Huffman's Friend David Mamet: Apply the 'Texas Verdict'

Writes that he sees no difference between 'bribing the building committee' or someone else
By Kate Seamons,  Newser Staff
Posted Mar 13, 2019 9:01 AM CDT
David Mamet Comes to Felicity Huffman's Defense
In this still image taken from video, actress Felicity Huffman walks towards the door in the lobby of a Los Angeles court after she is released on a $250,000 bond, Tuesday, March 12, 2019.   (AP Photo/Rick Taber)

David Mamet and Felicity Huffman go way back. The playwright/director had her as a student decades ago, but their 35-year history is outpaced by that of Mamet and Huffman's husband, William H. Macy. The men have been friends nearly 50 years, and "I'm crazy about them both," Mamet wrote Tuesday in an open letter in the wake of Huffman's arrest as part of the DOJ's college admissions bribery scandal. Deadline has his full letter, which opens with this: "I worked for very many years in and around our Elite Universities. I am able to report that their admissions policies are an unfortunate and corrupt joke." Mamet writes that unqualified students can get into top schools through myriad routes: being a legacy or having a large donation made can grease the wheels, for instance.

"I do not see the difference between getting a kid into school by bribing the Building Committee, and by bribing someone else. But, apparently, the second is against the Law," he writes, noting it's "unfortunate" but a "universal phenomenon" for a parent to make a poor choice out of her "zeal for her children's future." He closes with how he thinks Huffman's case should be handled: Apply the "Texas Verdict": "Not Guilty, but Don’t do it Again." As for whether something worse could befall Huffman and fellow indicted celeb Lori Loughlin if convicted, Today and People talk to legal experts who say prison time is a possibility, but likely a remote one. NBC legal analyst Ari Melber puts it like so: "You could imagine if they cooperate this not being the kind of thing where the feds want to jail a bunch of parents." (A January interview Macy gave is now somewhat awkward.)

Get the news faster.
Tap to install our app.
X
Install the Newser News app
in two easy steps:
1. Tap in your navigation bar.
2. Tap to Add to Home Screen.

X