My first thought when I saw the picture of Jack Abramoff striding out of court looking like a gangster from a '40s movie in black fedora and trench coat was that he was mimicking Richard Scrushy of HealthSouth who warded of legal culpability by making a show of piety.Faced with the prospect of life in prison and the forfeiture of $279 million, Scrushy quit his suburban Birmingham, Ala., church to join a largely blue-collar African-American congregation, secured his own ordination as a nondenominational minister, and bought local TV time for a prayer show featuring himself, his third wife and various members of the clergy. The jury acquitted him on all 36 felony counts.
Was Jack wearing a hat because he wanted the judge to think he'd gotten religion? Was he posing as a rabbi? Making a show of his faith? No, I realized: Hats aren't permitted in federal courtrooms; anyway it was raining.
[BTA wants a hat-tip for this post]