Edward Vogel is a powerful politician and Adam Schiff's friend, who encouraged him to run for DA.
Background[]
Edward got into politics at some point in his life. His career took off, and he became very powerful and influential as he tried to help make New York a better place for its citizens. He eventually married a woman named Judith and they had a son named James, who also went into politics. James eventually became a councilman for the 16th District. He became friends with Adam Schiff in 1965. In 1976, he used his influence to ask Schiff to run for the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. Judith later passed away in 1986. When James started getting blackmailed by Harold Dwyer and his attorney, Peter Colson, Edward gave his son $5,000 every month to help keep James' secret that he was gay. The payments eventually totaled $50,000, and when the blackmailers asked for more, James decided to stop paying them. Dwyer called Edward, directly demanding $50,000 or else he would go to the news. Caving in, he gave the money to him, infuriating James. Edward later witnessed James threatening to turn Dwyer and Colson into the police if they didn't give Edward his money back, with Dwyer responding that he would never spend another minute in prison.
Silence[]
When James is murdered, Detectives Logan and Cerreta question Edward about loaning James $50,000. Edward claims he doesn't know what the money was for and is insistent on the idea that James' murder was random. Edward goes on to mention his family's role in helping making New York a better place to live in and says that James didn't deserve what happened to him for all his hard work. A few days later, Edward meets the detectives in James' office, and he tells them that he never kept track of his son's social calendar as much as he used to when his son was younger. When the detectives confront him on James being gay, Edward vehemently denies this and continues to deny knowing what the money he gave his son was for. He later witnesses them find the letters Dwyer sent him from prison. After a few weeks pass, Edward calls the chief and tells him he wants the headlines to read that James was killed as a result of a mugging and to not reveal that his son was gay.
EADA Stone and ADA Robinette later call Edward to his office to keep him updated on the case. There, he is informed about the blackmail scheme, which includes another witness named George Harris. When they suggest closing the courtroom, Edward is skeptical that it can happen, but the prosecutors get lucky and draw a sympathetic judge. To prevent his secret from getting out, Edward hires Helen Murphy, known as the first lady of the first amendment, to reverse the judge's decision while under the guise that the editor of the paper, Malcolm Barclay, is the one who hired her. Despite Murphy successfully reversing the ruling, the prosecutors are able to get Harris' prior testimony admitted when Harris goes out of state and thus enabled it to be introduced on a technicality.
Edward is later brought in when his part in the cover-up is discovered after Colson agrees to plead to grand larceny in the third degree. Edward refuses to help them convict his son's killer by revealing he is gay and leaves. When Stone subpoenas Edward, he meets with Schiff to try to convince him to quash this as a favor for a friend. Schiff refuses, saying his shame is the reason his son ended up dead and Edward is called to testify at trial. While reluctant, Stone manages to get through to him by mentioning his love and admiration of his son. Edward eventually testifies to everything he saw and did as a result of the blackmail and Dwyer is convicted.