Keep Quiet(44)

“No, to be precise, I haven’t been nominated yet. It’s the president who does the nominating.” Pam’s voice turned professorial. “There’s a questionnaire I have to answer and hand in next week, so if that goes smoothly, then it becomes public and starts officially.”

Jake tried not to panic. It was too short a time for Ryan to have any emotional distance from the hit-and-run.

“The way it works is first, I get nominated by the president, then I have to submit the answers to the questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee within five days from the date of the nomination.”

“Five days? Wow.”

“They make my answers public for three weeks and the hearing is scheduled anytime after that.”

“So this is all happening this month?” Jake masked his dread.

“They emailed me all the questionnaires and information, and I printed it out. I ran out of paper, you believe that?” Pam gestured happily to the stacks on her desk. “I have to answer all of it this week. I can’t believe how extensive it is.” Pam flipped through a thick packet of papers, bolted at the top with a heavy metal clip. “This is only one of the questionnaires. It’s sixty pages long!”

“Let me see.” Jake held out his hand, and Pam gave him the packet, which he began to flip through. He passed headings for Education, Employment, Bar and Court Admissions, Public Statements, and Published Writings. He didn’t see the part about the FBI. “It’s a lot of work here.”

“I know, right? And you see where it says I have to give the names of the counsel in these cases? They contact them, all of them. They interview them.”

“Who does? The FBI?”

“No, the FBI investigates me and you, personally. The Department of Justice, the ABA, and the Senate Judiciary Committee investigate my career and finances. But they do overlap, not surprisingly. It’s a bureaucracy. There’s multiple questions that basically cover my judicial career, with an emphasis on any personal wrongdoing.”

Jake shuddered. “Wrongdoing? You? How absurd.”

“Obviously, but they have to ask. There’s tons of questions that require disclosure of any violations of the law since I was eighteen years old. It even asks whether I’ve been accused of violating any county or even municipal regulations or ordinances.” Pam snorted. “The only criminal questions that aren’t covered are traffic violations for which a fine of fifty dollars or less was imposed.”

Jake managed a smile. “You don’t even have that.”

“I know. I’m such a good girl. They ask about tax liens, collection procedures, or any kind of civil-law violations or state-bar proceedings. It’s all public, except our financial records. The financial stuff will take forever.” Pam rolled her eyes. “Will you do that part for me?”

“Of course. Is that for the FBI, too?”

“No. Those questions come from the Justice Department and the office of the Attorney General. They want to make sure there’s no financial conflicts of interests, and they want our tax returns, for God-knows-how-many years.”

“That’s okay, I can deal.” Jake wasn’t getting anywhere beating around the bush. “Tell me about the FBI. How does that work?”

“They assign a special agent, or sometimes two, to investigate us. I was on the phone with Michael Rizzo just now, and he told me that over a three-week period, he had twenty-four hours of face-to-face interviews with the FBI.”

“Really?” Jake’s mouth went dry. “That’s a lot longer than I thought.”

“You and me both.” Pam cringed. “Worst job interview ever.”

“How long did they question his family for, did he say?”

“He said they spent an entire day with his wife, because she had a lot of financial ups and downs they had to sort out. But we don’t have that. Anymore.”

Jake knew what she was referring to. “How about his kids?”

“They don’t have any. And they asked him for phone records, old passports, case files, and even some old school records.”

“Do you think they’ll ask for Ryan’s school records?”

“I don’t know.”

“Will they interview Ryan alone or with us?”

“I don’t know that either. He has nothing to worry about, but I bet they’ll spend a lot of time with you and ask questions about your finances. But we don’t have anything to worry about though. We do everything by the book.”

“How about Ryan? What could they possibly ask him?”

“I have no idea. We’re as clean as a whistle, really.” Pam shrugged. “And they really do talk to the neighbors. Rizzo told me that the FBI contacted twenty of his friends and classmates all over the country, even the world. He said they really do go up and knock on the neighbors’ doors. They asked his neighbors if he and his wife got along well with everyone, fought excessively, drank excessively, or were ever seen doing anything suspicious or unusual. Can you imagine that?”

“Sheesh.” Jake had a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, praying that no one had seen him burn the parka the other day.

Pam plucked some papers off the desk and handed them over. “Here, can you take a look at this? It’s the financial part. Go to page fifty-nine.”