The Tipping Point Revisited: Georgetown Massacre Part 2

Summary

Revisionist History: The Tipping Point Revisited – Georgetown Massacre Part 2

Podcast Information:

• Title: Revisionist History
• Host/Author: Pushkin Industries (Malcolm Gladwell)
• Episode: The Tipping Point Revisited: Georgetown Massacre Part 2
• Release Date: October 10, 2024
• Description: Revisionist History delves into Malcolm Gladwell's exploration of overlooked and misunderstood events. Each episode re-examines a past event, person, idea, or phenomenon, challenging the initial perceptions and offering a fresh perspective.

---

Introduction

In "The Tipping Point Revisited: Georgetown Massacre Part 2," Malcolm Gladwell continues his deep dive into the high-stakes trial of U.S. v. Khoury. This episode builds upon the dramatic events of the initial days of the trial, focusing on pivotal moments that ultimately led to a surprising verdict. Gladwell unpacks the intricate strategies employed by the defense team, the emotional testimonies, and the underlying institutional corruptions that shaped the case's outcome.

Background of the Case

U.S. v. Khoury centers around Eamonn Khoury, who was accused of illegally providing $180,000 in cash to secure his daughter, Catherine Khoury's admission to Georgetown University. The prosecution aimed to portray Catherine as an underperforming student and athlete who was admitted primarily due to her father's financial contributions, thereby highlighting systemic corruption within Georgetown's admissions process.

Day Five and the Unexpected Witness

The trial's fifth day marked a significant turning point. After days of the defense struggling to counter the prosecution's narrative, attorneys Roy Black and Howard Srebnick made a strategic move that would redefine the case.

[00:06] Malcolm Gladwell: "On the fifth day in the trial of U.S. v. Khoury...they wanted to call a witness, a surprise witness...she was here in the bathroom."

Key Event:

• The defense team requested a sidebar to introduce a surprise witness, Catherine Khoury, who was unexpectedly present in the courtroom.
• The sudden appearance of Catherine caught the prosecution off guard, disrupting their prepared strategy.

Catherine Khoury’s Testimony and Text Messages

Catherine Khoury's testimony was the linchpin of the defense's case. Through her emotional recounting and the introduction of her resentful text messages to her father, Catherine humanized Eamonn Khoury, shifting the jury's perception.

Notable Quotes:

[12:11] Malcolm Gladwell: "Why is that? Explain to me why you think that testimony would have been so powerful for the jury."

[12:17] Roy Black: "Number one, in terms of poise and speaking, she had such authenticity about her...except in her credibility, her authenticity sink in."

Key Points:

• Catherine detailed her strained relationship with her father, revealing personal grievances and emotional turmoil stemming from his actions.
• Text messages displayed her anger and disillusionment, portraying Eamonn Khoury as a neglectful and selfish parent.
• Her emotional testimony elicited a strong empathetic response from the jury, undermining the prosecution's portrayal of her as merely a pawn in her father's schemes.

The Prosecution’s Theory vs. Defense’s Strategy

The prosecution had constructed a narrative suggesting a conspiracy involving Eamonn Khoury, Georgetown University, and other stakeholders to facilitate an unfair advantage for Catherine's admission through financial incentives and manipulated athletic performance.

Prosecution’s Theory:

• Catherine was a mediocre tennis player, admitted primarily due to her father's financial contributions.
• Allegations of a faked shoulder injury to mask her lack of athletic prowess, protecting the facade of merit-based admissions.

[15:01] Jackie Percheck: "So when the daughter gets to the school as a tennis admission, she then doesn't play tennis."

Defense’s Counterstrategy:

• Introduced Catherine’s genuine distress and estrangement from her father to highlight Eamonn Khoury's personal failings.
• Used Catherine’s text messages to showcase the emotional cost of her father's actions, suggesting a more complex and less malicious motive behind the financial support.

Impact on the Jury and Verdict

The emotional resonance of Catherine's testimony, combined with the introduction of her text messages, created significant doubt about the prosecution’s claims. The jury, moved by the personal struggles and authentic emotions presented, found it challenging to reconcile the narrative of a calculated conspiracy with the human elements unveiled by the defense.

Notable Moments:

• Roy Black’s Closing Argument:

  [30:52] Roy Black: "That's what Katie Corey was saying in the summer of 2015, not making up some story about her shoulder injury."

• Juror’s Reaction:

  [30:26] Unnamed Juror: "Take care of your daughter."

Despite the prosecution's efforts, the jury acquitted Eamonn Khoury on all counts, indicating their inability to substantiate the conspiracy claims beyond a reasonable doubt.

The Mysterious Salesforce Capacity Report

A pivotal yet concealed element of the case was Georgetown's internal use of a Salesforce Capacity Report, a sophisticated database used to evaluate and target potential donors based on their capacity to contribute financially.

Key Insights:

• Salesforce Capacity Report: Georgetown employed this tool to analyze parents' net worth and prioritize fundraising efforts, identifying families like the Khourys as high-value targets (estimated $1 to $5 million).
• Defense's Revelation: Despite attempts by Georgetown to downplay or conceal the existence of this report during the trial, Roy Black unveiled its significance post-verdict, highlighting institutional prioritization of wealthy donors over genuine merit-based admissions.

[34:30] Roy Black: "They kept the database of what people are worth...they would keep track of contact with the family and what they're gonna ask for."

Implications:

• Georgetown's reluctance to disclose the Salesforce report suggested an underlying prioritization of financial contributions in their admissions strategy, aligning with the defense’s portrayal of systemic corruption.
• Post-trial, Georgetown's attempts to suppress discussions about the Salesforce report underscored the sensitivity and potential reputational damage associated with such admissions practices.

Aftermath and Georgetown's Reaction

Following the not guilty verdict, Roy Black publicly addressed the Salesforce Capacity Report, leading to a contentious exchange with Georgetown's legal team.

Key Events:

• Public Disclosure: Roy Black's comments to the media about the Capacity Report violated Georgetown's confidentiality expectations, prompting a defensive response from the institution.
• Georgetown’s Retaliation: The university's legal team confronted Roy Black, enforcing the confidentiality order and labeling his remarks as overstepping boundaries.

[37:44] Roy Black: "Because they would never admit it."

[37:46] Jackie Percheck: "So at the trial, nobody's owning the document."

This confrontation highlighted the broader issues of transparency and ethical practices within elite institutions, reinforcing the defense’s narrative of institutional corruption.

Conclusion and Insights

"The Tipping Point Revisited: Georgetown Massacre Part 2" serves as a profound exploration of how personal narratives and emotional authenticity can override meticulously constructed legal theories. Malcolm Gladwell underscores the complexity of ambition, institutional ethics, and familial relationships, illustrating how the intersection of these elements can redefine justice and perception.

Final Reflections:

• Human Element in Legal Battles: The defense’s focus on personal stories and emotional truths can be a powerful tool in swaying impartial juries.
• Institutional Transparency: Georgetown’s reliance on financial algorithms and suppression of internal documents raises critical questions about the true meritocracy of elite educational institutions.
• Psychological Impact on Jurors: Emotional testimonies, particularly those involving familial relationships, can significantly influence jurors' decisions, sometimes overshadowing factual evidence.

Malcolm Gladwell wraps up the episode by hinting at another intriguing federal case he explores in his work, continuing his tradition of uncovering the nuanced layers beneath headline-grabbing events.

---

Notable Quotes with Timestamps:

• Malcolm Gladwell [00:06]: "Pushkin. On the fifth day in the trial of U.S. v. Khoury..."
• Roy Black [12:17]: "Number one, in terms of poise and speaking, she had such authenticity about her."
• Jackie Percheck [15:01]: "So when the daughter gets to the school as a tennis admission, she then doesn't play tennis."
• Roy Black [30:52]: "That's what Katie Corey was saying in the summer of 2015..."
• Roy Black [37:44]: "Because they would never admit it."

---

Production Credits:

• Produced by: Nina Byrd Lawrence, Ben Daddaf Hafrey, and Lucy Sullivan
• Editor: Karen Shakerji
• Fact Checking: Sam Russek
• Original Scoring: Luis Guerra
• Mastering: Echo Mountain
• Engineering: Sarah Bruguer and Nina Byrd Lawrence
• Production Support: Luc Lamond
• Voice Acting: Dax Shepard and Britt Marling
• Executive Producer: Jacob Smith
• Special Thanks: Sarah Nix

Malcolm Gladwell concludes the episode with gratitude towards his team, highlighting the collaborative effort that brings such intricate stories to life.

---

Final Thoughts: This episode of Revisionist History not only revisits a high-profile court case but also challenges listeners to reconsider the narratives we accept at face value. By dissecting the strategies, emotions, and institutional behaviors at play, Gladwell invites a deeper understanding of justice, ambition, and the human psyche.

Transcript

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Pushkin. On the fifth day in the trial of U.S. v. Khoury, right after the defense left the fundraiser for the Georgetown University athletic Department in small pieces on the floor of the courtroom, the attorneys for AIM and Khoury asked the judge for a sidebar. They wanted to call a witness, a surprise witness, who the defense team had somehow persuaded to make an appearance. She's in the bathroom, howard Srebnick told the judge. I just wanted to let you know. They just whispered to me that she's coming. I didn't want you to. His voice trailed off. The prosecutors in the case from the U.S. attorney's office were there in the sidebar, too, standing right beside Srebnik, and it is safe to say this sudden revelation came as a shock to them. They weren't expecting this particular witness to show up. They were counting on her not showing up. And now she was here in the bathroom. Fuck, then, Howard says, and we're going to propose to introduce text messages that she wrote back in May of 2015. Text mess my name is Malcolm Gladwell. You're listening to Revisionist History, my podcast about things overlooked and misunderstood. This is part two of the story of my favorite court case of all time, US V. Koori. In part one, which you should listen to first, if you have not already, we talked about how Roy Black and Howard Srebnick were presented with an impossible case. A client who openly admitted to giving $180,000 in cash in a brown paper bag to the Georgetown University tennis coach in order to get his daughter admitted to the school. Days 1, 2, 3 and 4 of the trial had been a disaster for the defense. Eamonn Currie seemed destined for prison. But by the end of the Georgetown massacre on day five, Howard and Roy had managed to introduce an element of doubt into the minds of the jury. What exactly is or isn't a bribe? And are the dubious actions of a wealthy man worse than the dubious actions of a wealthy university? This episode is about what happened in the afternoon on day five, the aftermath of the Georgetown massacre, the mystery witness and her text messages. What were the so talk about the during the trial, what you feel were the most significant turning points.

[Roy Black]

Most trials don't have one thing like that, but things just develop, you know, the more. The more you worked on it, the more we got into the case, the more facts we learned, the more details, the better it looked.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I talked with Roy Black when we met at his offices in downtown Miami. Roy is a trial lawyer. He and his partner Howard, are maybe the greatest defense team of their generation. They construct elaborate narratives out of mountains of complicated facts. They are not mystery novelists who tell stories with a clever twist on the last page. Things just develop. But then Roy Black thought about it a little bit, and he said, well, actually, I take it back. There was a knockout bunch. It was the mystery witness.

[Roy Black]

I mean, to me, that was like an extraordinary event at the trial.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

From the very beginning, Roy and Howard had a problem. They could show that Georgetown was a corrupt institution where the lines between admissions and fundraising had been all but obliterated. That was the point of the Georgetown massacre. But that didn't resolve their problem.

[Roy Black]

If we say, okay, the whole system's corrupt and our client took advantage of the corrupt system by paying money, what are we doing? We're admitting that our own clients corrupt.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The Georgetown massacre, in other words, didn't win them the case. It simply leveled the playing field. They needed something more, another layer to their argument. Proof that Georgetown was worse than Eamon Currie. And in the first few difficult days of the trial, when the government was running roughshod over Eamon Currie, Howard and Roy began to drop little breadcrumbs. They were cryptic. Chances are the jury missed them. But if you read through the trial transcripts, all 1200 pages of them, and you pay attention, it's obvious something is afoot. The first inkling came during an offhand moment in Roy's cross examination of a Georgetown admissions officer named Meg Lisey. Once again, we have our wonderful voice actors, Dax Shepard and Britt Marling.

[Howard Srebnick]

Listen, isn't it a fact that at Georgetown you have a software called Salesforce, don't you?

[Catherine Khoury]

Not that I remember.

[Howard Srebnick]

Isn't it a fact that you have an investigation into the net worth of the parents of potential students?

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The prosecution jumps up immediately. Objection. Which, in retrospect, was weird. What was it about the mention of that word, salesforce, that led the government to stand up abruptly and say, stop? No. But the judge won't have it overruled.

[Catherine Khoury]

I don't know about that.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Lycie denies any knowledge. Roy moves on. Then, at the end of the Georgetown massacre with Brenda Smith, he tries again. He leads Brenda through a long series of questions about fundraising. She's evasive in her answers. Then Roy asks out of the blue.

[Howard Srebnick]

Does Georgetown use a program Salesforce?

[Catherine Khoury]

It is my understanding that they do.

[Howard Srebnick]

And what is Salesforce?

[Catherine Khoury]

It's a customer relations management tool.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Roy follows with a few more questions. Then he says, all right, well, let.

[Howard Srebnick]

Me then show you a document marked nu.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Roy is just about to put a document on the screen. A document that he is desperate to show the jury. His finger is literally on the clicker. But just as he does, the prosecutor jumps up again. Objection. The judge agrees. Sustained. Under the rules of a trial, if you have evidence you want to show to the jury, you have to find a witness to authenticate it. Someone who will say it's real. That's what Roy is trying to do with Brenda Smith. Get her to say, yes, I know all about that. But he shut down, your honor. Objection. Sustained. You have what you think is a knockout punch, and you can't show it to the jury. Plan A foiled. So what do you do? You go to plan B. The mystery witness and the text messages. A little bombshell dropped in the middle of the sidebar.

[Howard Srebnick]

Your honor, we call Catherine Khoury.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

If you asked someone to name a genius, virtually everyone would give you the same answer. Albert Einstein, the genius of all geniuses. He's most famous for his general and special theories of relativity. And even children today know his renowned equation E MC squared. And yet, there's one thing that even the great Albert Einstein would have trouble understanding today. Mattresses. Think about it. There are so many styles, so many sizes, so many companies selling them, and so many seemingly good deals this time of year. It's enough to make your brain hurt. Fortunately, there's one simple thing you can do. To understand everything you need to know about choosing a mattress, visit the Saatva blog. It has entries like how to test a mattress, what makes a luxury mattress, best cyber Monday deals, and even the best mattress for sex. Plus loads of other buying guides. Whatever question you have about mattresses, you'll find the answer at the Saatva blog. It is, in a word, genius. Visit the Saatva sleep [e-mail] blog that's s AA Tvaba blog.

[Narrator]

For many of us, the holiday season means more travel, more shopping, more time online, and more of your personal information in more places you can't control. It only takes one innocent mistake, even if it's not your mistake, to expose you to identity theft. Not to worry. LifeLock monitors hundreds of millions of data points every second and alerts you to threats you could miss by yourself. Even if you keep an eye on your bank and credit card statements, if your identity is stolen, your own US based restoration specialist will fix it, guaranteed. The last thing you want to do this holiday season is face drained accounts, fraudulent loans, or other financial losses from identity theft all alone. Gift yourself the peace of mind that comes with LifeLock and spend more time Doing more of the holiday things you love. Visit lifelock.com pushkin and save up to 40% your first year. That's 40% [e-mail] Pushkin LifeLock for the threats you can't control.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

There had never been any indication during the first few days of US V. Khoury that the person at the heart of the case, the person on whose behalf Amen Khoury had paid $180,000 in cash to the coach of the Georgetown tennis team, would show up. The government's lead prosecutor made this clear in his opening statement. He told the jury, we're not here because of the defendant's daughter. You're going to hear about her grades and her test scores, the fact that she wasn't very good at tennis. But to be clear, we're not here because of Catherine. We are here talking about Catherine because of the crimes the defendant committed outside of her formal application process. So during the trial, we're going to ask you to focus on the defendant's actions and his words and those of his co conspirators. In other words, the prosecution wanted to make a case about Catherine Khoury's shortcomings as a tennis player and student without the awkwardness of actually having Catherine speak for herself. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we would prefer if Catherine Curie remains an abstraction. But of course, if you are the legal team of Black and Srebnik and you sense a certain reluctance on the part of your adversaries to confront the person at the heart of the case, what do you do? You convince the person at the heart of the case to make an appearance.

[Roy Black]

I would say the one thing that stands out that really made a huge difference was the daughter testifying, introducing the text messages with her father. I mean, to me, that was like an extraordinary event at the trial, and I thought it was really a great part of the case.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Why is that? Explain to me why you think that testimony would have been so powerful for the jury.

[Roy Black]

A couple of reasons. Number one, in terms of poise and speaking, she had such authenticity about her. I know that authenticity is like a cliche these days, but she came across very well as a witness, number one. Number two, the government, amazingly, after her testimony, never changed their theory of the case.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Ah, yes, the theory of the case. The explanation given for the nature of the crime. The government laid out their plan of attack with their very first witness, Timothy Donovan. Remember him from the boozy dinner at the Capitol Grill? He played on the Brown tennis team way back when with Eamonn Curry and Gordy Ernst. He ran and still runs, by the way, an outfit called Donovan Tennis Strategies, whose goal, according to its website, is to help parents with successfully navigating the college recruiting process. End quote. Donovan helps tennis players avail themselves of the backdoor that elite colleges reserve for tennis players. In the Khoury case, that meant he was the bagman who picked up the money from Eamonn Khoury, got 20k for himself, and delivered the brown paper bag to Gordie Ernst's wife. The government gave immunity to Timothy Donovan and Donovan in return provided them with their theory of the case. Listen to this excerpt from Donovan's testimony on day two of the trial. He's being questioned by one of the prosecutors.

[Catherine Khoury]

Did there come a time when you discussed with the defendant whether Catherine would in fact play on the Georgetown tennis team?

[Howard Srebnick]

Yes.

[Catherine Khoury]

What did you discuss about that?

[Howard Srebnick]

He said that she didn't have any plans to play and that, as a matter of fact, that, you know, her old shoulder injury would kick in and she'd be unable to play for that reason.

[Catherine Khoury]

And based on how the defendant described Catherine's old shoulder injury, what was your understanding as to the nature of that injury?

[Howard Srebnick]

That it was not legitimate, that it was a story that would allow her to not play.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The prosecution painted a picture of a conspiracy. Gordy Ernst, Timothy Donovan and Eamonn Curry conspiring to deceive Georgetown into thinking they were getting a real tennis player. And what's more, Eamon Curry and his daughter Catherine conspiring to fake an injury so she would never have to reveal how unworthy she actually was of playing tennis at Georgetown University.

[Jackie Percheck]

So when the daughter gets to the school as a tennis admission, she then doesn't play tennis.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

This is Jackie Percheck, one of the Black Shrebnik partners who worked on the case.

[Jackie Percheck]

She doesn't go to practice and never practices with the team and never plays tennis. And so the government fed off of that to come up with this theory that she knew all along that this was a paid for admission because otherwise she would have shown up to play tennis.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

This was the theory on which the prosecution based its case. And it came gift wrapped and tied with a bow from Timothy Donovan. Why would they advance a theory about the daughter having never spoken to the daughter?

[Roy Black]

Because they had the fact that she never, as Jackie just said, she never went to play tennis. So they just assumed, See, what I think would happen with the case is that, remember, they have a slam dunk all along. You know, 55 or 56 cases. How many. They didn't think this was going to be a problem at all. They thought the client was going to plead guilty to begin with, and then, then he didn't. Then I guess they got ready for trial. I don't think they took it that serious.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

I don't think they took it that serious. On some unconscious level, I think Howard and Roy were offended by this. It was a slight People from Miami take particular umbrage at the condescension of fancy lawyers from Boston with their highfalutin manner and Ivy League pedigrees. Thus the dramatic sidebar when the stiletto that they had brandished during the Georgetown massacre was inserted a little deeper. We have Catherine Coury, the person you didn't think belonged here. And we have her text messages, which you somehow didn't think were going to be an issue. Then a long pause when the news registers with the prosecution, a sharp intake of breath and a silent scream that echoes across the courtroom. This show is sponsored by BetterHelp. There are lots of phobias out there. Arachnophobia, the fear of spiders, claustrophobia, aquaphobia. You name it, someone probably has a phobia of it. And once a year, Halloween lets us have fun with what scares us. But what about those fears that don't involve zombies and ghosts? Therapy is a great tool for facing your fears and finding ways to overcome them. Because sometimes the scariest thing is not facing our fears in the first place. Therapy is for everyone. It empowers you with the tools you need to deal with whatever life throws at you. If you're thinking of starting therapy, give BetterHelp a try. It's entirely online, designed to be convenient, flexible, and suited to your schedule. Just fill out a brief questionnaire to get matched with a licensed therapist and switch therapists anytime for no additional charge. Visit betterhelp.com gladwell today to get 10% off your first month. That's BetterHelp. H E L p.com gladwell the direct examination of Katy Khoury was conducted by Howard, not by Roy. Which makes sense. Roy is, as I've said, an apex legal predator. You don't let the grizzly bear play with your grandkids. This one was Howard's responsibility. Howard is not just the intellectual half of Black Srebnik. He is the warm and fuzzy half. Howard is the one most likely to dress as Santa at the Black Shrebnik Christmas party. Howard has a daughter of his own, whom I'm quite sure has Howard wrapped around her little finger. Katie Curry was 25 at the time. Tall, long brown hair, generous smile when she's smiling, but she's nervous when she emerges from the bathroom. She clearly does not want to be there. The adults in her life have made a dreadful mess of things.

[Unnamed Juror]

The momentum continued to build when the daughter gets on the witness stand. The government having married itself to a theory that the daughter was a fraud, essentially that her application was a fraud.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Howard starts quietly and calmly. Tell us how old you are. Easy questions to answer. Where do you work? You went to graduate school? Where? Only when she seems comfortable does he get to the heart of the matter. Once again, we've asked our voice actors to read from the transcript.

[Howard Srebnick]

Okay. Catherine, growing up, did you play tennis?

[Catherine Khoury]

I did, yes.

[Howard Srebnick]

Okay, and who taught you how to play tennis?

[Catherine Khoury]

My dad.

[Howard Srebnick]

And how old were you when you learned to play tennis?

[Catherine Khoury]

Oh, I'm gona say I was maybe about 5, 6 years old.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Her voice is soft. At one point, the judge tells her to speak up.

[Howard Srebnick]

Okay, and your dad, when you, when you said you would play tennis with your dad, was it just hitting the balls or was there anything more instructive about the relationship, the tennis relationship with your dad?

[Catherine Khoury]

Well, so, yeah, my, my dad is an amazing tennis player. He did play at Brown. And so I, I guess in a way we had not only a father daughter relationship, but in a lot of ways he was my primary coach. I mean, he would help me with drills, techniques, my serve, which was the weakest part of my game, set up cones around the tennis court and try to, you know, boost my tennis skills. So it was something he enjoyed and also something he encouraged me to work hard on.

[Howard Srebnick]

How passionate was he about playing tennis with you?

[Catherine Khoury]

I think it was one of our favorite things we did together.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Howard pauses and has one of his paralegals put up a photo on the screen. It's Catherine and her father side by side at the tennis court at their country club.

[Howard Srebnick]

Okay. Of all the people on the planet Earth, who is the person with whom you played most hours of tennis in your lifetime?

[Catherine Khoury]

My dad.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

They talked about high school. She went to a very small private school in Massachusetts. Eight players on the tennis team. She was number six, mostly played doubles. Her grades were good, not great. Then they get to the subject of college. Where did she want to go? Boston College or Northeastern? Did she think she would play tennis at those schools? No. What about Georgetown? Well, she'd never thought about Georgetown until she ran into Gordie Ernst at a July 4th party.

[Catherine Khoury]

I mean, he basically said, you know, I'm Gordy Ernst. A friend of your dad's, and I'm a tennis coach at Georgetown. And, you know, you should, like, have you ever thought about playing tennis at Georgetown? It could be fun.

[Howard Srebnick]

And what did you tell him?

[Catherine Khoury]

I said, wow, that sounds amazing. I would love that, but I don't think I'm good enough.

[Howard Srebnick]

And what did he say?

[Catherine Khoury]

He said, well, you know, train hard and maybe you could.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

She began playing more tennis. She began to take her tennis more seriously. She got excited. The idea was that she would practice with the team, but redshirt for a year. She got an acceptance letter from Georgetown. Howard put it on the screen for all the court to see. She was in. She thought it was all her doing, her talent and hard work. The back and forth between Howard and Catherine is building slowly. Everyone on the jury must know something is about to happen, but they don't know what it is. And Howard is in no hurry to tell them. He's just content to let her talk and let her credibility, her authenticity sink in. And then finally, Catherine, I want to.

[Howard Srebnick]

Talk to you now about some of your family circumstances that arose in. In May of 2015, this after you've been accepted at Georgetown. Do you know what time period I'm talking about? During the months of April, in the first week of May, your parents, Melanie and Eamon. Did you understand them to be still married and living as a family?

[Catherine Khoury]

I did until, like, the second week of May.

[Howard Srebnick]

Tell the ladies and gentlemen of the jury what you learned in the second week of May.

[Catherine Khoury]

So in the second week of May, I was actually in a tennis match. I believe it was a match, not a practice. My mom had flown from Florida to Middlesex, which wasn't uncommon. She liked to visit us a lot. But, you know, I could tell that.

[Howard Srebnick]

Something was wrong up until that moment in time. Did you have any idea that your parents were divorcing?

[Catherine Khoury]

No.

[Howard Srebnick]

How did it affect your feelings towards your father?

[Catherine Khoury]

I was really very angry with him for that decision to leave the marriage.

[Howard Srebnick]

And how did you express yourself to your dad?

[Catherine Khoury]

With tears and anger and some mean words. I had lost respect for him at that moment in time and was. Yeah, I felt. I felt betrayed.

[Howard Srebnick]

How was your mom handling it?

[Catherine Khoury]

She was not handling it well at all. I mean, she was. You know, it broke her, for lack of a better word.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

And then Howard puts the text messages Katherine sent to her dad up on a big screen for the whole court to see.

[Howard Srebnick]

On May 10, you described your dad directly to him. That he's pathetic.

[Catherine Khoury]

Yes.

[Howard Srebnick]

And hoping there will be a day when he'll be strong again.

[Catherine Khoury]

Yeah.

[Howard Srebnick]

Next page. Keith, this is two days later, on May 12th. You write to him, I wasn't the one who traded our family for the feelings of being young again. You're a grown man. Don't equate my actions with yours. Just from that statement, it's apparent how selfish you are.

[Catherine Khoury]

Yes.

[Howard Srebnick]

Is that how you felt at the time?

[Catherine Khoury]

Yes.

[Howard Srebnick]

Had you ever felt that way about your father before?

[Catherine Khoury]

No.

[Howard Srebnick]

Keith, go to the next page. Do you recall your dad trying to explain himself and you telling him you have not done anything wrong? Lol. Laugh out loud.

[Catherine Khoury]

Yeah.

[Howard Srebnick]

Next page. You tell your dad he's clueless and you have no interest in associating with him. Is that right?

[Catherine Khoury]

That's correct.

[Howard Srebnick]

Keith, if we could go to the next page.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

At which point the judge interjects, how many pages is this? And Howard says, 15 more. The judge says, 15 more. Yes, your honor. 15 pages. And when it ends, Catherine Khoury explains where her anger left her.

[Catherine Khoury]

Well, you know, tennis was something that my dad and I shared. When I thought of tennis, I thought of my dad, and I wanted nothing to do with him at that point. I was disgusted and hurt, and I was basically like, you know, screw it. I feel like you've ruined the sport for me. I think of you when I'm out there, and I'm not going to follow, you know, keep on following your leads and everything when you don't set good examples. And to be honest, it was just too painful to be out there with those reminders.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

So when she got to Georgetown, she didn't join the tennis team. She didn't play the sport she loved, and it had nothing to do with her shoulder. It had to do with her heart.

[Howard Srebnick]

When was the last time you played competitive tennis?

[Catherine Khoury]

May. Like, right before.

[Howard Srebnick]

And did you. Have you ever since played tennis?

[Catherine Khoury]

Not really. Maybe one day I want to love the sport again, you know, like, I don't want to just. I used to love it. And, you know, one day when hopefully we've found peace and a stable, you know, familial unit, I will be able to be at peace with, you know, playing the sport that reminds me of my dad. That does hold so many good memories again.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The lawyers for the U.S. attorney's office called Katie Coury a mediocre tennis player when Georgetown's specialty was mediocre tennis players. They said she got into Georgetown because her dad was rich, but recruiting rich kids for the Georgetown tennis team was what Georgetown did as a matter of course. And then they threw her under the bus a third time. They said that she had been involved in a conspiracy with her father to fake an injury, and that just wasn't true. Back at the top of episode one, I said that I asked the U.S. attorney's office to talk to me about the Khoury case, and they refused. Now I know why. Because they went home and tried to wash their hands, and the stink wouldn't come off. Closing arguments in the case of U.S. v. Khoury came the next day. Roy did the honors for the defense.

[Roy Black]

I came up with this walking over to the courthouse because I was trying to figure out how to make these text messages as dramatic as possible. And it doesn't come across in the transcript. But what I did is I picked up the exhibits and I walked over to the defense table and stood in front of Corey and read every one of those text messages, looking him in the eye.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The text message from his daughter.

[Roy Black]

Yeah. Where she's calling him every name in the book. And how I hate you and all this stuff.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Amon Curry, as you did that was in tears.

[Catherine Khoury]

Yes.

[Roy Black]

Yeah.

[Jackie Percheck]

All of us.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Everybody.

[Roy Black]

So there's the jury.

[Unnamed Juror]

Yeah, there.

[Roy Black]

This is Roy Black. There's the jury.

[Unnamed Juror]

There's the judge. Corey is standing, sitting right where you are, by the way. My daughter was sitting right behind Aan Curry. Sophie was watching the trial.

[Jackie Percheck]

And my son.

[Unnamed Juror]

Okay. And your son.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah.

[Unnamed Juror]

And Roy, who's talking to the jury. And it's right there. We have the transcript. And stands literally the distance, four feet from Aan Curry. And he's reading to Aim and Cory. And they're right here. You can read them out loud into the mic, into the tape, each one of those texts. Roy stands up. Well, why don't you read it, Roy? This is the actual closing argument quote.

[Roy Black]

The night of my graduation is supposed to be a fun celebration. I don't think it will be if you come. Lexi and I are not doing that well. I hope that you know that your family won't be able to exist peacefully together and don't spend another holiday together. I will forever blame and resent you and have zero interest in sharing vital parts of my life with you. That's what Katie Corey was saying in the summer of 2015, not making up some story about her shoulder injury.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

The courtroom is absolutely still, and Roy just keeps going right in front of his client, face to face. And so what's happening?

[Roy Black]

Well, the jurors were crying.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Well, the jurors are crying.

[Unnamed Juror]

You didn't see that, but we did.

[Roy Black]

There's A juror crime.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

So they're. So explain to me psychologically what's happening with the jurors. They're crying. It's sort of obvious, but sort of not. What conclusion are they drawing from the, from the emotion in that moment?

[Roy Black]

Well, I think that they're all parents. Can you imagine getting messages like that from one of your children about how catastrophic, how tragic, how emotional that would be? And the reason why I wanted to do that is to show that there was simply no way that this girl was being controlled by her father and would go and say, okay, we're now getting into Georgetown on this fake admission and I'm going to fake a shoulder injury. It's just that it was just such a powerful, tragic thing to get from a child.

[Unnamed Juror]

What I thought happened was it now became a contest between this prosecutor and Katie Coury, who was the jury going to rule for.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Roy's closing argument didn't last very long. It didn't have to. He just said, you know why the prosecution's case makes no sense? Because they didn't know about the text messages. The jury acquitted Aim Khoury on all counts. They couldn't distinguish between what Ayman Khoury did and what Georgetown did. I think they must have wondered what they had been dragged into a full on trial in a federal courthouse that ended up being about a daughter's broken heart and a father's tears. Oh, and all taking place on a tennis court. Which is the question that got me interested in US V. Curry in the first place. The other half of the case, the half I write about in Revenge of the Tipping Point. Since when do we care so much about games like tennis that prosecutors and elite universities and rich men and their daughters make it the staging ground for their ambitions?

[Unnamed Juror]

By the way, one more moment that no one knows about because we were there and it didn't happen in the courtroom. We walk out of the courtroom with a not guilty verdict. We encounter some of the jurors right outside the courtroom. Eamon Khoury is standing next to me. The juror is standing five feet away. She looks over to Mr. Khoury and she says, take care of your daughter.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Revisionist history is producing. Wait, we're not done. What about the mysterious Salesforce document? The document Roy kept trying to get Georgetown witnesses to say, yes, it exists or yes, it's real. What was it?

[Roy Black]

Yeah, Salesforce.

[Jackie Percheck]

They kept the database of what people are worth and they have like, they had like targets. So if this person is worth this amount of money, my target is to get them to donate this amount. And they would keep track of contact with the family and what they're gonna ask for. And they kept this in a database internally in a Salesforce database at the school for each parent.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

It uses a sophisticated set of software to analyze thousands of people and figure out who among them is the best target for a fundraising call and what that person's. And this is the term that is used capacity might be. It looks at patterns. Families that have given a lot tend to be those who will continue to give a lot. Then there's a question of the individual's ties to the institution. Do they have a child at school there that helps a lot. Or if they are an alum, what did they do while on campus? Turns out a connection to athletics is a top indicator for future giving. Needless to say, this kind of algorithm would really, really like Eamon Khoury. After Katherine was admitted, before she had even set foot on campus, the admissions officer who handled her application sent an email to someone in the development office. Are you able to give me giving for Eamonn Khoury, Meaning can we run him through the algorithm? And they do. And put it all in an internal document. Why was Georgetown so reluctant to admit to the existence of the mysterious Salesforce capacity report? Because their capacity estimated for the Khoury family was, shall we say, awkward. One to five million dollars. When the so called victim, Georgetown is lining up the so called perpetrator for 1 to 5 million, the victim doesn't really look like a victim anymore, do they? It looks more like they're in on the grift.

[Roy Black]

So yeah, they were they nobody would agree to it. So we mentioned it to the jury. The jury knew it existed but never got to see it.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

Yeah, but wait, so for you, you saw, did you have the document?

[Roy Black]

Yes, we have the document.

[Jackie Percheck]

Then after the trial, there's the not guilty verdict. And that night or the next day, the New York Times or somebody calls Roy for a comment and Roy comments on the trial. And in part the comment was there was this Salesforce document in the top target for the quarries was 1 to 5 million. And now Georgetown, who during the trial is saying, I don't know what document you're talking about. And no witness will own up to the document and no witness is prepared to testify about it. After Roy makes the comment, the lawyers for Georgetown send an email saying, hey, why are you talking about our Salesforce document? There's a confidentiality order in the case and you're not supposed to be talking about our documents.

[Roy Black]

And Roy writes, because they would never admit it.

[Jackie Percheck]

So at the trial, nobody's owning the document. After the trial, they're all upset that Roy's talking about their document. Roy writes back, I mentioned it in opening and can I. And he writes back to the group in capital letters, sore loser. To the lawyer. To the Georgetown lawyer. Oh, my God.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

When we all got that email, I.

[Jackie Percheck]

Was, like, banging the desk. That's how it was.

[Narrator]

Awesome.

[Malcolm Gladwell]

USV Curry. Best trial ever. Or maybe second best trial ever. Because there was another federal case that I fell in love with while writing my book, Revenge at Tipping Point. It's the basis for the chapter entitled the trouble with Miami USVs forms involving a shadowy nursing home operator from Miami beach who looked like Paul Newman, drove around town in a $1.6 million Ferrari, dated supermodels, and in a weird coincidence, was so obsessed with getting his diminutive son onto the University of Penn basketball team that he gave large amounts of cash in a gym bag to the Penn basketball coach who represented that shadowy Paul Newman lookalike in a Ferrari handing out bags of cash to ivy League coaches. 10 guesses. Revisionist history is produced by Nina Byrd Lawrence with Ben Daddaf Hafrey and Lucy Sullivan. Our editor is Karen Shakerji. Fact checking by Sam Russek. Original scoring by Luis Guerra. Mastering by Echo Mountain. Engineering by Sarah Bruguer and Nina Bird Lawrence. Production support from Luc Lamond. Voice acting by Dax Shepard and Britt Marling. Thank you, guys. Our executive producer is the incomparable Jacob Smith. Special thanks to Sarah Nix. I'm Malcolm Gladwell.