By Josiah Ranen
Was anyone shocked at the bribery scandal unfolding in Jackson County that brought federal charges against County Executive Phill Levota? It even threatens to grow as the FBI is reportedly looking at other local officials such as Deron McGee and Manny Abarca.
I have never understood the obsession some political insiders have with deciding who is allowed to run for office. This shit is illegal but local party leaders of both parties operate this way. Patrick “Duke” Dujakovich, Kansas City's legendary union leader once asked me to drop out of a state senate race in 2016 and suggested that I take a $25,000 campaign donation (that someone else donated to me) and use it for my family. My response was simple: go fuck yourself.
I encountered the same kind of politics again. In 2022, a Clay County party leader pressured me to give up as a precinct captain because she wanted someone else in the slot. The inducement this time was different: step aside now, and I would supposedly receive full financial support for whatever office I wanted to run for in the future. My answer was the same.
Too many party insiders view elections as something to be managed behind closed doors. Candidates are supposed to wait their turn. Local positions are treated like bargaining chips. Money, endorsements, and future support become leverage for getting inconvenient people out of the way.
LaVota has been doing this for decades. As Democratic Party Chair of Jackson county, he was involved arrangements for a friend of mine to drop out of a state rep race (against former state rep Mike Talboy) in exchange for a youth coordinator position in 2006. No one should expect another candidate to disappear because an insider offers enough money, support, or political favors to make it worth their while.
If you want someone out of a race, there is a perfectly legitimate way to accomplish it: beat them at the ballot box. The law, unfortunately, gets considerably more technical.
On June 26, 2024, the U.S. Supreme Court decided Snyder v. United States, ruling 6–3 that 18 U.S.C. § 666 prohibits bribes to state and local officials but does not criminalize after-the-fact gratuities. The distinction turns largely on the existence of a prior quid pro quo—an agreement that something of value will be exchanged for an official act.
That distinction could become important depending on what is actually on the recording involving LaVota. LaVota could presumably argue that whatever employment opportunities he discussed were not offered in exchange for anyone dropping out of a race. Instead, he could characterize them as gratuities or rewards given after someone had already made a decision on their own.
As the Seventh Circuit explained: “If . . . the payer intends the money as a reward for actions the payee has already taken, or is already committed to take, then the payment is a gratuity.” United States v. Agostino, 132 F.3d 1183, 1195 (7th Cir. 1997).
So, theoretically, if LaVota never actually told Deron McGee, “Drop out and I will get you this job,” he could argue there was no explicit quid pro quo. McGee could decide to drop out, LaVota could later offer him employment, and everyone could insist that one had absolutely nothing to do with the other.
It's not a bribe if you call it a tip. My ass! If it smells like a bribe, it probably is. Bbut the Supreme Court has made the legal distinction considerably more complicated. Don't mind the smell, apparently, so long as nobody is stupid enough to say the quiet part out loud.
LaVota played this all wrong. He was acting like he was still living in the Pendergast era.
The modern way to do corruption, apparently, is much more sophisticated. You shower people with gifts, jobs, opportunities, and favors and hope they correctly understand the unspoken hint. None of this crude “this for that” nonsense. Saying the deal out loud creates evidence. Keeping everybody on the same page without ever explicitly saying why? Apparently that's the trick.
Which brings us to the most interesting part of the LaVota story: the timeline.
LaVota met with Deron McGee on March 27. The FBI contacted LaVota about that meeting on April 6. LaVota dropped out of his race shortly thereafter, but the public did not know why at the time.
Now we know there was also a recording of the conversation. That extraordinarily short timeline raises an obvious question: was this a sting? Because ten days from the meeting to FBI contact is awfully damn fast. And if the conversation was recorded, then all of the clever legal distinctions between a bribe, a gratuity, a suggestion, a favor, and a wink-and-a-nod may ultimately come down to one thing:
What exactly did LaVota say?
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