Associated Press 
Ryan's former top aide not through spilling secrets 
 
The Associated Press 
Published October 6, 2005, 12:03 PM CDT 
 
 George Ryan's defense attorney clashed with federal prosecutors Thursday over whether jurors should hear about nine trips the former governor took to National Basketball Association games and other sporting events around the country. 
 
 "They're trying to dirty up George Ryan by portraying him as a fella who run off to an NCAA playoff in Indianapolis or a Bulls game in New York," defense attorney Dan K. Webb said. He said the picture of Ryan using corporate jets and campaign funds for pleasure trips is very damaging. 
 
 Webb also said he stayed up until 2 a.m. looking for documentary evidence that Ryan ever charged items on the trips to his campaign fund but was unable to discover any such papers. 
 
 The clash came as testimony resumed after a two-day breather in Ryan's racketeering and fraud trial before U.S. District Judge Rebecca R. Pallmeyer. 
 
 Ryan, 71, is accused of steering state leases and contracts to his longtime lobbyist friend Larry Warner, 67, who is also on trial, and a handful of other associates. The two men deny any wrongdoing. 
 
 Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick M. Collins, the chief prosecutor at the trial, said Ryan and Warner's trips to out-of-town sporting events showed how close they were. He denied that the government merely wanted to portray Ryan as a politician who lived a luxurious lifestyle and did what he wanted when he wanted — sometimes at corporate expense. 
 
 "We're not gilding the lily," Collins told Pallmeyer. 
 
 After hearing from the attorneys for an hour, Pallmeyer expressed concern that the jury's time was being wasted while lawyers squabbled over the issue and added that it could be thrashed out later. 
 
 With that, Ryan's longtime top aide, Scott Fawell, took the stand for a third day of testimony. 
 
 Fawell already has told jurors how Ryan vacationed in Jamaica with a currency exchange mogul while raising fees that currency exchanges charge and leasing property from him for the state. 
 
 He also has told how when Ryan was secretary of state, Warner landed millions of dollars in state contracts and leases for himself and his clients. 
 
 When Fawell left the stand on Monday, he was talking about how secretary of state employees were farmed out to legislative election campaigns to help Republican candidates. 
 
 Prosecutors say Fawell can be expected to remain on the stand for several more days, telling about alleged corruption in government when Ryan was one of the top Republicans in Illinois. 
 
 Once federal prosecutors are through with him, though, Fawell can expect a rough going over on cross-examination from Webb, the $750-an-hour superlawyer whose clients include Philip Morris and the New York Stock Exchange. 
 
 Webb is guaranteed to ask Fawell about the corrupt activities that have already sent him to federal prison for 61/2 years for racketeering. He's also certain to ask about Fawell's admission that he engaged in bid-rigging at the Chicago Metropolitan Pier and Exposition Authority. 
 
 Fawell says he's helping the government only to avoid even longer sentences for himself and his fiancee in a pending bid-rigging case.