Did Linda McMahon Obstruct Justice? (10th in a series – Defense Lawyer Laura Brevetti’s 1995 Response to Report on Her ‘Fixer’ Husband)

“[Vince] would like you to call [Dr. George] Zahorian to tell him not to come to any more of our events and to also clue him in on any action that the Justice Department is thinking of taking [emphasis added].”

Linda McMahon “CONFIDENTIAL INTEROFFICE MEMO” to Pat Patterson, December 1, 1989

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“At no time did they ever charge anybody with any kind of obstruction of justice or whatever it is you were suggesting…”

World Wrestling Entertainment lawyer Jerry McDevitt to Ted Mann of New London’s The Day

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In addition to the December 1995 Village Voice article by William Bastone, “The Fixer” – a profile of Martin Bergman, husband of defense attorney Laura Brevetti – there was a story late that year in the New York Post about the criminal investigation of Bergman in connection with his contacts with Emily Feinberg, Vince McMahon’s former secretary and a key prosecution witness at his federal trial the previous year.

I’m still trying to run down a copy of the Post piece, which was co-written by Jack Newfield and Phil Mushnick. I think I was wrong in earlier calling the Post coverage a “pickup” of Bastone’s. The Post publication may have preceded the Voice, and in any case was probably developed independently, though with similar sources.

I’ll share more on what the Post had to say when I get it. Meanwhile, what I have come across is a written statement by Laura Brevetti in response to the story. Here is what Brevetti said:

“I have been advised of no investigation and have never been contacted by anyone in the government about the existence of one. In any event, there is absolutely no basis for any claim of wrongdoing by me. It’s clear to me that this story is being waged by certain individuals within the government who have a personal vendetta against me.”

Irv Muchnick