So many scandals, so little time…

May 9, 2006

The sheer volume of Republican scandals is not only impressive, it’s producing quite a series of developments.

For example, Rep. [tag]Bob Ney[/tag] (R-Ohio) appears to be one step closer to a criminal indictment.

A former top aide to Representative Bob [tag]Ney[/tag], Republican of Ohio, pleaded guilty on Monday to conspiring with the lobbyist Jack Abramoff to corrupt public officials and said gifts had been “corruptly offered to and accepted by” Mr. Ney.

In court papers, the former aide, Neil G. [tag]Volz[/tag], said the gifts included a 2002 trip to Scotland by private jet that included rounds of golf at the fabled course at St. Andrews.

The plea agreement made it clear that Mr. Ney, a six-term House member who is facing a re-election fight this year because of his ties to Mr. Abramoff, remains a central focus of the Justice Department’s influence-peddling investigation.

Ney was not mentioned by name in Volz’s plea agreement, but he was identified in the court filing as “Representative No. 1” and was listed as someone who performed official acts at the behest of Abramoff in exchange for bribes. Asked on Fox News yesterday whether he would resign if indicted, Ney said, “I’m not going to comment on hypotheticals.”

At the CIA, meanwhile, Kyle “Dusty” [tag]Foggo[/tag], the man Porter Goss inexplicably promoted, resigned yesterday in the face of a criminal investigation.

As NEWSWEEK first reported, the CIA’s inspector general has been investigating whether Foggo helped steer agency contracts to companies run by Brent [tag]Wilkes[/tag], a defense contractor who was identified as an unindicted co-conspirator when former San Diego congressman and ex-Navy air ace Randy (Duke) [tag]Cunningham[/tag] pleaded guilty in a Congressional bribery scandal. The CIA has acknowledged that its internal watchdog is investigating whether Foggo helped steer any contracts to Wilkes, an old friend.

And in l’affaire de Plame, MSNBC’s [tag]David Shuster[/tag] reported last night that he is “convinced that [tag]Karl Rove[/tag] will, in fact, be [tag]indicted[/tag].”

What a tangled web they weave….

Apparently one flaw in the GOP’s Master Plan for World Domination was that they didn’t manage to completely subvert the courts. After Bush v. Gore they thought it’d be smooth sailing, but of course the devil is in the details. IOKIYAR works great propaganda-wise, at least if you control or intimidate all the major media, but all these pesky lower courts keep laboring under the notion that political affiliation shouldn’t trump the law, so they give unending legal trouble to loyal Republican foot soldiers, just because they are guilty of criminal malfeasance. (The nerve!)

  • We all know the saying about power and corruption.

    What amazes me, however, is that while the Dems had their share of issues during their decades-long reign in Congress, the GOP has managed to become so amazingly corrupt so ridiculously fast, and at all levels. Honestly … the hubris is mind blowing.

    But that begs the question: Is it the GOP and its belief system that’s corrupt, or has the money and influence become so great that corruption will occur no matter who’s in charge?

    As much as I’d like to believe the former, I’m worried that it’s the latter.

    (And, as a bonus question, how bad does everyone think it would truly get if it weren’t for blogs reporting on stuff the corporate media seems unwilling to cover? The blogosphere is truly changing the nature and transparency of politics, IMHO).

  • Of course, you could easily go on for many more pages. But I looked at the Shuster link and I think that is based on weak inferences. It may eventually turn out to be true, but I wouldn’t put Rove in the indicted column just yet.

    Slightly off topic, but has the Abramoff investigation been impacted by the replacement of the lead prosecutor. I thought that it looked fishy when the Bush administration promoted someone who was making good progress and replaced him with a prosecutor from Florida. It may be on the up and up, but with Bush you always need to check your change.

    The most recent indictment could mean that the prosecution is going fine, but I hope that Steve and other attentive CB readers keep their ears to the ground.

  • Unholy Moses (#2), Apparently it’s always been this way. I remember my Dad saying (late ’40s, early ’50s) that if a Democrat stole a fur coat it made headlines, but if a Republican stole a federal dam project it was just business as usual. I think it’s the amount of money involved, the perception that really wealthy people just “wouldn’t behave that way, dontcha know”.

    As to your extra point question, I do believe the media (what we used to call “news”) has fundamentally changed and will never come back. Particularly due to the cost of hiring pretty, bubble-headed “personalities” for TV, the media are now all entertainment, all the time. There is no “news”. For that we must rely on the sorting out processes which characterize the blogosphere and, ultimately, the historians (can you imagine how they will treat the Regal Moron and those who “elected” him?)

  • What bothers me is not the Cunningham/Foggo corruption, its the DeLay/Santorum K Street project corruption and the interface with Abramoff. The first is a one off problem, the second is systemic.

    That, I think, is the issue. Republicanites have taken isolated acts of corruption and made them into a system embraced by all of their leadership. That’s why it is a culture of corruption and not like it was before.

  • But that begs the question: Is it the GOP and its belief system that’s corrupt, or has the money and influence become so great that corruption will occur no matter who’s in charge?

    Comment by Unholy Moses

    RepubCo cultivated corruption with the K-Street project. They worked it hard. And unfortunately, the blueprint has been laid for both the givers and the takers whichever party is in office. There may be some transitional inconvenience but the buyers of influence are ready to grease whatever palms come before them. And the cost of playing politics in America will insure that those palms are open and twitching whether they are extended from the right or the left.

    There is so much money being directed towards subverting the system. It’s so destructive and so anti-social that it feels like corruption for the sake of corruption. But that money has it’s own goals and desires. Those aren’t going to change just because the light on the porch changes from red to blue.

    Winning is what’s it’s all about in Washington. And winning is expensive.

  • Republicanism is a disease and it’s killing this nation.

    To me Cunningham/ Foggo affair stems from the K Street Project: to do business in Washington you have to grease palms and feed the machine. DeLay fostered an environment, a culture that made the Dukestir’s shenanigans possible.

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