Attorneys for the SLOC "are blocking the release of a
list detailing what bid suitors believed it would take to
win or maintain the support of specific" IOC members,
according to Heilprin & Fantin of the SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, who
wrote: "The so-called 'geld' document -- named for the
German word for money that appears several times -- was
given to the FBI and Justice Department officials, but
apparently not made available to members of SLOC's own
ethics panel last year." The document could contain a
"veritable blueprint of votes for sale and the cost of each"
(SALT LAKE TRIBUNE, 5/10). The AP's Paul Foy writes that
the SLOC's attorneys argued that releasing the file "could
prejudice the investigation by giving unwary targets of the
probe a heads-up, and might undermine SLOC's uncertain
status in the investigation" (AP, 5/11).
SCANDAL SHEET: Foy also writes that DC-based attorney
William Taylor, who is representing former Salt Lake City
bid exec Tom Welch, said that Welch "will not accept any
plea bargain" in the criminal investigation of the Olympic
bribery scandal. Taylor "dismissed" published reports that
Welch "may be angling for a plea deal to head off federal
charges" as "categorically untrue" (AP, 5/10). Sophie
Gosper, the 11-year-old daughter of IOC VP Kevan Gosper,
became the first Australian during the 2000 Sydney Games
relay to carry the Olympic torch. The Gosper family also
received a ski vacation from the SLOC in '93. USA TODAY's
Christine Brennan: "These IOC ninnies just don't get it, do
they? You would think that after the embarrassing gift-
giving nonsense, after the heads rolled and after the so-
called reforms kicked in, Gosper might have said something
like this to Greek officials: 'My daughter will not
participate.'" More Brennan, on whether there has been
change within the IOC: "In most places, the IOC scandal is
viewed as an American media creation. If that's true, so be
it. In fact, I'd like to introduce the rest of the world to
another American media creation: the current-day Olympics.
Without U.S. TV dollars and sponsoring companies, the
Olympic Games would be a shell of what they are. What's
more, no one should apologize for holding the Olympic pooh-
bahs to the highest ethical standards" (USA TODAY, 5/11).
NOTES: The Mormon Tabernacle Choir "is being
considered" by the SLOC to perform during the Opening
Ceremonies of the 2002 Games. NBC said that "it wants the
church's choir to perform" (USA TODAY, 5/11)....A bill that
guarantees the USOC against losses if Tampa hosts the 2012
Olympics has passed the FL Legislature and "awaits" Gov. Jeb
Bush's signature. Florida 2012, the private organization
trying to bring the Games to Tampa, "would have to pay the
first" $25M in losses (ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, 5/10).
