The UPoR ran a long (3,000 word+) profile over the weekend of Slim Baucom, the strip-club operator that gave $2,000 to Patrick Cannon. Does this provide any new insights into the whole Cannon affair? Possibly, though thee UPoR doesn’t really seem inclined to connect the dots.
The interesting piece of information is that Baucom and Cannon were long-time friends, which included Cannon staying at Baucom’s house in 2005 after Cannon had sold his existing home but his new house wasn’t ready yet(!). Baucom also apparently bought Cannon some furniture at auction. That doesn’t seem like a lot, but consider what we know:
• The FBI targeted Cannon soon after he returned to city council based upon a tip from a local undercover cop investigating other matters. What sort of businesses do local undercover agents target? Well, if I had to draw up a list, I’d place strip clubs right at the top.
• When Cannon plead guilty, what was the only specific act mentioned besides the money Cannon took from FBI agents? That’s right, the money Cannon took from his long-time buddy Baucom for helping to keep Twin Peaks open a little longer.
Putting this all together, it’s obviously the FBI got Baucom to talk. I’m guessing that the corruption that got the FBI interested in Cannon happened during his previous term on city council, rather than his time back in office in 2010. The problem for the FBI would presumably be that they couldn’t put together a case against Cannon for whatever he did previously because the statue of limitations had run out. So instead they spent the time and money to target Cannon.
What’s very clear is that we still don’t know what Cannon did to cause the FBI to target him. And there’s still that other, ongoing, FBI investigation about which we know nothing.
