It’s been almost two full weeks since I’ve heard anything about one of my favorite political stories of the season — the GOP efforts to illegally bribe Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) during the November House vote on the Medicare bill.
The trail had, unfortunately, come to an apparent end. We were able to narrow the list of suspects down a bit using a combination of suppositions and common sense, and we heard that the Justice Department was passively looking into the matter, and then…nothing. Smith stopped talking about it, Congress went out of session, and no new leads popped up.
Today, however, the Washington Post — on the front page, no less — revives the story with some new details.
The Post article was largely a detailed overview of the entire controversy, but nothing you wouldn’t know from reading my previous posts on the would-be scandal. The Post article did, however, offer readers a new level of corroboration for Smith’s original complaints about the attempted bribes.
Specifically, the Post found a series of Republican congressmen to acknowledge, on the record, that they heard Smith directly tell them that “House Republican leaders had promised substantial financial and political support for his son’s campaign if Smith voted yes.” This is helpful, to a certain extent, because it reinforces what we already know (Smith was offered a bribe), and undercuts what we never really believed (Smith’s attempt to backpedal and say he technically wasn’t offered a bribe).
[A]t least eight members of the Republican Study Committee — a group of fiscally conservative House lawmakers, including many who opposed the Medicare bill — said in interviews that they believe Smith told the truth about the pressure he received [during a dinner with Committee members].
Rep. Gil Gutknecht (R-Minn.), who was present at the dinner, recalled Smith saying it was “people from leadership” who had offered the money. He said Smith did not say who it was, but he assumed it was someone who controlled a “large leadership PAC, who can raise a hundred thousand dollars by hosting a few fundraisers.”
“I think something happened,” Gutknecht said. “If it happened, then somebody in the leadership is guilty of at least gross stupidity…. Whoever made that comment should resign.”
Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Colo.), who was also at the dinner, recalls Smith telling the group that “someone had said his son … would be the beneficiary if he would vote for the bill, up to the tune of about $100,000…. If Nick Smith said it happened, it happened.”
Rep. Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) recalls Smith telling the group that his son was promised an endorsement and funds from the National Republican Congressional Committee. Carl Forti, a spokesman for NRCC Chairman Thomas M. Reynolds (R-N.Y.), said Reynolds “did not make any sort of offers to Mr. Smith.”
“It’s all going to be just as Nick said,” said Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett (R-Md.). “When you see people making more than a million dollars a year on K Street, there is just too much money in the process.”
Moreover, the Post article includes some flat denials of responsibility from some key GOP House leaders, including House Speaker Dennis Hastert, House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Bill Thomas, and Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson.
Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham (R-Calif.), meanwhile, acknowledged that he spoke directly with Smith about his son’s prospects and the Medicare vote. Cunningham said if Smith’s son would vote the way Smith did, “he would not support the son’s candidacy,” spokeswoman Jessica Boulanger said. But Cunningham “did not threaten him,” she added. Hmm.
Obviously, it’s wrong to condemn based on the absence of denials, but the Post article didn’t include any comments from several key players. Let’s assume that all of those who offered flat denials are telling the truth; it’s a stretch, but play along. Even if we exclude all of these people from the list of potential suspects, there are still plenty of House GOP leaders who could have offered Smith the bribe who have not yet made similar denials, including Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas), NRCC Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), Chief Deputy Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.), and my personal fav, GOP Whip team member and NRCC finance chairman Rep. Mike Rogers (R-Mich.)
As Slate’s Tim Noah said a few weeks ago, if the Justice Department doesn’t follow up on this, the agency simply isn’t doing its job.