It’s nice to see one subject of a Republican sex-scandal rally to the aid of another.
Embattled Louisiana Sen. David Vitter (R) is getting support from fellow Republicans who say he should not resign over a public sex scandal — including from someone who can speak from experience.
Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho was among several GOP senators who say Vitter’s testimony in the “D.C. Madam” prostitution case should not compel his resignation.
“First and foremost, in these kinds of issues, it’s the state and the relationship you have with your state that really determines where you ought to go,” Craig said. “That was certainly my case. The Senate itself wasn’t going to judge me. I would allow the citizens of my state to do so. And there is still strong support there.”
Actually, Craig’s Senate colleagues tried to judge him, but he wouldn’t leave.
Nevertheless, it’s hard to say whether Vitter considers Craig’s endorsement good news or bad. Vitter, who has been called on to testify in the “D.C. Madam” case, is not only facing calls for his resignation, but is apparently getting into car accidents over it. Does support from his scandal-plagued colleague really help?
I suppose, given the circumstances, Vitter will take whatever help he can get.
The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported yesterday that Vitter’s name is among those listed as potential witnesses in the Deborah Jeane Palfrey trial, and noted that his lawyer insists that Vitter will cite his Fifth Amendment privileges if compelled to testify — a legally sound move that may not go over well in the court of public opinion.
While invoking the Fifth Amendment likely avoids the possibility of embarrassing details being aired in public, political experts say it carries other risks.
“I’d guess the Fifth Amendment response would not play well at all, and would draw a response of ‘What has he got to hide?’ from many people,” said Michael Johnston, a political scientist from Colgate University who has written about the public’s perception of corruption.
Johnston said a better political course would be to “get the story out there and put up with the bad publicity and Jay Leno jokes for a few more days.” Vitter is not up for re-election until 2010.
Washington lawyer Stan Brand said the only member of Congress he remembers taking the Fifth is his former client Dan Rostenkowski, a former Democratic congressman from Illinois. Rostenkowski invoked the Fifth Amendment in the early 1990s when he was asked to testify before a grand jury investigating corruption charges in the House. He survived the political fallout, but lost re-election several years later after being indicted on corruption charges.
“It’s a legal decision, and the political consequences aren’t known,” Brand said.
Ed Renwick, director of the Institute of Politics at Loyola University in New Orleans, said there are no good options for Vitter. “He’s trapped,” Renwick said.
The Louisiana Democratic Party has already called on Vitter to resign, calling his scandal a “continuous distraction,” and adding that it’s a “continuous blight on the state of Louisiana to have a sitting senator connected to a prostitution ring.”
New York Republicans said the same thing about Eliot Spitzer and he quickly bowed out rather than suffer prolonged humiliation. Stay tuned.