It seems like a pretty big deal. The Washington Times, a far-right newspaper created by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon, reported yesterday that a Justice Department investigation into congressional corruption, stemming from Jack Abramoff, is focusing on a “first tier” of lawmakers and staffers. Specifically, five lawmakers, the Times said, are under scrutiny: Sens. Conrad Burns, Montana Republican; Byron L. Dorgan, North Dakota Democrat; and Minority Leader Harry Reid, Nevada Democrat, along with Reps. J.D. Hayworth, Arizona Republican, and Bob Ney, Ohio Republican.
This didn’t make a lot of sense. The three Republicans mentioned clearly have an Abramoff problem and the idea that they’re facing a criminal investigation would hardly come as a surprise. But the Dems mentioned haven’t done anything to warrant an investigation. Dorgan received support from the Choctaw Indians, but Dorgan was working with the tribe long before Abramoff was stealing from them. Indeed, there’s no evidence of Abramoff dealing with Dorgan at all, so the notion that the non-existent relationship would be the matter of a Justice Department probe was far-fetched, to put it mildly.
And what about Harry Reid? The Las Vegas Review-Journal reports today that the Washington Times is just plain wrong.
The Justice Department is not focusing on Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of Nevada as part of an investigation of lobbyist Jack Abramoff, a source close to the probe said Wednesday in challenging a published report. […]
[Reid] criticized the newspaper, which was founded by the Rev. Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church. “You have to really stretch things to call it a newspaper,” Reid said.
Reid spokeswoman Tessa Hafen called the Washington Times story “completely baseless…. Senator Reid’s office has not been contacted by the Justice Department at all,” Hafen said.
What do you know; the Washington Times’ desperate attempt to make the Abramoff scandal a bi-partisan affair has turned out to be bogus. Who could have guessed?