my hands are clean

Judge Pechman said, before the City of Seattle's case against Clay Bennett, that she did not want "mud wrestling". It appears to me that Bennett is attempting to sling as much mud as possible in order to influence the judge's decision on splitting the case in to two parts.
Bennett's lawyer will make it a circus no matter what she decides. She might as well go with the facts presented in the motions, because Sideshow Brad is revving up the big red nose and seltzer bottle.

Read Greg John's story in the Seattle PI:

The PBC attorneys say Bennett and his franchise are moving full speed ahead with new contracts and situations in a new city and deserve to have the legal questions put to rest as quickly as possible.

But Yarmuth said there is valid reasoning behind his client's pace of pursuing the litigation.

"This is a difficult lawsuit," Yarmuth told the Seattle P-I. "It's not the kind of thing that can be presented based on somebody else's schedule. Hurrying up and doing it quickly and losing is not a good strategy."

It's also worth noting that Schultz is seeking a first phase in May that would answer the question of whether fraud was committed. The PBC has requested one all-inclusive trial in July. So Schultz's schedule actually would produce a quicker conclusion, unless the Starbucks chairman wins and the second trial played out later in 2009.

Among the arguments raised by the PBC's motion are that it will be too difficult to unwind the team's relocation once it becomes entrenched, which Yarmuth counters by noting the New Orleans Hornets played two years at the Ford Center following Hurricane Katrina before being moved back to New Orleans.

"The idea that the team can't play in Oklahoma City for one or two years is incorrect because the Hornets did just that," Yarmuth said. "Oklahoma City can do the same thing now."

Somebody is not satisfied with the settlement the City of Seattle agreed to with Bennett's PBC.
Go Howard!