Mar 1, 2006 10:45 pm US/Central
Dallas City Hall Investigation Gets Deeper
by Robert Riggs
DALLAS (CBS 11 News) ―
CBS 11 News has learned new information about a federal corruption investigation at Dallas City Hall.
Some people involved in the investigation are discussing deals to testify against higher officials.
CBS 11 Investigator has also learned that the FBI has contacted Dallas Representative Terri Hodge.
Riggs asked representative Hodge, "who pays your rent?"
The Dallas lawmaker turned stone cold silent when CBS 11 first posed that question last year.
Our investigation found that Hodge accepted approximately $33,000 worth of unreported rent money from developer Brian Potashnik.
Now, Hodge admits the FBI has since questioned her about the rent payments.
"They allowed me, Mr. Riggs, to speak with them like an intelligent professional person. And they handled me professionally but it's you that come in here like a gangster."
The payments subsidized Hodge's expenses at an apartment complex owned by Potashnik's company, 'Southwest Housing'.
Potashnik is a subject of the FBI's bribery and extortion investigation at Dallas City Hall.
Potashnik is a major developer of affordable housing projects in Dallas' southern sector. He refuses to talk about his relationship with Hodge.
The powerful lawmaker accepted Potashnik's rent money before and after helping him win state approval of millions of dollars in taxpayer financing for a half dozen projects.
Hodge did not disclose the thousands of dollars in payments on her personal financial statements as required by the Texas Ethics Commission, for a three year period.
When questioned Hodge said, "I need to speak to the people conducting the investigation, not you news people."
Hodge says it's a waste of her time and the taxpayer's money to explain why she accepted the rent money and did not report it.
Representative Hodge is also the subject of an inquiry by the district attorney in Huntsville.
The inquiry was opened after CBS 11's investigation found that Hodge helped violent offenders receive early parole while she accepted campaign contributions from the inmates' parents.
(CBS 11 News)
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