman trial:

I went there for the trial and I'd go into restaurants with Park and people would get up and leave. I called the defense lawyer, who happened to be a pretty good friend of mine, and said, "What do you think a Monroe, Louisiana, jury is going to think of Tongsun Park?" He said, I don't know. I was taken aback. What do you mean you don't know? You've tried a million cases here. "I don't think they've ever seen a Korean before," he said.

I thought the prosecution presented a pretty good case. But when the defense attorney got up to cross-examine Tongsun Park, he carried a big map of Korea. He didn't even touch the merits of the case. He identified South Korea and noted that it's right under North Korea and next to China. Then he pointed out that North Korea and China are totalitarian communist states. The jury was out less than 90 minutes, and they acquitted Passman on every charge.

Passman lived another nine years after the acquittal.