GOP corruption "worries" Vin Weber

[Minnesota Raindog]

You can always count on former Minnesota Congressman (and U.S. Senator wannabe) Vin Weber to spin a duplicitous response to whatever criminal behavior his party is accused of. From the Washington Post:

Former representative Vin Weber (R-Minn.) said yesterday that he thinks DeLay and Frist are victims of "bum raps," but he nonetheless said that Republicans should be worried by the prospect that the issue of corruption will become a central theme in the upcoming campaigns.

"I think that the Democrats are unable to exploit issues like energy, taxes and Iraq because they have nothing to say," said Weber, who remains an important GOP strategist. "The problem with the issue of corruption is the opposition party doesn't have to have anything to say. All you've got to be is the other party, so it worries me."


Gee, Vin, is that the only problem with corruption? You talk as if this is the first time Tom DeLay has run afoul of the law and rules of Congress. "Bum rap," you say? How about these--are they "bum raps" too, Vin?

(courtesy of buzzflash.com)

SO MANY ALLEGATIONS AND ETHICS VIOLATIONS - PERHAPS DELAY FORGOT THE ONES THAT HE WAS ADMONISHED FOR
DELAY: "As for the charges, I have the facts, the law and the truth on my side, just as I have against every false allegation my opponents have flung at me over the last 10 years."

But DeLay Was Admonished by the Ethics Committee Three Times, With A Fourth Charge Pending:

ADMONISHMENT 1: DeLay Received Private Admonishment for Continuing with Gingrich's K Street Project. In 1999, the House Ethics Committee sent a letter to DeLay privately admonishing him for pushing the Electronics Industry Association to hire former Rep. Bill Paxon (R-NY) as a lobbyist instead of former Rep. Dave McCurdy (D-OK). The plan was part of DeLay's push to load K Street power lobbying firms with Republicans, which he re-launched in 2004, despite being admonished for it by the Ethics Committee in 1999.


ADMONISHMENT 2: House Ethics Committee Admonished DeLay for Bribes for Votes. DeLay violated House standard procedure and kept the 15-minute House vote on Medicare open for 3 hours. Later on, the House Ethics Committee conducted an investigation into whether DeLay threatened and bribed representatives into voting for the Medicare law, including a large contribution of "$100,000-plus" for the campaign of the son of a member of Congress.


ADMONISHMENT 3-A: Westar Traded Cash To DeLay in Exchange for "Seat At The Table" During Energy Bill Negotiations. An energy company, Westar, gave more than $56,000 in cash to DeLay for a "seat at the table" during energy bill negotiations. As a result, language was added to a bill that specifically benefited Westar.


ADMONISHMENT 3-B: DeLay Abused Leadership Position and Used Influence To Track Private Airplane. DeLay abused his leadership position and used his influence to direct the Department of Homeland Security track a private airplane carrying Democratic members of the Texas legislature who were rebelling against a DeLay-led Texas redistricting plan.


ADMONISHMENT 4, PENDING: Committee Will Decide Whether to Pursue Action Based on TRMPAC. The House Ethics Committee deferred action on another complaint dealing with DeLay's fundraising group TRMPAC. A Texas grand jury in September 2004 indicted three of DeLay's political associates on charges of using TRMPAC to illegally collect corporate donations and funnel them to Texas legislative races. The ethics committee said it will take no action on the matter "pending further action" concerning the indictments or the Texas-based investigation that prompted them.
FIVE TIMES IS A CHARM: In Order to Prevent DeLay from Being Admonished Again, House Ethics Chairman Replaced By Hastert. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert released Joel Hefley of his duties as Chairman of the House Ethics Committee and appointed party loyalist Doc Hastings to the post. The House Republican Caucus approved the measure. "It was done because Mr. Hefley's time had run out," said John Feehery, a spokesman for Mr. Hastert.

ABRAMOFF AND TOM DELAY:
BECAUSE MONEY LAUNDERING ISN'T THE END OF THE STORY
DELAY TALKING POINTS: "The trip DeLay took to Russia in 1997 and the United Kingdom in 2000 were proper."

DeLay Traveled to UK, Golfed at St. Andrews, Had Luxurious Accommodations. In May 2000, DeLay traveled to England and Scotland. According to Time Magazine, DeLay and his group had rooms at London's Four Seasons Hotel, dinners at the best restaurants in town and hard-to-get tickets for The Lion King. DeLay golfed at the legendary St. Andrews Golf Course, where Abramoff has a membership. Abramoff reportedly initially paid for several parts of DeLay's trip, a violation of House rules.

Abramoff Coordinated Trip Paid For By Gambling Interests. According to DeLay's travel disclosure forms, the National Center for Public Policy paid for his travel to Scotland and the United Kingdom. DeLay traveled with his wife, Abramoff, and aides Tony Rudy and Susan Hirschman.


Safavian Arrested In Connection With Abramoff Probe and Similar Trip to UK. The Bush administration's chief contracting and procurement official at OMB David Safavian was arrested in September of 2005. Safavian was being held on charges of making false statements to an ethics official, making false statements to the General Services Agency's Inspector General, and obstruction of a GSA-IG investigation.
DeLay Took Russia Trip With Abramoff, Reports that NCPP Paid for Trip. DeLay traveled to Russia with Jack Abramoff in 1997. On his travel disclosure forms, DeLay listed the National Center for Public Policy Research as the trip sponsor. DeLay attended the trip with four of his staff members, and expenses totaled $57,238. Others attending the trip were Amy Ridenour, the director of NCPP, and her husband, lobbyist Julius Kaplan and James P. Lucier, former staff director of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee.

But Foreign Firm Paid for Trip. According to the Washington Post, the Bahamian registered Chelsea Commercial Enterprise Limited funded the DeLay trip to Russia. Chelsea had paid $180,000 to Kaplan's lobbying firm and $260,000 to Abramoff's lobbying firm. According to the Post, Abramoff approached NCPP about sponsoring the trip and the expenses by the center were reimbursed by, "an American trust account affiliated with a law firm."

[tompayne1]

1. If DeLay does a plea deal.

My guess is we will have a lot more of these "Bum Raps" lol

[katinmn]

2. Amazing how Vin Weber can lie with a straight face.

Those that take the side of DeLay and Frist are no friends of the American public, nor of justice.

[grannylib]

3. Vin Weber, founding member of the PNAC and total neocon goon, is

WORRIED about reThug corruption???? He oughta look in the mirror...he IS reThug corruption personified. What could be more corrupt than allowing 9/11 to happen so you can "justify" a war on Iraq? What could be more corrupt than advocating total war???
What a fucker.

[dflprincess]

4. Perhaps that's why he's worried

Maybe he's done something that could result in an indictment. One can hope.

[suegeo]

6. Viva Vin Weber!

http://www.citypages.com/databank/23/1119/article10388.asp

A Minnesota tie to the ill-fated coup in Venezuela
Viva Vin Weber

In the days following last month's abrupt and short-lived ouster of Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, there were widespread accusations that the U.S. had provided assistance to a cabal of business, military, and labor leaders behind the coup. That such claims would be leveled is not surprising. The U.S. has a long history of meddling in Latin American politics. And the Bush administration has done little to disguise its hostility to Chavez, who has been denounced for his leftist rhetoric, his ties to pariah states such as Libya and Iraq, and, perhaps most significant, his efforts to overhaul the state-run petroleum industry.

But despite a rash of reports linking CIA and State Department officials to the coup, one question of particular interest to Minnesotans has remained both unasked and unanswered: What role was played by former Second District Congressman Vin Weber?

Weber, a power player in GOP political circles who retired from Congress in 1993, has served as chairman of the board for the obscure but influential National Endowment for Democracy since January 2001. The NED, a private nonprofit agency, was founded in the early Eighties with the express goal of fostering democratic ideals abroad. Although it is funded almost exclusively with taxpayer dollars (to the tune of $33 million annually), the NED is supposed to operate independently of any government agency. Theoretically, this allows the NED to carry out its mission in countries where official U.S. involvement is unwelcome, such as Manuel Noriega's Panama.

[MnFats]

5. ask Vin Weber why he didn't run for re-election. NO, really.

I have pretty good sources in both parties and there are some pretty strange stories about old Vin out there.
but since I am unable to substantiate them on the record I will not repeat them here.
IN fact, forget you saw this post.