Defense Says Whitaker Tried to Save Himself by Claiming the Governor Takes Bribes, All Gov't Officials Corrupt as Trial Tensions Rise

Federal prosecutors and defense attorneys delivered starkly different narratives Monday as the corruption trial of former Police Commissioner Ray Martinez and former Budget Director Jenifer O’Neal entered its fourth day—an intense session marked by entrapment claims, scrutiny over the legitimacy of the “Steak Out” agreement, and mounting efforts by both defense teams to discredit the government’s cooperating witness, David Whitaker. The defense portrayed Whitaker as a man attempting to save himself from years of criminal exposure, noting that in his cooperation with the federal government he went so far as to claim that the governor takes bribes and that all government officials are corrupt, a move framed as part of a desperate strategy for leniency. It was a day in which the competing narratives could not have been more pronounced: defense attorneys depicting Whitaker as a career fraudster trying to escape the consequences of his own misconduct, and prosecutors responding with record...