A special federal grand jury has been impaneled and is interviewing witnesses in the case, which involves land transactions conducted by the Delaware Department of Transportation during Minner’s second term, according to several sources close to the investigation.
The FBI has questioned current and former state officials as well as others, some during surprise interviews at home, and in one case, outside a convenience store, according to attorneys, witnesses and others with direct knowledge of the investigation. Several have testified before the grand jury, they said.
Both of the land deals under investigation deal with the below market price pieces of land off of Rt. 1. One involves Christopher Tigani, who has been in the news recently because of the dispute with his father over control of the family liquor control business. Tigani, if you remember, is the one who flew Minner to a conference.
In 2007, Tigani flew Minner and her security detail on an $18,000 chartered jet to Quebec City, Canada, according to public records. In legal filings earlier this year, Tigani said the flight was an opportunity to lobby for N.K.S.’s interests.
Tigani did not disclose the cost of the flight as a lobbying expense to the state Public Integrity Commission, according to an investigation by The News Journal.
To add insult to injury this was Minner’s lame excuse:
Minner said in May she did not report the trip as a gift on her financial-disclosure statement because when the expenses were divided among all participants, “it was not expensive enough that we had to report it.” The minimum reporting requirement for gifts is anything above $250.
$18,000/250 = 72. Is she saying that 72 people went on the trip? Anyway, the deal really stinks and the explanations are incredibly lame. This may be something that we’re hearing about for the foreseeable future. Luckily for John Carney this hasn’t seemed to have touched him yet.