Tactics and Substance in the 2004 Elections GoogleNews: Howard Dean

December 2, 2003

by V

GOP + Novak = Investigations?

For (at least) the second time, the quoting of Republicans by Robert Novak has apparently exposed a crime -- in this case, bribery.

You'd think they might stop telling him so many things.

Who Tried To Bribe Rep. Smith? - Stop protecting him, Congressman. By Timothy Noah
<Novak>On the House floor, Nick Smith was told business interests would give his son $100,000 in return for his father's vote. When he still declined, fellow Republican House members told him they would make sure Brad Smith never came to Congress. After Nick Smith voted no and the bill passed, [Rep.] Duke Cunningham of California and other Republicans taunted him that his son was dead meat.</Novak>

...Marc Miller, a Washington attorney who advises clients on ethics issues, told Chatterbox that what Novak described not only looked like "a slam-dunk violation of the bribery law" but probably also included "a smorgasbord of other criminal violations." Rep. Smith, Miller said, "should really be sharing the specifics with the Justice Department."
Speaker Denny Hastert and Duke Cunningham seem to be the persons of interest here. I don't suppose we'll see any frog-marching resulting from this incident either, but it's nice to fantasize about laws actually being enforced.

A note to Rep. Nick Smith might be in order, recommending that he share what he knows with the authorities.
Posted by V at December 2, 2003 08:14 AM
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