More info on Tressel regarding the FBI

But did the FBI tell him after the original email (April 2?) or after the email that said to keep it quiet (April 14?), or in December? Tressel should have followed up with his administration as soon as he responded to the original email if he thought that the information was in any way credible

if the offending email wasn't on the front page with no hint of this 'don't tell anyone because the FBI is involved nonsense.'  Called BS. 

and OSU/Tressel didn't include that as part of the presser last night

So are you saying that the FBI has his back on this shit. Please tell me this is not what you mean!!

We need a new label for osu threads...ideas???? Im thinking uos

Then I would be apt to report any violations to the NCAA that may jeopardize my $3.8m a year job and hurt the program that I run, just saying. 

And would OSU really fine him $250 large if he was told by the feds not to speak? Doubtful. 

Hmm, well that would be interesting.  So the FBI knew that Tressel knew?  When did they find out?  That would probably mean that the FBI knows that the random lawyer was leaking information.  What doesn't make sense is that none of that was in the school report of violations.  Also, wouldn't the school not levy any penalties if he was asked to cooperate by the FBI?  None of that was mentioned at all by the school's report.

Bonus: none of that also excuses him not sitting the players mentioned in the e-mails who he knew to be ineligable.  That's the second issue besides the not reporting and lying/cover-up thing.  He knowingly played ineligable players.

He absolutely could still have brought this to OSU's counsel's attention. The FBI cannot prevent you from seeking legal counsel after being contacted. This would change nothing, especially considering he still played four starters (and a contributor) who he had very serious eligibility doubts about.

Tressel is a liar and a cheater.

that explains... up to the raid on the guy's house. not all the time after. nor the claim in december that he just found out.

thanks for playing Columbus

That's a nonsensical rationalization. Tressel was contractually (and ethically) bound to disclose such business to his superiors. To keep it to himself put everyone -- himself, the players, the school -- in an untenable and legally dubious position. Vest's obligation was not to the FBI, which had no domain over him. By all rights, the matter should have been referred to Gee, who then could have worked with the FBI. This would have been standard operating procedure for everyone.

That doesn't make any sense.  If it were true, then the university would have had a much easier press conference:

-We understand that it would otherwise be improper to sit on this information, but Coach Tressel was acting under orders of the federal government.  Period.

Instead, they said nothing of the sort and Tressel's avalance of lies ensued.

I find it equally disturbing that someone who was presumably a government attorney was willing to jeapardize a criminal investigation to help out a football team.  I'm not clear on the timeline, did those e-mail happend before the FBI raided the tattoo parlor and brought their investigation out in the open?

If Tress gets off with very little, then God officially hates Michigan. 

"Cincinnati radio station 700wlw Bill Cunningham spoke on the air today about sources he has inside OSU and stated that since the FBI was involved with this investigation he (Tressel) was told, not asked that he wasn't able to leak anything out whatsoever on this investigation. Apparently it's supposed to come out in the next few days. ""

On second view....WE ALREADY KNOW THIS.

It is not thread worthy.

We know the lawyer who emailed Tressel said in his sceond email that it should be confidential.  We know the FBI was involved.

This doesn't say that the FBI told tressel not to talk.  Just the emailer. 

This lawyer had no authority to tell tressel that because he was leaking it in the first place.  The lawyer may have told Tress to keep it confidential, but that is about as important as me telling you to keep this post confidential.

Please delete this VERY MISLEADING thread.

He Still could have told legal counsel, as stated above, and I'm pretty sure it would have come out or he would have had a 'statement' to read about the situation.  Also - He could have suspended his players for 'violating team rules', etc etc etc BS

The FBI tells JT (but not the AD or President) not to talk, even to the NCAA because they are investigating Eddie.

Fine, let's believe this. How is this related to the email from "anonymous attorney"? Did the FBI tap that attorney's email account, notice JT received it and then run over to OSU and tell JT and only JT to keep quiet for the sake of the FBI?

If so, fine. Then how why didn't JT just sit his 5 players for 1 cupcake game for an undisclosed rules violation? Why lie to the NCAA 2 times and not say this FBI thing in the press conference? It doesn't add up at all.

1. Why wouldn't Tressel seek legal counsel on the matter if this were the case?

2a. Why wouldn't OSU say that the FBI told Tressel to keep quiet on this matter?

2b. Why didn't Tressel say anything about this?

3a. Why would OSU be fining and suspending Tressel if he was doing what he was told to do by the FBI?

3b. Why hasn't there been any record of Tressel's communications with the FBI released?

4. What grounds did the FBI have to tell Tressel not to talk to anyone at the OSU AD or NCAA about this?

5. Why does the FBI need a few days to get Tressel's back on this? All they need to do is say something along the lines of, "Yes, we told him that he should keep quiet about an ongoing investigation and are grateful for his cooperation."

6. How did a radio personality get this information when literally nobody else heard anything about this despite the Tressel scandal being biggest collegiate sports story in the country?

Some of these questions have semi-plausible answers. Others do not. Regardless, as a whole, this stretches well outside the realm of plausibility.

1.  How come the tOSU Athletic Department blacking out (i.e., concealing) the name of Tressel’s email pen pal?  What part of the Ohio Freedom of Information Act, (assuming there is one) lets them change a document that way?

2.  Who is the attorney who contacted Tressel last April?  Whatever credibility Tressel’s defense explanation excuse evasion deserves turns on the answer to that question

Tressel and Gee would have the world think this mystery attorney was working for the US Attorney or the FBI or some law enforcement agency and that is why Tressel had to respect the attorney’s request for confidentiality.

Bulloney.

There is nothing in the emails to suggest this attorney was anything other than a jock sniffing tOSU booster looking to ingratiate himself with Tressel and the program.  What is worse is there is reason to believe from the emails that this attorney may actually have violated client confidentiality when he notified Tressel. 

1.  In the first email, (4/2/10 at 232 pm). Tressel’s pen pal attorney never tells Tressel that he (the pen pal) is associated with law enforcement himself. He just tells Tressel that “a lot of my friends are in law enforcement”.  Supposedly, in the best case for Tressel, that somehow obligated Tressel to sit on the attorney’s disclosure.  Huh?!? The attorney does not even make any confidentiality request in this letter.

2. The second email (4/16/10 at 943 am) comes two weeks later and is even more damning for Tressel.  Attorney Penpal tells Tressel that Mr. Tatoo (Eddie Rife) was in the attorney’s office the night before spilling his guts to Penpal about facts that clearly establish Tressel’s players were violating NCAA rules. Attorney Penpal even tells Tressel he will try to get back the tOSU paraphernalia the gov’t took from Rife. (Though who he is getting the memorabilia back for – Rife or someone else -- is not clear.)  Penpal then goes on to tell Tressel that he (Penpal) knows the people in the District Attorney’s office who are working on this pretty well.

3. The third email (4/16/10 at 224 pm) seems pretty clear that Rife was talking to Attorney Penpal seeking legal advice. (“He wanted my opinion yesterday on his situation.”)

Whoa.  That takes care of Attorney Penpal being a lawyer for law enforcement or the Feds.

He ain’t.

And it sure sounds like Rife was consulting with Attorney Penpal seeking legal advice about a legal matter.  Otherwise, why is Rife spilling to Attorney Penpal? 

But the much more serious question is, why is Attorney Penpal spilling what Rife just told him to Tressel?   Tressel is not Attorney Penpal’s client.  (If Attorney Penpal were Tressel’s lawyer there would be a privilege for the emails he sent and they would never have seen the light of day.)

It sure looks as though at some point Rife became Attorney Penpal’s client and, if so, it sure looks like Attorney Penpal put his loyalty to tOSU football and Tressel before his duty to his client.  That could get his law license yanked.

Voila! 

There in a nutshell is the real explanation for why Attorney Penpal asked Tressel to keep it confidential. Attorney Penpal wants to dish about his client to Tressel, because that’s what jock sniffing boosters do, but he also did not want anybody to know he's dishing to Tressel about what Rife, his client, is telling him.  Doing that could get his license revoked.  So, Attorney Penpal asks Tressel to … keep confidential the facts showing his breach of attorney client privilege. 

And Tressel was only too happy to oblige. 

This sounds dubious... but even assuming Cunningham is correct:

• Tressel wasn't under any enforceable order not to speak.  The FBI can't gag someone unrelated to the investigation regarding information only tangentially related to the investigation.
• Once the FBI raided the place, the de facto 'gag order' would obviously have been moot
• Once Tressel was asked by the school (or the NCAA), if this was the case he would have said "I can't tell you," not "no, I had no idea about these things."
• Once it was obvious that everyone else knew, Tressel continued to play dumb.
• Tressel still could have suspended the players for a "violation of team rules" without revealing any information.
• Tressel still could have anonymously informed compliance.

Go home. Get shinebox.

did anyone else notice the big redaction oops in the emails released??

http://ht.cdn.turner.com/si/images/2011/03/08/Ohio_State_NCAA.pdf

last page, bottom picture, top right corner... tressel's phone number. my buddy called and apparently it's legit.

and you lost me when you said this about Bill Cunningham:

"he's not a complete idiot"