Cleveland, OHIO

Leaked FBI documents were the basis of a story printed in a Cleveland alternate newspaper. The extent of the crimes isn't surprising for anyone who follows Cleveland politics. It's a city mired in racial politics and poliscum who are promoted and protected by the city's newspapers.

There's almost civic pride in this observation by the Scene:

Earlier this month, a jury deadlocked on a bribes-for-public-contracts case against Gray, Cleveland Councilman Joe Jones, and New Orleans businessman Gilbert Jackson. Like all things Cleveland, it was a trial both strange and mysterious.

The most comical moment came when Jones' lawyer argued that no one would want to bribe his client, since Jones is widely regarded as a City Hall lightweight who isn't taken seriously. Call it the Moron Defense.

And though one juror told The Plain Dealer that the jury voted 11-1 to convict Gray on the most serious of the 41 charges he faced, the lone holdout, Tangie Holloway, just happened to be a childhood friend of Cleveland Councilman Zach Reed, who just happened to be a friend of Gray.

It was justice, Cleveland-style. The case will be retried in August.

So might be Jones' attorney who has admitted handing over one of the sealed FBI memos to the Cleveland Plain Dealer.