Hillary Clinton Returning Hsu’s $850,000
Hillary Clinton will give back $850,000 in bundled funds raised, apparently illegally, by Norman Hsu. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's presidential campaign said Monday it will return $850,000 in donations raised by Democratic fundraiser Norman Hsu, who is under federal investigation for allegedly violating election laws. Clinton, D-N.Y., previously had planned only to give to charity $23,000 she received from Hsu for ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on September 11, 2007 07:02
Getting Rich Off Public Service?
The editors at the Washington Examiner wonder how it is that politicians who come to office with little money leave it as millionaires. They intimate that it's good old fashioned bribery, although the examples they give are far afield and rather inconclusive. They rightly note that Bill and Hillary Clinton's "worries about paying off a $10 million legal bill ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on June 18, 2007 08:35
Curt Weldon Under FBI Investigation for Bribery
Curt Weldon joins the growing ranks of Republican congressional leaders under investigation for influence peddling. The Justice Department is investigating whether Republican Rep. Curt Weldon of Pennsylvania traded his political influence for lucrative lobbying and consulting contracts for his daughter, according to sources with direct knowledge of the inquiry. The FBI, which opened an investigation in recent months, has formally referred the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on October 14, 2006 09:40
Tom Delay An Unlikely GOP Comeback Kid?
Tom DeLay might be back in Congress after all, if a bizarre judicial ruling stands. Could Tom DeLay be headed back to the House? A source close to the ex-Congressman tells TIME that DeLay is planning an aggressive campaign to retake the House seat he quit in June if an appeals court lets stand a ruling by a federal judge last week ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on July 9, 2006 14:30
Reid Took Free Boxing Tickets Then Sponsored Boxing Bill
The scandal of the day is that Harry Reid, Nevada's senior senator, took free boxing tickets worth thousands of dollars from his state's boxing association while boxing legislation was pending before the Senate. Senate Democratic Leader Harry M. Reid (Nev.) accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 30, 2006 07:24
Dennis Hastert Unfit for Command
I'll say. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert took to the podium, praised William Jefferson, and said a prayer attacking the FBI for violating the sanctity of the Congress, saying that the raid was not “God’s way” . . . Oh wait. That was a different scandal and a different Speaker. It was Tennessee Senate Speaker John Wilder who embarrassed ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 25, 2006 16:29
House Speaker Hastert Under Investigation for Bribery?
ABC News' Chief Investigative Correspondent Brian Ross reported on his blog at 6:24 last evening: Federal officials say the Congressional bribery investigation now includes Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert, based on information from convicted lobbyists who are now cooperating with the government. Part of the investigation involves a letter Hastert wrote three years ago, urging the Secretary of the Interior ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 25, 2006 07:19
The End of Legal Bribery
Jeff Birnbaum has a fascinating piece in Washington Monthly arguing that campaign contributions are increasingly being treated as bribes by the Justice Department. He thinks this is a good thing. So far, the scandal surrounding disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff has produced some vivid and memorable examples of modern Washington graft--skybox tickets, pricey restaurant meals, golf junkets to Scotland. Yet at ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on May 16, 2006 13:23
Katherine Harris Linked to Cunningham Scandal
Florida Congresswoman and Senate candidate Katherine Harris is the latest politician linked to the Duke Cunningham scandal, according to an AP report. U.S. Rep. Katherine Harris said Thursday she did not knowingly do anything wrong in her associations with a defense contractor who prosecutors say illegally funneled thousands of dollars to her campaign in 2004. [...] The donations were described in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on March 4, 2006 07:08
Bush Meets Abramoff: Photographic Evidence
The New York Times and Time magazine have caught the Bush Administration in a tall tale indeed. After having denied having records of President Bush ever meeting Jack Abramoff, both outlets have blown the doors off this one. Time has a WEB EXCLUSIVE: First Photo of Bush and Abramoff NYT has a somewhat better photo: Photograph Shows Lobbyist ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 12, 2006 04:06
Reid Aided Abramoff Clients, Records Show
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid voted in ways helpful to Jack Abramoff after taking campaign contributions from him, AP reports. Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid wrote at least four letters helpful to Indian tribes represented by Jack Abramoff, and the senator's staff regularly had contact with the disgraced lobbyist's team about legislation affecting other clients. The activities -- detailed in ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 10, 2006 04:03
Reid Shrugs Off Abramoff Connections
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid took money from Indian tribes connected to Jack Abramoff, according to a story in the Las Vegas Review-Journal. Sen. Harry Reid of Nevada began receiving campaign contributions from at least four American Indian tribes only after they hired Jack Abramoff, Republicans charged this week in an effort to tie the Senate Democratic leader to the disgraced ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 3, 2006 13:49
Can John Shadegg Be Elected House Majority Leader?
As has likely been apparent for quite some time, my preference in the race for House Majority Leader (in which, as Majority Whip Roy Blunt would hasten to point out, I don't have a vote) would be, in order, John Shadegg, John Boehner, a random Republican Member, and Roy Blunt. Blunt is the candidate with the most ties to ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on February 2, 2006 07:06
Abramoff Prosecutor Steps Down After Promoted by Bush
NYT reports that, "The investigation of Jack Abramoff, the disgraced Republican lobbyist, took a surprising new turn on Thursday when the Justice Department said the chief prosecutor in the inquiry would step down next week because he had been nominated to a federal judgeship by President Bush." Karl Rove is clearly losing his touch. While I am reasonably sure the ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 27, 2006 09:00
Harry Reid Apologizes to GOP
Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid apologized to the Republican party yesterday for the intemperate tone of a report released by his office on the Abramoff scandal. Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid on Thursday apologized to 33 Republican senators singled out for ethics criticism in a report from his office titled "Republican Abuse of Power." "The document released by my ...Posted in Outside The Beltway on January 20, 2006 09:27
