Verizon rejected two firms - Dilworth Paxson, where Fumo is of counsel, and Sprague and Sprague, Fumo's personal attorneys - before agreeing to give work to Thomas A. Leonard of Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel.
1. Following are excerpts from FBI interviews with Julia Conover, former general counsel of Verizon, on May 5 and 27, 2004. She talks about her dealings with Daniel Whelan, at the time president of Verizon Pennsylvania.
"Conover was aware that a gentleman's agreement had been reached between Whelan and Fumo at the time of this meeting regarding the legal work that Fumo wanted to designate.
"One of Whelan's conditions was that Verizon required a bona fide law firm doing legitimate legal work. Furthermore, she and Whelan agreed that Verizon could not use Dilworth Paxson because it would result in money going directly into Fumo's pocket. When Sprague & Sprague was suggested as an alternative, she and Whelan shot that down, because the scope of Verizon's legal work required a full-service firm.
"Initially, Whelan agreed on supplying legal work for $500,000 a year for five years, but later came back to Conover and said it would be $1 million a year for three years."
2. Excerpts from an FBI interview with Stephen R. Wojdak, a Verizon lobbyist, on Nov. 29, 2005. In addition to the legal work, Wojdak said, Verizon agreed to make contributions to the Philly Pops:
"The two items that Wojdak became involved in mediating were the law work and the contributions to Philly Pops. Wojdak spent an inordinate amount of time on the Philly Pops, as it became a problem almost from the beginning. Fumo contacted Wojdak about Verizon's non-payment of the Year One installment. According to Whelan, Verizon was still waiting for a contribution request form from the Pops, which they needed before any checks could be released. . . .
