Chapter 361: The power of a scoundrel who throws a tantrum

'Hello, Mr. Brook, I am Mr. Zhou Ming's lawyer. My name is Alan. Although I don't know what unfriendly things happened between you and Mr. Zhou Ming, and I don't know how serious the case you want to inquire about is, I think no matter how serious the situation is, the power granted to the people on this land by the US Constitution is always the same.'

Alan came in and first expressed his position in the face of the surprised people in the room looking at him. Old Brook over there also came back to his senses at this time: 'Of course you have the right to be here as the Chinese man's lawyer, but can you explain to me what this thing in your hand is?'

Zhou Ming answered on Alan's behalf: 'Congressman Brook, you haven't seen it before? That's a civilian camera.'

'Of course I've seen it before, I'm not an idiot, you don't need to teach me about this, I'm asking you what you're doing with this thing in here? I don't remember giving anyone permission to record!'

Old Brook yelled at Zhou Ming, he was really angry. As a member of the state parliament, his job was to legislate and conduct judicial and administrative supervision. Usually, he educated others, but today he had been educated twice in a row, and Zhou Ming's words in particular made Old Brook so angry that his lungs were about to burst: Could it be that I, a self-respecting senator of the state parliament, have never seen a civilian camera before?

However, Zhou Ming did not care how angry Lao Brook was, or perhaps his intention was to make him angry. Zhou Ming said to him, 'I'm sorry, Mr. Brook, but this is not a matter of whether you have authorised it or not, but whether I assert my rights.'

After Zhou Ming, Alan also said, 'Mr. Brooke, with all due respect, this is not an official FBI investigation, but an unofficial investigation initiated by a parliamentary committee. According to Massachusetts law, the committee has the power to summon hearings, but does not have the power to forcefully stop the recording of hearings. If Mr. Brooke does not want the hearing to be recorded, then I suggest that Mr. Brooke first submit a compulsory application to the parliament.'

After listening to Alan's words, Zhou Ming's heart laughed. He thought that the future White House legal adviser was indeed amazing, and he was able to cooperate with him to say such insolent things, but also reasonable and well-founded words that left his opponent with no way out.

Zhou Ming was happy, but Brook was about to spit blood with anger. As a senior senator, he of course knew that the committee was not a judicial body and therefore did not have any power other than a compulsory hearing. But normally no one would think of bringing a camera to record the entire hearing, would they? Of course Brook understood that he could apply first, but he didn't want to wait a moment longer, he wanted to convict Zhou Ming immediately!

After pointing his finger at Ming Zhou and Alan for a long time, Brook let out a sentence through his teeth: 'You are defying the committee and the parliament! I will file a complaint with the bar association to revoke your lawyer's license!'

Alan didn't care about the threat from Mr. Brook: 'This is your right, but I have not violated any lawyer's code of conduct, so I don't think your complaint will be successful.'

Zhou Ming also chimed in at this time: 'Mr. Brook, we don't care what you want to do, but I just want to ask if today's hearing will continue? If you need to go back and apply for a mandatory hearing to disallow the record, I'll leave first. I've already ordered food over there, and it's hundreds of thousands of dollars. It would be a waste not to eat it. This is a sin against God-given food.'

Zhou Ming's twisted logic was too much for Lao Brook to bear, and he finally yelled in exasperation, 'Continue! This hearing must continue!'

After getting Lao Brook's reply, Zhou Ming nodded contentedly, and then said to Alan, 'Attorney Alan, please set up the camera and choose a better angle.'

Zhou Ming looked at Mueller again and said, 'Deputy Director Mueller, please help my lawyer find a good angle. After all, you are more professional in this area. I know you may be reluctant, but this is to ensure the fairness, impartiality and openness of this hearing, and to get started as soon as possible. Mr. Brooke, I don't think we want to waste any more time here, do we?'

You're the one who's causing the most delay!

Müller and Brock senior shouted in their hearts at the same time. You could have just answered the questions at the hearing, but you had to bring in a camera, which is just asking for trouble.

Mueller now really regretted taking this case. If only he had just thrown it to any of the other agents, why did he have to try to make up for it in front of Brooks? Even if he had arrested the Chinese himself, and now released him, he could not possibly come looking for trouble with him. After all, he had followed the rules and had not exceeded his authority or otherwise violated any regulations.

As a result, now that he had arrested the Chinese and brought him in, he had simply brought himself a god back. He could not hit him or scold him, and now, well, he even had to help him set up the camera.

I'm the deputy director of the Massachusetts branch of the FBI, not your domestic helper!

A million thoughts raced through Mueller's mind, but no matter how much he resented and cursed in his heart, in the end he reluctantly helped Allen set up the camera. After all, he still wanted to end this nightmare of a hearing as soon as possible.

After watching the camera being set up, Zhou Ming first greeted the camera and tried out the lens. After getting a positive response from Allen, he asked Old Brook, 'Okay, Mr. Brook, can we start now?'

This made Old Brook want to jump up and down and curse. What do you mean, now can we start? It's not you who's been dithering! Why are you blaming it on us now?

Old Brook really wanted to shout, 'I've never seen such a brazen person!' But after a moment's thought, he gave up. After all, there was still some business to attend to.

So, after taking a deep breath and calming down his emotions to the point where he wanted to shoot Zhou Ming, he said, 'Hello, Mr. Zhou Ming, I am Senator Brooke. This time, I am investigating the stock price case of Deep Blue Airlines on behalf of the Securities Supervision Commission. As you know, the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines has been very unstable for some time, and we have reason to suspect that it has been manipulated.'

With the opening of Old Brook, the atmosphere in the room suddenly became a bit strange, because everyone was a person who understood, including Deputy Director Mueller, who personally handled the case. Everyone knew what was going on, but they just pretended not to understand.

In the end, Old Brook himself felt that it was very awkward to talk about it, so he quickly ended the opening remarks and directly asked Zhou Ming the question: 'So please answer directly, Mr. Zhou Ming, how did you manipulate the stock price of Deep Blue Airlines?'

Everyone in the courtroom was shocked by this question. No one expected that this was the first question that Brooke would ask. This was like putting Zhou Ming directly in the position of the criminal. Although the FBI often played clever tricks during interrogations, deliberately setting up verbal traps for the criminal to lure them into answering, especially in economic crimes, no one would be as direct as Brooke.

Alan immediately stood up and said, 'I object. Mr. Brooke, you are in effect directly convicting my client. I believe that my client has the right to refuse to answer this question!'

'Objection overruled. Mr Zhou Ming must answer,' said Brook nonchalantly. "Because according to the information the committee has, Mr Zhou Ming has the most direct relationship with the stock price movements of Deep Blue Airlines.'

While speaking, Brook picked up the materials at hand and recited from the textbook: "On Thursday, April 1st, you and Deep Blue Airlines Chairman Mark held a press conference and publicly announced an investment of 30 million, right? This is the newspaper from April 1st, you can't deny it, and besides, the committee has reason to believe that you and Mark have engaged in more insider trading in addition to the 30 million.'

After Lao Brook finished, he showed Allen the newspaper in his hand. Allen immediately retorted, 'This is groundless malicious speculation. The 30 million investment was a decision made by my client after reaching an agreement with Deep Blue Airlines. It is a legitimate business operation and completely legal!'

'I didn't say the investment was illegal, I just said that apart from this, Mr. Zhou Ming has engaged in a lot of insider trading.'

Old Brooker then asked, 'Mr. Zhou Ming, I know that you were introduced to Deep Blue Airlines by Rogers, the key account manager at Brighton Bank Securities. Then how do you explain that after you successfully invested in Deep Blue Airlines, many of Rogers' clients followed suit? Is there some kind of unethical backroom deal between you and Manager Rogers? Please answer directly, Mr. Zhou Ming.'

Alan objected again this time: 'Mr Brook, I think there is something wrong with the way you are asking your questions. If you suspect that Rogers has passed information to his clients, then you should subpoena Rogers, not my client.'

With a loud crack, old Brook slammed his hand down on the table. Just as he was about to say something, he saw the camera filming next to him, and in the end, he could not help but suppress his anger and say, 'Attorney Allen, I hope you understand that this is just a matter of investigation order. As the person in charge of this case, I have the right to decide the order of investigation, and I just feel that your client, Mr. Zhou Ming, should be the first to be investigated.'

Alan was about to say something else when Brook interrupted: 'Alan, I hope you understand that this is a hearing of the Securities and Exchange Commission, not a debate. If Mr. Zhou Ming repeatedly refuses to answer all questions, the Commission has the right to take further coercive measures!'

'This is coercion and a threat, and violates the regulations on freedom of investigation at hearings!' Alan said.

Brook was not at all moved: 'As you said, you can complain about me to the parliament afterwards, but for now, this Chinese man must truthfully answer all the questions I ask!'

Old Brook pointed his finger at Zhou Ming, which made Allen feel very anxious and annoyed, because this was completely unscrupulous behaviour. How could he, as a commissioner-appointed investigator, act according to his own personal emotions? It was obvious that he was targeting Zhou Ming, trying every means possible to incriminate him, and he even went so far as to resort to such a despicable method. But then again, Allen really had no way to deal with him.

No, no matter what the situation, there is always a solution to everything, and I can definitely help my client find a way out!

Just as Alan was scratching his head for a solution, Zhou Ming spoke up, 'In that case, Mr. Brook, I will answer you.'