TJ Ritchie's new show & Joe Bruno on CMPD's chief lawsuit threat (05-06-2025--Hour2)

[00:00:04] What's going on? Thank you so much for listening to this podcast. It is heard live every day from noon to 3 on WBT Radio in Charlotte. And if you want exclusive content like invitations to events, the weekly live stream, my daily show prep with all the links, become a patron, go to thepetekalendershow.com. Make sure you hit the subscribe button, get every episode for free right to your smartphone or tablet. And again, thank you so much for your support.

[00:00:28] I made this announcement last week. I believe I was the one that exclusively broke the news when I read it off of the press release that TJ Ritchie was going to be joining the lineup here at WBT. And so I said, I'm going to make him wait for like a week and then I will bring him on just to, you know, assert dominance. But no, no need for that. I already knew.

[00:00:51] TJ is a long time, uh, Charlotte radio guy, Ace and TJ show. Uh, you may know him from, um, and you are doing, so this is, so you're going to start the, the BT slot seven to nine, May 27th, right? Yes. And so you're doing something, you're still doing your own deal, right? What is that?

[00:01:10] Um, my, my partner's name is Riggins now. It's the TJ and Riggins show. And we're a syndicated morning show on, um, several, like probably eight or nine stations. Uh, so we still do that. And, uh, you know, podcasts and different things. My wife and I even have a podcast, which may go away when I start staying up here late every night. Just depends. Right. Um, so I'm going to be doing all of that at the spry young age of 55. There you go.

[00:01:36] With a sleeping disorder. And, uh, I need your weight loss place that I heard you talking about the other day. Nope. I can definitely PhD weight loss and nutrition. See, this is why I had to assert dominance because he's, he's got way more irons in his fire here. Um, so, all right. So, uh, By the way, I'm lucky that I made it back in town for this. I was sweating it from being at the Met Gala last night. Oh, really? Yeah. I thought I saw you on the carpet. Yes. Right up my alley, man.

[00:02:02] I saw a good proposal that, um, from now on the Met Gala should just ban all dudes and disinvite all women except for Sidney Sweeney. Sure. And I think that would be. Yeah. Right. I saw Walter Goggins. You know who this is? Walton Goggins. Walton Goggins. Yeah. Uh-huh. Did you ever see his ads for the goggles? Yeah. Yeah. They're in every single freaking YouTube video that I see. But, um, the, but he was there wearing some sort of, uh, like a full length duster.

[00:02:32] Yeah. Jacket coat or something that was like puffy. Yeah. He's, he's considered right now one of the best character actor actors out. I like him. Yeah, I do too, but he's weird. Yeah. And it's, it's a shame because he's really Southern. Yeah. You know, I think he's from Georgia or something. Loved him in Justify. Oh, that's my favorite. Yeah. Yeah. And, uh, you know, do you know who Nick Searcy is? Yeah. Yeah. Sure do. So. Yeah. From Cullowhee. Yes. And I chatted with him. Have you ever had a chance to interview him? No. I may be able to hook you up with him. Oh yeah. If you're interested. Yeah.

[00:02:59] Because he, um, I talked with him years ago when Justified was on and I asked him about the fight between, like a fist fight between Timothy Oliphant. Yeah. And, uh, Walton Goggins. Because I said, they're not very big dudes. And he, and he just riffed on, he was like, it's, he's like, I was worried that there would be broken bones because they're just two very small guys. Yeah. You know, they're frail.

[00:03:26] They seem kind of, you know, TV makes you look bigger, but, um, have you ever done any TV work? No, not like that. I was a theater major though in college. Ah. I turned down a football scholarship to do my dad's alma mater to take a theater scholarship at the same school. And, uh, I still think that that's why he and my mom got divorced. Cause he blamed her for putting it in my head that I could be an entertainer. Yeah. Well, yeah, she was right. Oh yeah. Yeah. She was.

[00:03:54] They were right about that and putting braces on my teeth. Other than that, it was a disaster in my childhood. Oh, okay. Well, that's good though. It has made you into the, um, the entertaining person that you are. You got to go through. It's like, you can't sing the blues if you had an easy life. Yeah. It's like a preacher's no good if he doesn't have a personal testimony sermon. There you go. Yeah. So. And I'll tell him. You're no good preacher. I did. Tell me your testimony. Um, so, okay. So where are you, where are you originally from? You, uh, you're not from Charlotte. No.

[00:04:23] Central Louisiana, a little town called Winfield. It's, um, about two hours South of Shreveport, about one hour North of Alexandria. Those are the biggest cities that it's close to. I've heard of Shreveport. Yeah. It's, it's way up North in Louisiana. Okay. And so you played football and you were in the theater. Yeah. And baseball. And the same, so the same, what, what college you go to? Louisiana Tech. And so they had a, what, like an intra departmental fight over.

[00:04:52] Yeah. Where you would go. Why couldn't you do both by the way? Why couldn't you play football and do theater? Um, because at the time I didn't, I didn't want to do football anymore. I wanted, I thought by the time I was 19, I was going to be a cast member on Saturday Night Live. Okay. On some, uh, like the guiding light or as the world turns or something like that. It's quite the range. Yeah. It's quite a range. So I had my mindset on it and that's what I, and I was tiny, you know, I was five,

[00:05:20] eight and I weighed about 140 pounds, but all they wanted me to do was be the punter anyway. So I could have done that. You could have a long career. Yeah. You could have a really long career as a punter. I know. And I wouldn't have to be doing, uh, two jobs to make ends meet. Right. You would have been retired already. Uh huh. Yeah. Which means you probably still would be doing a podcast. Sure. Yeah. That'd be all over the place. Yeah. Um, all right. So you're in, uh, you're in Louisiana. You go to college. Then what, how did you go? How'd you get into radio? Okay.

[00:05:49] Well, I, um, I was terrible in college. And so, um, I quit and I went to LA to try my hand at standup comedy because somebody from my hometown lived out there and he worked as a, at a construction site for an oil refinery. And I got out there and would do, um, amateur nights and things like that. And then, um, I was a bellman in a hotel during the day.

[00:06:16] And so one day I was off from work and he said, Hey, you want to go to my company softball, uh, practice with me? And I said, sure. I don't have anything else to do. So I got out there. The project manager was there. He wanted me to play on their company team. So they said, well, he's got to work. He's at the, you know, for the company to be on the team. And he gave me a job, like a no, like a Michelle Obama, no show job. And all I had to do is just go in there and collect a paycheck and then be on the softball team.

[00:06:45] And it's probably your theater skills that really sold that. Right. And so, uh, so that, that's what got me into that. And I thought that was the line of work I wanted to do. And then my mom came to me one day and she said, why are you not happy, son? And I said, I don't know. I was working at a, at a mill in my hometown. I said, I'm working in my hometown. I have an office job and I should be happy, but I'm not. And she said, well, you're not happy because you're not using your talent.

[00:07:12] Um, she said, anybody could learn to do the job that you're doing, but you have talent and you're not using it. It's going to waste. So that's when I went and, uh, and applied at my local radio station. Why there? Um, because I had always thought that, um, that would be something that would, that would allow me to have my personality and, and be funny and things like that. Um, without having to, to deal with all of the show business, you know, living on the

[00:07:41] streets and things like that to make it. Yeah. You know? So did you listen to this station? No. So, you know, it was, it's a small station and, uh, the bigger station that I listened to, the fun station was in Alexandria and it was a top 40 and it was the ramming, jamming, slamming, you know, whatever. And I worked at the, the small town station for a few months and then I got a job on the weekends at the big station and then worked my way up through there. And that's where I met Ace.

[00:08:11] Okay. Yeah. And so they, and that little station allowed you obviously to go up and work part of that. Because I worked at a small station. They would not allow that. This is back in the days where you had to turn the transmitter off at night on certain, certain, uh, small stations. Dude, I worked at a tiny station, I shall not name. And, uh, I would have to go out on the hot days because the transmitter tower, the building

[00:08:35] at the base of it has a door and an eight, a window mounted AC unit inside that thing to keep the brains of it cool. And it would get too hot. And I would have to drive through this pasture sometimes that hadn't been cut in weeks and you'd have to drive through, get to the base, open the door and literally like just open and close the door to fan the thing out for about an hour. It was awful. Yeah. All the things you do with the small stations. Yeah. I lived at the transmitter house.

[00:09:04] They have a, they had a, where all the transmitter buttons and everything were, they had a little apartment attached to it. And, um, they gave me that instead of like, they couldn't afford to pay me as much. So they said, you can live in this apartment. And, uh, I'd look up some mornings and the engineer would be walking through my closet into my apartment to go get, what's going on? It's the transmitter's off, babe. Yeah. Character building. Yeah. All right. So you meet ACE and was he always called ACE? Always went by ACE. Okay.

[00:09:33] And he was already at the station when you went up there? He had just graduated from LSU and, uh, he was doing overnights just getting into radio when I started. So we, we were the only, um, young single guys on staff and we just, you know, hit it off and figured that if we would have gone to school together, we'd have been best friends. So. And then, that's where you immediately put on the air together. Yeah. Well, the first, no, no, no, no, no, no.

[00:09:59] The first thing we did was I, I ran, um, uh, Casey Kasem programs on Sunday mornings and that sort of thing. And then they put me on the air and then he, they put, moved us into an apartment together. Same situation. We're going to get you out of the transmitter house. You can share an apartment with ACE. And we're like, okay. So then we determined we wanted it to be a morning show and they wouldn't let us at all. They said, don't, you know, we, we would stay. I'd come on an hour before my shift. He would stay an hour later.

[00:10:25] We do it two hours together and took a tape in there and plopped it down and said, this is what we're sound like as a morning show. And they said, don't ever do that again. It's terrible. So the station went into bankruptcy and everybody on the staff quit except for the two of us. And then they had no choice. So we did mornings and then we'd come back and do afternoons and then do remote broadcasts on location every day. Did you ever have to dress up as a mascot? No, he did.

[00:10:52] He was the 100,000 watt gorilla in Louisiana in the middle of the summer. And I'm sure he wasn't the first person to wear that mascot outfit. I refused to, they tried to put me in a dog mascot. And I was like, I took one smell of that thing. I said, no way. Not in South Carolina heat. Not going to do it. TJ Ritchie is with me. He is soon to be hosting here on WBT, the seven to nine slot. He's formerly of the Ace and TJ show, but TJ and Riggins is the current operation.

[00:11:22] And that is on eight or nine syndicated stations. Yeah. And then on our app and digital stuff every day. No, that's good. You should not give people the platforms to find your content. Well, it's TJ Riggins.com. You get it all there. All right. If you're listening to this show, you know, I try to keep up with all sorts of current events and I know you do too. And you've probably heard me say, get your news from multiple sources. Why?

[00:11:49] Well, because it's how you detect media bias, which is why I've been so impressed with ground news. It's an app and it's a website and it combines news from around the world in one place. So you can compare coverage and verify information. You can check it out at check.ground.news slash Pete. I put the link in the podcast description too. I started using ground news a few months ago and more recently chose to work with them as

[00:12:15] an affiliate because it lets me see clearly how stories get covered and by whom. The blind spot feature shows you which stories get ignored by the left and the right. See for yourself. Check.ground.news slash Pete. Subscribe through that link and you'll get 15% off any subscription. I use the Vantage plan to get unlimited access to every feature. Your subscription then not only helps my podcast, but it also supports ground news as they make the media landscape more transparent. All right.

[00:12:45] TJ Richie. He's I see that you got this into the Charlotte Observer. T.J. Richie who described himself as America's coolest conservative. Yeah. Is that true? Absolutely. Okay. You hadn't heard that in the conservative circles, Pete? Come on. Well, no, it says you described yourself as. After everybody else described me that way, I just finally acquiesced. Well, because I feel like I missed some election. I mean, I didn't even campaign for this. Yeah.

[00:13:13] You know, I figured was going to have a problem with this is Winterbull. Hmm. But it's not. No, it's you. No, I don't have a problem. I just feel like I missed an opportunity to put a tape together. Right? I thought you said to vote for me. Or vote for you. That's what I was going to say. Yes. Or vote for you. Right. So, yeah. So that's what is it then that makes you. So first off, I have to say, you don't give yourself the nicknames. Yeah. Right.

[00:13:43] It's it's a it's a trolling thing. Ah. For people who are. It's all sarcasm. I'm fluent. Wait, anything braggadocious that I say or do is is mainly to aggravate liberals. Yes. I know. So you filled in a couple of weeks ago and like I because I admit like I was never I've I've never worked anything other than like nights, second shifts and stuff like that. So I never got to hear Ace and TJ. Yeah.

[00:14:12] I never got to hear your show. So I'm at a loss. Okay. As to what kind of content you guys were doing. And I asked you when you came in, did you guys talk at all about politics? But generally, it seemed like no. Yeah. If it were if something big, then we would. And the thing is, is that even though we're we were a top 40, you know, fun, silly morning show, our audience knew that we were real people. And if something was going on that was serious, we would talk about it. Sure. We had opinions.

[00:14:41] I never got in any flack, got any flack about that from radio station management. It was only when I would make jokes about liberals doing something or saying something or some kind of an entertainment story or whatever. That's when they would come to me and say, we're not talking about politics. Because that's when it would hit home with people because they hate to be made fun of. They hate to be mocked. Progressives really have no sense of humor. No, no, no. They'll say they do.

[00:15:08] But only if somebody else is writing what they say as actors or something like that. But yeah. And that's the complaint would hit. And then the management of the radio stations would be like, oh, we're not that kind of station and you know, whatever. So that's how we would deal with politics. But there's never been a time when I would hide my conservatism, you know. So people like you feel like your audience probably had a sense of where your politics. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. And they still do. You know. Yeah.

[00:15:35] But I don't go on and start, you know, I'll laugh at something Trump does. You know, if he's, you know, like the whole dressing in the Pope and the AI thing and all of that. I still don't understand why people are mad about that. These are people that invited these satanic nuns to the L.A. Dodgers games. Like, really? Like, oh, you don't want to offend Catholics? Which killed me because the Dodgers have the best looking uniforms. They do.

[00:16:01] And even though I'm not a huge Dodgers fan, I would consider wearing one of their hats or something like that. I'm a Braves fan. Oh, that's saying a lot. So, and especially this year. But, yeah. I just don't get it. But it's always a, it's okay to do, for them to do this, not okay for us to do it. Because it's kind of like people who have never been to the South.

[00:16:25] And they've always grown up making fun of Southerners being ignorant and redneck and all of this stuff. And then when they come to the South, because their old broken down northern cities aren't good enough to support them and let them make a living. So, they come down here. Or live. Yeah. And which I love. I love them. They come to just, just don't vote the way you did up there. Well, look, I'm originally from New York. And I said, I came down here. I'm not trying to make it into New York. I came down here and stayed because I like it. Yeah. Better than I like it up there.

[00:16:53] Well, and so the surprise that people have a lot of times when they find out that Southerners make jokes about people from other parts of the country. Like, we thought y'all were just the ones that got made fun of. Right. So, that's the way it is with liberals. They're like, oh, my God, he's making a joke at our expense. Right. Like, if I could be the conservative John Stewart. John Lebowitz. A.K.A. John Stewart. That'd be pretty cool. Yeah. You know, but. And how many people would allow that? Now they might. Yeah. You know.

[00:17:21] Now that they know I'm America's coolest conservative. Now everybody knows it. Now I'm out of the running. Okay. So. All right. TJ Ritchie, welcome aboard. Thank you. I'm super happy that you're here. Honored that you'd come on to the show. And this is going to be seven o'clock till nine o'clock. Starting on May 27th. So he's got to get all of his affairs in order here before they launch. And then seven to nine right here on WBT. And I've been a fan of yours for a long time. Yeah. Unlike you. Well, I just got here.

[00:17:51] When you were a news guy. Oh, as a news guy. You were listening to the newscasts. Yep. Wow. Sure was. See now. See now he's trying to make me feel okay for not being the coolest conservative. Actually, I'm more of a lowercase libertarian. So I'll tell you what. Yeah. I don't want the title. Okay. Good. Okay. Good. TJ Ritchie. Thanks, buddy. Great to see you. It's great. Here's a great idea. How about making an escape to a really special and secluded getaway in western North Carolina? Just a quick drive up the mountain. And Cabins of Asheville is your connection.

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[00:19:14] Call or text 828-367-7068. Or check out all there is to offer at cabinsofashville.com and make memories that'll last a lifetime. And now I want to welcome to the program Joe Bruno. He is with WSOC-TV. Joe, welcome to the show. How are you? Hey, Pete. Great. Thanks for having me. Yes, sir. So, all right. Tell me the entire story of the CMPD chief in three minutes. No, I'm kidding. Although you probably could because you're a TV guy, so you could probably cram it down

[00:19:44] into a two-minute package for me. But were there rumors swirling between, I guess, the original idea that former city councilman Tariq Bakari had to get these police bulletproof vests for the officers from when that first was being debated? And then now, like, were there rumors swirling around that there was potential litigation coming from the chief on all of this?

[00:20:15] No. This has, the city did a great job until last week at keeping this hush-hush in secret. Then a source told me about the closed session meeting that was held last week in which the city nearly voted to settle with CMPD chief Johnny Jennings. And then from there, we've just been piecing together all of this drama and mess that has been

[00:20:44] unfolding between the city considering, or the chief considering suing the city. You have Sandy Vastola suing the FOP. That lawsuit's being appealed. And then you also have this ethics complaint that we have uncovered against Tariq Bakari that failed, but we have since learned the two top aides to the chief helped advise the NAACP president on how to file it.

[00:21:12] So we have all of this stuff that has been simmering behind the scenes, all of a sudden is coming to light. And you have these three major controversies involving CMPD and the city that have really taken the spotlight now. Yes, because I follow your work and I read all the local TV websites and the Charlotte Observer and all this stuff. I did not catch any whiff of any of this kind of stuff until it all just kind of erupted.

[00:21:40] So I was like, man, either I'm not paying attention close enough or this came out of nowhere. So, okay. So that's good to confirm that it did just kind of come out of nowhere. So you've got Tariq Bakari no longer on city council because he took the job up in D.C. for the Trump administration. But he wanted new vests for law enforcement officers. And this was this idea of his was prompted by the standoff that led to four law enforcement agents losing their lives, serving a warrant.

[00:22:08] And he said, we need to get them better vests. And the police chief, Johnny Jennings, said, no, he didn't want these vests because and I thought maybe this wasn't like the real reason or something, but because it never seemed to be like a real legitimate kind of excuse for why you don't want the vests is that they looked too military like. But that is, in fact, the reason?

[00:22:32] That is the reason that we have been told is that Chief Jennings did not like the look, the militarized look. He worried that it could impact the police relationship with the community. Really, it was the aesthetic there. And then Councilman Bakari was advocating for the rank and file officers who, even before the Galway Drive shooting, had been wanting to wear these vests because they help with load

[00:23:01] management and their easier access. And so, of course, Councilman Bakari launched his petition drive and he launched a very public awareness and campaign aimed at getting these vests for all officers. And ultimately, that campaign was successful. However, what the chief is saying is in that process, he was unfairly targeted and his reputation

[00:23:29] was hurt by some of the things that Mr. Bakari was saying and some of the messages that he was receiving from him. Right. And some of the text messages now, we have seen, I think WFAE published some of them as well, that Bakari said, you know, you made a terrible error in judgment, my friend. I hate what comes next. And he said he will not stop and it will cripple your legacy you've worked so hard for.

[00:23:56] So that would speak to some sort of intent that Bakari might have had to try to reputationally damage the police chief. And so that it seems like if he's going to cite that, like that would be some pretty solid evidence. The chief, from my understanding, views that message as inappropriate.

[00:24:19] Now, it is important that now we don't know what exactly is in his legal claim that he was considering filing because remember, nothing has been filed. But my understanding is that message may play a role in all of this and counsel's lack of response to Councilman Bakari's pursuit of these outer carrier vests.

[00:24:45] And now, you know, the city ultimately chose or is choosing to settle with the chief. And that's what we're doing. Doing so will prevent that lawsuit from being filed. It will prevent a really prolonged legal battle that could get expensive, could be embarrassing. And ultimately, that is what counsel is deciding to do. But because nothing has been filed, we really don't have a better idea of what Chief Jennings'

[00:25:12] claims are and how he feels he was unfairly charged. Right. And it's also important to note that he isn't commenting on this situation. Right. And honestly, I think he would have to prove some sort of actual reputational damage, which I'm not sure he really suffered in any of this. This now, this potential lawsuit, I think, actually does more damage to his reputation than the fight over the vests. I think everybody had moved past that. But I don't know.

[00:25:41] But you mentioned this NAACP complaint. This is the local chapter? Yeah. Is it the local chapter? Corinne Mack. Okay. So Corinne Mack, the local chapter president. And she is then saying, I want to file a complaint against Bokari. And she reaches out to CMPD. And she speaks with, you mentioned Vestola. This is what you deal with her, I'm sure. What's her first name?

[00:26:11] Sandy Vestola. Sandy Vestola. Yes. Top communications aide to the chief. And there's another fellow, Major Brad Koch. Or Koch? Koch? I don't know. Major Brad Koch. Yes. He is essentially the chief's right-hand man, executive officer, deputy assistant. He's a major with CMPD. So, Matt? Yes. So, what happened there is, you know, after the chief reverses his stance, allows all officers the ability to apply to wear for outer carrier vests.

[00:26:41] Corinne Mack starts her own probe about the situation and comments that Bokari made and reaches out to CMPD. And what we have learned is that Sandy Vestola sent an email on her personal account to Brad Koch advising Reverend Mack what she could include in an ethics complaint against Bokari. Major Koch then forwards that email to the NAACP president.

[00:27:10] This was all in August. The ethics complaint was filed in January. In between that time, I'm told Reverend Mack was waiting for records requests to be produced. And she also met with Koch and Vestola at least once to discuss the complaint. But this is the first time we're hearing, A, that there was a complaint, B, that the complaint was dismissed,

[00:27:34] and C, that two of the chief's top aides had a role in advising Reverend Mack on that complaint. Like, literally the language. Like, the language in the official complaint matches some of the language in the email from CMPD, Vestola, and Koch.

[00:27:54] So it seems like some level, whether the officers intended it to be or not, it turned into, like, some sort of cooperation, it looks like. Or, you know, like, hey, this is what you say in the complaint in order to, you know, outline the charges that we think Bokari, that he did, and the damage that was done because of it, and it just, it seems, it seems collusive.

[00:28:22] That's the perception here is that it seems like there was a coordinated effort, and now with the police chief looking to sue, it's, it, this is my word, not yours, not anybody else, but it almost seems kind of like a shakedown. That's what it, that's what it seems like to me, that there are these different parties that are aiding and abetting the, the, the shaking down of the city government to get a half a million dollars for the police chief. That's what it looks like to me.

[00:28:50] So what we, what I'm hearing now is from a lot of people who are questioning and wondering how the city determined that the messages sent by Vestola and Koch were personal business. Because as part of the story yesterday, the city said human resources will not be investigating this.

[00:29:14] These are messages sent on personal devices from personal email addresses, which the city doesn't control. Even though these two top aides are talking about the CMPD chief and, you know, what, you know, kind of working without the chief's knowledge with Mac on this complaint,

[00:29:38] it may seem like it's city business, but the city does not determine or does not believe it is city business. So there won't be a further investigation into that communication or whether it was permissible. Right. Because they're allowed to engage in political activity outside of the workplace and it was on their personal email. So that's, I think, the argument that the city is making. And I get that.

[00:30:05] It's a, I think it's a fair argument, but it also, when you step back and you look at all of the events, like you've just outlined, it, it doesn't look good. It just doesn't look good. It doesn't feel good either. So, um, all right, Joe Bruno from WSOC. Is there anything else you want to add you think is important or interesting to note here that people should know? I will just say that right now, city council members are not publicly talking.

[00:30:30] And I do think that there, this issue is just going to continue to surface and, you know, bubble up because I don't believe that. I don't believe that this is the end of this issue. I think more is going to come out and I think more people are going to speak up in the coming weeks as well. Okay. Well, uh, you can, uh, learn all about it when they do at WSOCTV.com. Joe Bruno from WSOC. Thanks so much, Joe. Good to talk with you, sir. Thanks for your work on this too.

[00:31:00] Absolutely. Thank you, Pete. All right. Take care. That's Joe Bruno from WSOC TV, WSOCTV.com. All right. So spring is here, a time of renewal and celebrations. You got graduations, weddings, anniversaries, and the special days for mom and dad. Your family's making memories that are going to last a lifetime. But let me ask you, are all of those treasured moments from days gone by, are they hidden away on old VCR tapes, eight millimeter films, photos, slides? Are they preserved?

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[00:31:58] Creative Video, preserving family memories since 1997. Located in Mint Hill, just off 485. Mail orders are accepted too. Get all the details at createavideo.com. On the other side of the news, I'm going to talk about this email that was sent by Sandy Vestola to CMPD Major Brad Koch. Koch is the assistant to the chief.

[00:32:24] And you heard Joe describe him as Chief Jennings' right-hand man. Sandy Vestola is the Public Affairs Division Bureau commander. And this August 27th email from Vestola to Major Koch telling her, or sorry, her telling him what to put in the email back to the NAACP.

[00:32:51] Because the NAACP had reached out to Koch to ask, what can I put in this complaint, basically? I'm not saying that the offer, because I don't know. It could have been. The president of the local NAACP, Reverend Korean Mac, she very well may have said, tell me exactly what to say. What do I need to put in the complaint? I don't know that, but I will assume that that did not happen.

[00:33:18] She was simply reaching out, and maybe she knows Major Koch. Maybe they're friends. Maybe they have a working relationship together, do stuff together. I don't know. But for some reason, she reached out to the chief's right-hand man to ask what to put into a complaint. She was wanting to file a complaint against Bocari.

[00:33:42] And I feel like it's important to point out Bocari, one of the only Republicans on the council, and everybody else Democrats. And so she wants to file this ethics complaint against Bocari, but she wants to do a summary of what he did that is a violation. And so rather than, I guess, reaching out to Jennings directly, or maybe she tried and he said, talk to Koch. I don't know.

[00:34:08] We need to find out, though, because this, this, this looks bad, particularly now that you're going to put a $500,000 price tag on whatever this is. All right, that'll do it for this episode. Thank you so much for listening. I could not do the show without your support and the support of the businesses that advertise on the podcast. So if you'd like, please support them, too, and tell them you heard it here.

[00:34:33] You can also become a patron at my Patreon page or go to thepetecalendershow.com. Again, thank you so much for listening, and don't break anything while I'm gone. Thank you.