Olmert: I am not a crook

It probably wasn't how most Israelis wanted to celebrate the 60 years since their nation's founding.

Despite the best effort of investigators to keep a lid on the unfolding investigation of Israeli PM Ehud Olmert so as not to spoil the case or ruin the celebratory mood, the facts blew Thursday night.

Olmert hastily called reporters to his Jerusalem residence to make a blunt statement: I am not a crook.

For the past week, Israeli papers have been filled with ominous, anonymous sources predicting that this case is the beginning of the end for Olmert. And Olmert's unusual decision to deliver the late night statement - televised live - suggests that he, too, sees this investigation as more serious than the others.

The papers here continue to report that the jig is up and that one, if not two, people involved in the alleged scheme are cooperating with investigators.

One central figure is Morris Talansky, the 75-year-old New York businessman who was cornered by a Channel 2 reporter in Jerusalem yesterday.

Wearing dark sunglasses and sporting several days worth of stubble, Talansky appeared bemused by the attention and offered rambling, non-responsive answers to the questions he was asked.

Talansky said he was a longtime Zionist, had known Olmert for 20 years and wasn't involved in politics.

Hours later, Olmert told his nation that Talansky had spent a decade helping him raise money for his political campaigns.

The New York Times went digging in New York and unearthed a pile of legal cases involving Talansky, including allegations that the businessman sent "thugs" to try and collect money he was owed.

One of Talansky's meetings reportedly took place in Scores, a topless bar in Manhattan.

The other person said to be cooperating with investigators is Olmert's longtime law partner, Uri Messer.

In what was almost certainly an indication of his legal defense, Olmert told his nation that it was Messer -- not he -- who handled the money from Talansky.

"The monies raised for these campaigns were transferred to Uri Messer, who organized the financial matters connected to my campaigns," Olmert said. "I have no doubt in my heart that attorney Messer handled the money with all his professional skills and am sure he did this legally."

One crucial thing remains unanswered: If a bribe was involved, who got what for the money?

At this point, it does not appear that investigators know the answer.

The case is likely to drag on for some time before it becomes clear whether the allegations will prove fatal to Olmert. But one piece in particular caught my attention this morning.

In an article for Maariv, Haifa University Professor Emanuel Gross, an expert on criminal law, wrote that an indictment can be issued purely on the testimony of one key participant.

"It is important to know that in offenses of this sort, one testimony is enough, either that of the go-between in the bribery or that of the person who gave the bribe, to incriminate the person who received the bribe," wrote Gross. "It is not necessary that the conviction be supported by other evidence. A government minister who receives money in such amounts, certainly when it comes to alleged cash, must demand to know who the donors are and if Olmert did demand this, we have not heard to this day that he knows who the donors were and what their intentions were."

If that's the case and the burden of proof is so low, it could make it much more difficult for Olmert to survive.

(Photo of Morris Talansky: Yossi Zamir:Flash90/McClatchy Newspapers)