First it was 16 counts of writing worthless checks, a bust he blamed on gambling debts and poor business acumen, which was chronicled in an overblown Times account titled “A wilting of great promise.” But former Republican-turned-Democratic political consultant Peter Schorsch had more courthouse time coming: In late June, he was charged with three counts of scheming to defraud and grand theft in connection with campaigns he ran. On his blog, he wrote, “I don’t believe what I did rises to the level of criminal actions. I intend to mount a defense as vigorous as one of my political campaigns.” He did, however, apologize for letting his former clients down.
This article appears in Sep 13-19, 2006.