Weld’s actions were above reproach. Many saw him as one of few political appointees who were willing to put the public’s interest above narrow political considerations. When Weld and Deputy Attorney General Arnold Burns, the Justice Department’s number-two official, resigned with their top aides, the department was plunged into perhaps the worst crisis it had seen since the Nixon administration, when Attorney General Eliot Richardson and his number two, William Ruckelshaus, resigned rather than fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox.
Meese himself resigned a little more than a month after Weld. The special prosecutor looking into Meese’s conduct brought no charges. But memories don’t die easily in Washington. Meese has gone on to become a behind-the-scenes mover and shaker in right-wing Republican circles and is assumed to have quiet but considerable influence in the Bush White House and Justice Department. There has been absolutely no suggestion that either Meese or anyone associated with him has tried to influence the Justice Department’s investigation of Weld’s role in the Kentucky trade-college scandal. But that doesn’t mean Meese’s allies wouldn’t take a degree of joy in any political or legal problems that might pop up for Weld as a result of the current investigations.
If the theoretical were ever to become more concrete, and Weld were to find himself closer to more serious investigation or even the subject of contemplated prosecution, as a former governor his situation would be routinely reviewed by the very highest levels of Bush’s Justice Department. It may be under such review at the moment, but Justice doesn’t comment on ongoing investigations.
A host of charges
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While the charges swirling around Decker College are many and varied, the essence of the story is this: according to its critics, Decker was a diploma-mill that used aggressive, fraudulent marketing to lure in students, and aggressive, fraudulent tactics to get the government to pay for their studies through Title IV loans, Pell Grants, and other aid.
In 2002, when Weld’s investment firm, Leeds Weld Equity Partners, invested in Gerard and Jeffrey Woodcox’s purchase of Decker College, it was a single campus primarily teaching office skills to working-class women. It received less than a million dollars a year in federal aid.
By 2005, Decker was operating in four states, teaching carpentry, electrical, and other construction skills, and its revenue from the federal government had increased at least tenfold.
Weld officially became Decker’s CEO only in January 2005, but served on its board since 2002. According to reports, he also had been the acting CEO as early as 2003.
On September 30, 2005, the Department of Education (DoE) cut Decker off, alleging “a severe breach” of financial conduct. Within a month, Decker shut the doors and declared bankruptcy.
Decker’s sudden death unleashed a torrent of lawsuits, from both students and states, alleging that the school deliberately duped its students. For example, Decker apparently claimed that it was approved by the Veterans Administration for use of GI benefits, which was untrue. Similar charges of fraud and consumer-protection violations have been made.
