The Wire - Clay Davis Takes the Stand

[Saintnix69]

Textbook example of Black American politics in 2012.

[blackazzman]

thats how you hit them hard and fast...no breaks!

[realmanallen73]

People like Davis and Colvin are the reason why black politics in amerikkka is always going to be a joke for a very long time.

[realmanallen73]

I like how alot of these fake black politicians LOVE to refer you back to their roots "in da hood" as a way to distract and guilt-monger you when you call them out on their bullshit! Most of them don't even give a damn about the hood that they hide behind so much!

[ssuuppeerrbbooyy]

clay davis isnt corrupt. he is just the regular politician.

[Ballzdeap89]

Epic performance... Niggas should look this shit up and take notes Obama 2012!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[hdtwoodsman]

This might be in my top 10 Wire scenes. That's one of the greatest speeches in TV history.

[FUCKxUxNxURxMOTHERx2]

I was gonna post a "...shiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeet!" but I can see someone - aw fuck it...

Shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiieeeeeeeeeeeee­t!

[onometopoeia]

The "is he for real?!" look on Rhonda Pearlman's face is priceless.

[sparky6899]

Ah ayyyyym clay davis.

[mjonas10]

All these fools need to get off Clay's back and let him continue his good honest work. It's like they think he's going to be the scapegoat for the whole damn machine or something.

[itsbloodytommy]

@mjonas10 Am I missing some major sarcasm there?

Clay Davis embezzled that money straight up. There are no people asking for money for burials or bail outs (or at least not as many as they think) its a defense for explaining how and why the money was put into his own personal bank account. He knows he can appeal to the mostly black jury by appearing as a 'man of the people'

unless of course you really were being ironic in which case I totally see what you did there!

[bonelones]

This is happening right now in Spain

[XvxBERSERKxvX]

SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET

[SabinBlitz81]

And I AM Clay Davis....,lol.

[lozkina]

grrrrreeeeeeeeeat

[MongTheMerciless]

Newt Gingrich is a real life Clay Davis.

[peverill]

@MongTheMerciless i would say more mitt romney?

[avarmadillo]

Oblamer could take some lessons from this guy.

[Dman40000]

lol he makes a reference to pennsylvania avenue, go to google maps and look up the intersection of that street and mosher street, looks exactly like the kind of corner you would expect to see in the show. talk about accuracy.

[eleriel]

if I hadn't seen the show prior to this clip.. i'd have acquitted him too, and been proud of it.

a good actor, played by a good actor ;-)

[bamboneski]

send clay davis to prison??? shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­iiiiit

[8610803eternal]

YES!!! FUCK YOU RHONDA UGLY WHORE

[smbossco]

Hahahaha... Arthur-itis.

[ixcuincle]

I love how he distracts them by referencing reality TV

What a boss

[javadog33221]

It would've been funnier if this didn't actually happen in real life.

[challiray]

boss. master mind manipulation at work.

[guywhiteycorngood]

Someone from Gawker made a point of comparing this amazing scene to Herman Cain's appearance on Hannity last night. Hannity takes the place of Davis's lawyer nicely - slyly prodding his "client" along...

[linearrecords12]

Bullshit 101

[sidperoviz]

rofl..politicians. *tsk tsk tsk*

[LeBronForTheWin]

The lawyer is an actual lawyer in real life, one of the most successful lawyers, I think even the name they use is his real name.

[Antrizzle2009]

@LeBronForTheWin Yep. Billy Murphy. Big time Baltimore lawyer. My uncle used to work in his office years back.

[LeBronForTheWin]

@Antrizzle2009 He's got a 45min DvD uploaded here teaches you how to deal with police. Golden stuff.

[yungyacht]

Clay reminds me of Charlie Rangall of New York.

[hkitty413]

That Cleveland Brown looking muthafucka

[BelfastAtheist]

Daayum. Clay Davis is slick.. scumbag.

[evilchimpmunk566]

full of sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-it

[thygodofrock190]

lmfao why is Clays lawyer the owner from Hardcore pawn?!

[omurphy27]

His lawyer makes levy look like an amateur. So slick. 

[bluechao]

@omurphy27 He's a real lawyer, playing himself on the show.  BIG TIME lawyer.

[6oodfella]

His lawyer is one slimy-looking motherfucker.

What a great scene, Clay is an absolute legend.

[blackbolt75]

Clay Snakes Davis. LOL!

[willia3r]

Clay Davis is DA MAN!!! He is the ultimate hustler. A man that you could easily hate to love, but you do anyways, if for nothing else, for the masterful & machiavellian way that he plays "the game".

[katwillny]

ARTHUR-itis..

[superzanmato]

Could someone explain this to me please? Does he actually give anything to his constituents? Surely they'd just see through him...

[PINGAWEAPONS]

@superzanmato Well maybe he does give five, ten percent of what he stals to his constituents, butthe rest goes to him

[WileeC]

Don King was Clay's daddy

watch?v=lR1j3lOQiIk&feature=re­lated

[ChingChong1216]

Now this is an epic art of pure bullsheeeeeet

[maxjordan90]

Lester said that the case should go federal. Bond decided he wanted to use the case to try to climb the ladder. I love the close up shot of the jury which happens to mostly be black people. Lester knew a Baltimore jury would be the type of people that would believe every word Clay davis says.

[Prof16440]

PWNED

[KevinDiaz390]

I wonder who was a better lawyer this guy for clay davis or levy its kinda hard to tell

[gsofficial]

@KevinDiaz390 i'd have to say levy, because while this guy did a pretty good questioning, levy does it all - negotiation with prosecutors, structuring pleas, helping barksdale hide all his money through fronts and businesses - plus levy had to defend barksdale, hardly a charismatic likable guy. Defending Clay Davis involved just letting him make a speech.

[KevinDiaz390]

@gsofficial True that, yeah levy is the better lawyer.

[gauchebag]

@gsofficial

he also handles juvenile cases, probono

[danielhiryu]

"So one thieving politician trumps 22 dead bodies...good to know."

- Col. Cedric Daniels

[ladakn]

this reminded me of what happened with Casey Anthony today...

[Anonymous7827]

Clay Davis is the sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeit

[SedanChair]

"My world is strictly cash and carry. And I AM Clay Davis"

[Magnumscoffeefreek]

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeit

[sahtciud]

The only people to blame in this case is the dumb motherfuckers who have been selected as jury. Any human being with an IQ above 50 should smell the bullshit that Clay Davis was spewing.

[artform2008]

activity like this take place all over, it take place in poor communities and rich communities if you don't think every politician is not doing some thing wrong your dumb and ingnorant. it is business the rich is ass crooked as the poor if not more. That how most of them got rich lets open our eyes, the only difference is guys like poliitician like Clay Davis have to do it to help his people out and other pooliticians don't. As the old saying go Don't hate the player hate the Game.

[MrDonkDonkerson]

Sheeeeeit

[waveali]

"Some went for puff jackets for them that got children in need." lmao.. classic poverty pimping. Clay Davis is a legend.

[wallyworld776]

1. They don't teach that in law school is not exactly right. Lawyers knows their client and the community, and know how to softballs to their client so that the client can hit the out of the park.

2. If you ever saw the movie "She Hate Me" Isaiah Whitlock says the "shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit" line while playing a cop and escorting a suspect on a perp walk. The line is not new, which is among the many bullcrap reasons he or the show weren't nominated for an Emmy.

[maxjordan90]

I love that close up shot of the jury to show that they are mostly black people.

[wazahwazah]

damn Jesse Jackson

[TheElitenoble]

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­iiiiiiit

[tg343441]

that old arthur itis lady....lol Clay is the king of rip off artists

[theman4130]

"What-ever it was, they don't teach it in Law School..."

[goceltics339]

this made me so pissed when i watched it, because i thought they were finally gonna bust clay davis, but the crooked bastard got away. i love it though because in real life the same thing wouldve happened.

[scottornot]

1 person must think he should've gone to prison and you know what clay davis would say about that! SHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEIIIIT

[bballt24]

pay my childs asthma doctor? Really clay? I call bullsheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­eeit!

[sliccmoufschalaa]

@bballt24 Yeah this is what the real ones do!! They don't have to pay all of em...but paying ten is just as good as paying 1000 cause them ten will tell 1000 and convince them he'll do the same for you...lottery concept all it takes is 1 person to win and a million will play! A real old head told me "ignorance is one on hell's best weapons"

[ochitaotoko]

This guy should get all those awards for the fine acting. Why?

I haven't watched one damn episode of The Wire, but I believe that this guy is innocent even though many other people repeatedly told me he's crooked. Hell, I'd vote for him.

Unfortunately, how I feel for this guy also explains why people continue to vote assholes even though everyone knows how shitty they truly do their work. Kinda kills my desire to vote in the next election, because I know I too am a sheep.

[jgrew030]

@ochitaotoko whoa whoa whoa....you haven't watched an episode of the Wire. SHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII­IIIIIIT

Go grab the dvds or something, you're missing one of the greatest works of art depicting the social structure of America!

Gotta go watch man. You'll love it.

[spoogeling]

.....sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiii­iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitt­tttttttttttt

[royalty890]

I like this, this indeed is real life, and hell. I wish Clay would run for President.

[Krapinov]

What the fuck just happened...

[herodotus53]

"That old author-eye-tis woman..." FTW

[CitySkin09]

Clay Davis just got acquitted?? Sheeeeeit...

[AnotherMasterMind]

That fools as guilty as sin, but charismatic enough to save his ass. The makings of any successful politician. : )

[WiseGuy5674]

He should be on Obama's staff.

[evc1689]

does anyone have the scene where clay davis is confessing to lester?

[Loonie2008]

@evc1689 Yeah, that was the one scene I was still really missing. All these others are wonderful, but Clay Davis explaining how fucking rotten the system really is and how the illegal mobs tie into politicians...just brilliant.

[CarlBmusic]

3.15 if this video just makes me Burst out in laughter everytime... This man is comedy gold!! LOL

[Nangondo]

What does it take to earn an Emmy node -- come on Isiah Whitlock was amazing!

[CJordan1936]

OMg if he ain't the king of the bullshitters!

[wildcat1559]

what the fuck just happened?

He johnnie cochran'd their ass thats what just happened!

[qwaycee]

i hated clay davis up until this scene. this is fuckin awesome

[djvillain]

Aww, should have ended it with the line from Gus right afterwards -

"30 lines of Clay Davis playing not just the race card, but the whole deck ... comin' at ya."

[shooshooshooshooter]

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiii­iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit­

[lou4brew]

"he didn't play the race card, he played the whole deck"

[uofm53]

Damn, I didn't know Martin Luther King had a role in the Wire!

[alec1115]

He's lucky Slim didn't cap this ass in Season 3.

[djrossie]

Academy worthy performance

[tafari127]

"Yeah, but if you give me $20,000 for a basketball and a air pump, I am pulling goodly on that for whatever, whoever, comes at me!" Clay was a snake but he played the game as well if not better than any character on the show.

[Mynxor]

Amen brother ! :D

[Micaroni715]

Favorite characters:

Stringer

Slim Charles

Bunk

Lenard

CLAY DAVIS

[cvdover]

@Micaroni715

Who is Lenard? Do you mean Kenard?

[Crazydog7]

What a piece of work. In spite of it all I do like him.

[Strand0410]

Clay Davis, I couldn't help but like this guy despite being such a slimy, corrupt, sneaky fuck he was.

Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeiiiit!

[hamsterdam92]

so little screen time compared to the other major characters yet he hast to be one of the greatest alongside Bubbles, Bodie, String, Omar, and McNutty

[MikefromMadrid]

hahaha clay davis - what a legend!

The most corrupt bastard ever and yet you cannot help but like him.

[MrDonkDonkerson]

@MikefromMadrid Don't like him but definitely respect him.

[yourengland]

@MikefromMadrid Oh boy, I have NO PROBLEM not liking him. 

[moggydave]

Out of the "bad" characters on The Wire, he was perhaps the worst. Even Burrell and Rawls showed an element of wanting to do good, Royce too. Chris, Snoop and Marlo were at least honest about what they were about, and they were from the street - it was what they knew. But Clay Davis was often the origin of so many problems on the show, and the epitome of dishonesty and corruption which goes from the State Capitol right down to the street and the corners. One of the most depressing scences here.

[jfeltz]

Clay pulled off a textbook white man's hustle.

[slimithy12]

@jfeltz he sure did. shieeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeet!

[mkvl1490]

Excuse me I meant dude from the defense, the one standing

[mkvl1490]

Im from Baltimore, and I've seen that prosecutor before on tv arguing over things about Baltimore

[TMartin617]

saint? did you miss every episode of the wire...he's more corrupt than marlo cuz at least marlo made it clear what he was and what he represented

[WiseGuy5674]

Charlie Wrangle's long lost brother?...

[Damndot]

Jarvis Johnson HAD to be watchin The Wire while he came up with his alleged scheme......Dude is H-town's Clay Davis!

[gauchebag]

"...and I AM CLAY DAVIS!"

[bluechao]

One of the greatest scenes from the greatest show ever. Great character, great actor, brilliant writing and an amazing performance. Pit it all in a bottle and magic happens.

[will434usmc]

Let me tell u sumthing brotha......lol PRICELESS

[rrrod411]

the actor who played him did a hell of a job

[TheJerseyChimpmunk]

sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee­et

[dave00dance]

i dont watch this show was he innocent really?

[bigglego]

@dave00dance he is as corupt as they come!!

[soulofshiver]

@dave00dance No. Probably the most corrupt character on the show.

[pizzaandmetal]

'Fear Factor? Aww she-'

[KojachBaumherr]

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiit

[Trollmaster21]

Can white people make an exception here and call Clay Davis the N word?

[1XMarksSpot]

@Trollmaster21 Nigger. Done. LOL

[MBplayer]

The Clay Davis stuff in season 5 is brilliant because it is SO TRUE.

This is how politicians are in cities like Baltimore, Detroit & Birmingham. Their interpersonal skills with their poor, ignorant constituents allows them to build an unwavering group of support that will back them no matter how blatantly crooked they are. A perfect example is the Clay Davis church rally scene.

As much as you hate 'em, they're fucking brilliant because they play the Game perfectly.

[Buddha370]

@MBplayer man... Clay Davis could be Mayor of Birmingham in a minute! Sheeeeit... I'D vote for him!

[Wargoat6]

@MBplayer I met a disabled veteran in WV. He told me had Sen. Robert Byrd's direct phone number. Indeed, guys like that KNOW how to play the game airtight.

[1XMarksSpot]

@MBplayer Sounds like Obama supporters lmaoo

[Trollmaster21]

@MBplayer For one who is mostly liberal on the issues, I don't doubt what you're saying here.

I'm sure there are many poverty pimps and limousine phony liberals out there like Clay davis.

[ak47523]

@Trollmaster21 Keep the people dependent on the government and they will support it and the expansion of it's programs. Read the "Road to Serfdom" by F.A. Hayek, it will change you're views or at least make you think about them. Not all conservatives are bible thumping nut cases. Those are the ones that just get most of the press.

[LoryLandskipper]

i think i gotta start watching this show...

[chrisdovermusic]

Arthur-itis, haha

[gauchebag]

"Let me tell you sometin' mane,

my neck of the woods it's a jungle out there

everybody's living hand to mouth

improvising, hustlin, making do with as little as you can imagine

hell, that uh, that uh, tv show, whe-whe-the, survivor?

man they want some good contestants, they need to come around westside

the folks I know, we'd do great on that show

practice every damn day of our lives

hell, and fear factor? aww shii...don't even get me started

[gauchebag]

well, I ain't gonna lie mane...

Imma gonna do the same damn thing

tomorrow and the day after next and the day after next

until they got me laid out at Marge's funeral home and

truck me off to Mt. Auburn

[Mhendeb]

Clay Davis is one of the best characters on The Wire

SheeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiT!

[Antrizzle2009]

Davis' lawyer is Billy Murphy. He's a real Baltimore defense attorney, one of the biggest in town.

[lambon2]

the best!!!

[gauchebag]

"...and I AM CLAY DAVIS"

[kandinskyforfootball]

"I gosta berrie my mothar, bail out my son, buy a new shirt for joob innaview, pay my childz ashma docter. Takes me half an hour to go a 100 yards." Tell em' clay!

[kandinskyforfootball]

"Whatever it was, they don't teach it in law school!" It was REALITY!

[james040280]

DAAMN clay davis know the game better than anyone

[pierrot92]

"fear factor? ohh shi..." ah ah

[JesusCommando]

I love the look on Clay's face just before this scene when he's walking up the court's steps; he goes from toothy grinned confidence to arse collapsing worry in one swift move.

He's such a great character.

Would I vote for Clay Davis? Hell yeah...Sheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-yi­t!

[Dave83C]

Eat your heart out, Richard Millhous Nixon!

[essentialtee09]

"damn right it went into my bank account. makes it easier to do my job. and at then end of the day wasn't a damn dime left" Clay davis wasn't lying. lol. he just used the truth in a context that made it seem like he wasn't a crook.

[tomo823]

In this age of political corruption. This actually makes sense to me !! Too bad nobody in real life can use this defense...or have they ????

[blueincpc]

shiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii­iiiit

[cool70200]

clay davis is one slick pimp

[carlos7217]

give that man a oscar,...

[MrPoughkeepsie]

@carlos7217

And give Carlos7217 an English teacher!

[carlos7217]

my spellan iz reel grate,..

[MrPoughkeepsie]

Well now youre just being derisive, but before that you failed.

[rowdybear]

hey did u get the name of the prosecuter at the start

[mmou3878]

This was some of the most brilliant acting ever. Peep notice how the lawyer and Clay Davis acting scene counter acted with each other. At first you would think Clay Davis Lawyer was prosectuing him. Such brilliant writing. Please bring the wire back

[jabre12]

These are the kind of politicians we face every day, getting away with shit like stealing and scamming and at the same time being praised by citizen. The quote at the end by Rhonda, "they dont teach us that in law school". And they dont, so the politicians can get away with shit like this. Horrbile guy this Clay Davis, but a great character. Best show... cant wait for Treme to start.

[1minhero]

sheeeiiiit!

[chambestrapper]

even thoe i know hes guilty hes actually convinced me hes inncoint danm this guy is good bullshiting is a skill lol " AND I AM CLAY DAVIS"

[KobeSpawn]

Yep.  He's a politician alright.

[MTaylor2533]

Clay and his lawyer were flawless in this testimony

[peon47]

He's got my vote.