The Bloomberg administration said yesterday that it had engaged Gary Naftalis, one of the nation’s top trial lawyers, as outside counsel regarding District Attorney Robert Morgenthau’s ongoing criminal probe of the Deutsche Bank fire.
The announcement came two days after The New York Times reported that FDNY brass had directed several firefighters who were present at the Aug. 18 blaze to meet with city lawyers before sitting down with Morgenthau’s investigators.
Why City Hall would want to get between Morgenthau and witnesses to a potential crime is a mystery.
But it suggests that it will be some time before Bloomberg moves to restore rank-and-file faith in the FDNY leadership – all but shattered in the wake of the blaze, which killed two firefighters.
The hiring of Naftalis “was prompted by the subpoenas that have been issued by the district attorney for voluminous documents,” said an administration press release.
It cited “the need for the city to have sufficiently knowledgeable attorneys in order to . . . fully cooperate with the district attorney’s investigation and the serious issues that have been raised about actions leading up to the fire.”
“Fully cooperate,” of course, is a phrase open to interpretation – and lawyers like Naftalis live to parse such terms.
In any event, the DA’s probe will proceed with patented Morgenthau thoroughness – Naftalis notwithstanding.
That’s not to belittle the attorney: He counts among his clients a senior official at Tyco in a securities suit; the former CEO of Arthur Andersen in the Enron civil litigation and even a prominent Saudi Arabian banker linked to the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International.
All defendants, it’s worth noting.
Just as it’s worth underscoring Saturday’s New York Times report regarding Morgenthau’s interviews with the Deutsche Bank firefighters.
City officials say they merely tried to offer to provide or pay for the firefighters’ legal representation. Corporation Counsel Michael Cardozo stressed that Bloomberg’s staff was primarily interested in getting the truth and seeing that anyone responsible is held to account.
But the Times hinted that City Hall may have been trying to shape the firefighters’ story – and Morgenthau’s gumshoes can be forgiven should they suspect a faint hint of obstruction.
Meanwhile, what of the FDNY itself?
Recall that the department never developed an advance plan for fighting a blaze in the building – a grave departure from protocols.
And that was so even though – as The Post disclosed – a battalion chief had called for weekly inspections of the site as part of the development of a pre-fire plan.
In the event, firefighters entered the building oblivious to the fact that its standpipe system had been dismantled and its stairwells blocked.
The deaths followed.
Bloomberg & Co. canned three lower-level FDNY officials – but so far Fire Commissioner Nicholas Scoppetta has gotten a pass.
That’s accountability?
Bob Morgenthau’s criminal probe will proceed at its own pace.
New York’s Bravest answer on average 200 calls a day – any one of which could devolve into disaster. They really can’t wait that long to have confidence in their leadership restored.
It is, in fact, a matter of life and death.