Telemarketers came to an anti-climatic end after Pat Pespas and Sam Lipman-Stern met with Senator Richard Blumenthal at Capitol Hill… And he did nothing.
Viewers of the three-part HBO docuseries have followed Pespas and Lipman-Stern while they pulled together a compelling case about telemarketing. During the third and final episode, Pespas and Lipman-Stern reunited in the present day to continue their investigation into telemarketing schemes and the downfall of the Civic Development Group, a now-defunct New Jersey-based call center.
While meeting with Senator Blumenthal, the politician showed a lack of interest in their findings and made a speedy exit after agreeing to follow up with them. Blumenthal is described as an advocate for telemarketing reform and previously took a stand against CDG.
The first two episodes primarily took place during CDG’s years of operation and the fallout from their 2009 lawsuit, which led to the company being shut down and prohibited from soliciting donations.
Now, in 2020, former CDG colleagues Pespas and Lipman learned that telemarketing schemes have evolved due to new technologies and protections from political action committees. The two traveled from New Jersey to Washington D.C. to meet with Blumenthal about their investigation.
Don’t get me wrong… It’s entertaining to watch Pespas, a rowdy and usually unfiltered guy, interact with the politician and his staffers. At one point, he tells Lipman-Stern that he’s going to wear his sunglasses in the meeting room so that he can dramatically remove them upon Blumenthal’s entrance – and he does exactly that. But, it is also evident that Pespas is loaded with facts and evidence in regard to his case against the growing telemarketing industry, and watching the senator dismiss his concerns is majorly disheartening.
The episode concludes with the meeting, during which Pespas says, “There is a billion-dollar scam being perpetrated against the American people right under everybody’s noses and the business model is telemarketing.” He details their findings from fellow CDG employees and their meeting with the FTC, and states that legitimate police organizations are using telemarketing to defraud vulnerable populations.
Both Pespas and Lipman-Stern state that “congressional action needs to be taken.” The congressman grows dismissive and says “I don’t know anything about these individual cases.” Pespas gestures to the documents in front of him and states that he has the evidence and is explaining it to him. Blumenthal says that his staff will sit down with them to review the documents, and if they find something, they will escalate the investigation. The senator makes a quick exit and leaves… with his staff.
One staff member returns after a period of time and asks the camera crew to pack up. When Pespas and Lipman-Stern remind him that Blumenthal said the staff would stay and chat with them, the staff member says they are busy with meetings all day. Six months later, Pespas reveals, “We followed up. We heard nothing. We got crickets.”
During the meeting, when asked if Blumenthal would return for a handshake, they were denied the request. When the staff left, Lipman-Stern pointed out the police memorabilia in the office room, to which Pespas observed, “That’s every police department in Connecticut practically.”
So what exactly happened after the meeting? Well, as Pespas reveals in the docuseries, nothing happened. Blumenthal’s team was just as dismissive as the senator himself.
In a recent interview with LA Times, co-directors Adam Bhala Lough and Lipman-Stern reflected on the meeting. “We followed up with what they asked for, 80 pages worth of documentation of this scam and what we had discovered. We followed up a couple times and never heard back,” said Lough. “We were hoping Senator Blumenthal was going to kind of vouch for Pat and help get him in front of Congress to testify about this stuff, especially the PAC problem.”
The outlet obtained a comment from Blumenthal’s representation, which read, “We consistently welcome information and complaints about wrongdoing and consumer abuse. Senator Blumenthal has a long record of leadership on this issue, and we will continue to call for accountability against scammers and telemarketers, especially anyone who impersonates nonprofits and charities.”
One can only hope that another senator is tuning into the docuseries and will reach out to Pespas for further action, especially since he has yet to give up.
While speaking with Vulture earlier this month, Pespas said has goals to testify before Congress with “a proposal for a unionized, transparent telemarketing industry that provides good local jobs and sends money to the people who actually deserve it.”
Pat, we’re rooting for you!
Telemarketers is streaming on Max.