The Raw Story is reporting that the “Democrats’ former face of ethics under scrutiny by FBI for real estate, nonprofit deals” :
Federal Bureau of Investigation agents have begun asking questions in Washington and West Virginia about the lawmaker’s holdings and whether they were properly disclosed, according to people who have been contacted in recent days. Such investigations often end with no charges filed, and Rep. Mollohan has not been formally accused of misconduct.
Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV) bought a 300-acre farm with the head of a small defense contractor that had won a $2.1 million contract from funds that the congressman added to a 2005 spending bill last year. The joint purchase of the farm, which sits on the Cheat River in West Virginia, is the most direct tie yet disclosed between Rep. Mollohan and a beneficiary of the federal spending he has steered toward his home state. It raises new questions about possible conflicts of interest by Rep. Mollohan and his use of such spending.
Also the Chicago Sun Times is reporting that Congressman Bobby Rush (D-Ill) may have issues of his own:
An Englewood community center founded by Rep. Bobby Rush (D-Ill.), a key player on telecommunications legislation, received a $1 million grant from the charitable arm of SBC/AT&T, one of the nation’s largest phone companies.
A great example can be found in our local liberal rag, the Sacramento Bee. In the last six months they have written no less than 20 articles attacking local conservative congressman John Doolittle (R-California) for everything from being friends with Jack Abramoff to hiring his wife to work for his campaign. But as pointed out in a recent Op-Ed “What’s really behind reporting on Doolittle?” by California Assemblyman Tim Leslie; the Bee is attacking the congressman for practices that are not only legal, they are also not exclusive to Republicans:
In its indictment of Doolittle, The Bee comes to the conclusion that “members of Congress, their spouses and children should not benefit financially from money given to their campaigns.” Fair enough. However, then the editorial goes on to only condemn Doolittle for this practice and fails to mention the names of the more than 50 members of Congress who also employ family members in a similar way.
Shouldn’t The Bee be equally outraged that California Democrats such as Sen. Barbara Boxer, Congressman Pete Stark and Congressman Howard Berman also pay family members? One more thing The Bee conveniently forgot to mention – the practice of doing so is perfectly legal.
The Bee’s claim that it does not “pretend to know whether the Doolittle arrangement is legal,” is quite shocking given that the Federal Elections Commission has already resolved that this practice is legal.
With a little digging, they would have found that Roll Call, a newspaper covering Capitol Hill, recently reported, “The FEC put its official stamp of approval on such arrangements in 2001, when the agency issued a formal advisory opinion to Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr., D-Ill., who wanted to hire his wife, Sandi, as a campaign consultant.”
I’m betting that regardless of how true these stories are or how much dirt may come up, the MSM will little to no reporting on them.