GOP's Ed Rollins: Hookergate is "Big"

[RedEarth]

GOP's Ed Rollins: Hookergate is "Big"
By Justin Rood - May 3, 2006, 10:15 PM
GOP super-strategist Ed Rollins (late of the Katherine Harris campaign) made a couple interesting comments on Charlie Rose last night. First, he indicated strongly that he believes a number of the other lawmakers in trouble with Hookergate are Defense appropriators. He also says as many as 15 lawmakers could get indicted over the mess in the next few months.

Maybe Ed's playing the expectations game: if voters buy the 15 number, and only seven actually get busted, well then the kids aren't so bad after all. Still, it's interesting speculation from an insider. I just found the show transcript on Nexis -- emphasis is mine:

ED ROLLINS. . . If this House scandal is as big as I think it is from talking to people that are around it -- of course it started with Cunningham and it`s moving beyond that.
GEORGE STEPHANOPOULOS: Duke Cunningham.

..........

ED ROLLINS: The use of prostitutes and what`s occurred in Washington that I think everyone`s disgusted at, is we promised we were going to be different than the Democrats; we weren`t going to basically be beholden to K Street, we were going to be term limits and we weren`t going to be the big PACs and all the rest of it. That`s all gone by the boards, and if anything we may even be worse.

In order to be a chairman of a committee today, you have to go raise millions and millions of dollars to be able to dole out. Not that there`s competitive races, but that`s part of the process. So we have -- let me just finish. We have created a culture in which a whole bunch of people have taken a whole bunch of money, and now that you`ve earmarked this stuff -- if you end up with eight or nine or as many as 15 members of Congress, even a couple Democrats, getting indicted in the next three or four months, that may be sufficient.

http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/archives/000542.php

[Lost4words]

1. MAY be worse? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

these junta members are teaching the Devil new tricks for cripes sakes!

[IndyOp]

19. Exactly. The whole reason they are in office is so that they CAN

carry on with everything corrupt.

Can anyone here remember if ANYONE from the Clinton administration was convicted of ANYTHING?
Can anyone remember a corruption scandal among Dems in congress since the Rostenkowski inappropriate use of Congressional mail priveleges scandal broke?

Reagan Administration has set the record for most administration members convicted.
Bush I got smart and pardoned his criminals.
Bush II may get the record - it depends on how many get convicted before he is ready to leave office and sign those pardons on the way out.

:grr: :mad: :nuke:

[Usrename]

71. It is much, much worse than you suggest.

Bush II actually hired the pardoned criminals to work for him.

Eliot Abrams - John Negroponte - John Poindexter - Otto Reich

[IndyOp]

72. Bush II here Reagan's pardoned criminals. Didn't he also pardon some

of his own? Mike Malloy had a caller the other night who was all excited about Rove being indicted and going to jail and Malloy said that we have no reason to expect that Bush Jr will be any different from his Daddy -- who pardoned his own criminals.

:shrug:

[Usrename]

73. Yeah, I get it! The most corrupt govt. in the world perhaps!

The criminals that Bush II hired were convicted on conspiracy charges under Reagan. And now they work for us again, in this Administration. And we are just loony to worry about conspiracies.

:toast:

[peacetalksforall]

May be worse. Isn't that a pathetic use of the word 'may'? n/t

[peacetalksforall]

31. Dignity and honor. More like disgrace and humiliation. n/t

[Wickerman]

2. "That`s all gone by the boards, and if anything we may even be worse"

Gee Ed, ya think?

ED ROLLINS: The use of prostitutes and what`s occurred in Washington that I think everyone`s disgusted at, is we promised we were going to be different than the Democrats; we weren`t going to basically be beholden to K Street, we were going to be term limits and we weren`t going to be the big PACs and all the rest of it. That`s all gone by the boards, and if anything we may even be worse.

[SheWhoMustBeObeyed]

18. That's right - they intended to screw everyone BUT hookers

Having gotten away with that, they decided to go all the way.

Poor Monica! What did she get for her infatuation - a book and a hat or something?

But these guys didn't just indulge in the convenient proximity of a starry-eyed intern. They took what they regarded as one of the privileges due them. A golf junket, an expensive meal, a new home, a woman's body - it's all the same to them. Nasty!

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

22. . . . if anything we may even be worse. . .

This bunch of Repug thieves makes any of the former Democratic houses from 1964 to 1994 look like saints.

There is no limit to the corruption they are capable of.

[aquart]

3. "..may be even worse."

LOL! Ya think?

[paparush]

4. Repug Legacy - SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL

DEATH ROBBERY EXPLOITATION

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL

DEATH ROBBERY EXPLOITATION

SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL SCANDAL

[nicknameless]

16. But -- Clinton let people sleep in the Lincoln Bedroom! **Gasp**

:eyes:

[Kansas Wyatt]

29. Was a male prostitute turning tricks...

In the Lincoln Bedroom, or was Gannon just a 'hard working' reporter?

[NewJeffCT]

33. As Peggy Noonan would say

It would be irresponsible for us not to speculate.

[nicknameless]

69. Wasn't he there some 200 times?

He probably found his way into a variety of rooms.
Who was that turning tricks in the Lincoln Bedroom? Gannon or Guckert?

[sendero]

70. Both :)

[babylonsister]

5. Recommend for folks throughout the land to see!

:evilgrin:

[Hubert Flottz]

8. "MORALITY" was the issue they won on!

What WILL, we tell the children?

[babylonsister]

13. The irony actually hurts my innards! nt

[Stevepol]

38. Diebold was the only issue they won on, but that was enough.

[Joe Chi Minh]

53. Won on? Finagled on, you mean!

[BOSSHOG]

6. Isn't it okay for republican lawmakers to hire prostitutes

and fuck around with the tax payers money? Surely that is in the bible somewhere. I don't know what the big fuss is all about. The gop base will sort this all out and splain it away in no time. Republicans, prostitutes, honor, integrity. Ya'll wave that flag.

[shain from kane]

26. Frat boy antics. n/t

[Hubert Flottz]

61. "There will be whores and rumors of whores!"

Or was that Wars?

[drm604]

7. If this is damage control

then he's expecting some very bad damage. He's not even trying to deny it, just implying that the Democrats do the same.

[corkhead]

14. yup, that's the new meme... the dems would be doing the exact same thing

if they were in power, so there is no need to throw us out.

:mad:

[AuntiBush]

9. Aw. The Party of "Morals" & "Values"

And all those right-wing Christians... Do they support this, now?

My Gawd, what does it take?

[savemefromdumbya]

10. GOP- the pedophile/whorehouse party

what goes on in the White House?

[kstewart33]

11. I've followed Rollins for years

On these shows, he is a straight shooter. I'd believe him.

[oldtime dfl_er]

12. How come Rollins is singing?

I must admit this is one story I haven't been following that much. Maybe the details just haven't become salacious enough for me yet. :sarcasm:


http://www.cafepress.com/scarebaby/1397008

[AlCzervik]

20. imo he hates Jr., or more to the point what Jr. and the gop party

represent.

[Norquist Nemesis]

23. Heard him call them "these jerks" a few days ago

I don't recall if it was Lou Dobbs or Hardball, he was on a panel with one or two other 'analysts'.

There's still a hole in the floor where my chin hit it.

[AlCzervik]

25. well Ed and his friends are the old school and i think the fact the

evangelicals have taken over the party really bothers them, hopefully all this can be used to our advantage.

[charlie]

27. Hard to believe

Rollins was bounced from the GOP inner circle for bragging about giving black ministers "walking around money" to suppress voting. He has no moral compass. Actually, he has no morals to peg his compass to. Rollins is always working an angle, I'm wondering what it is in this case.

[AlCzervik]

28. maybe he wants a cut or maybe this current climate is even too much

for someone of his ilk.

[AndyA]

15. George Bush was going to restore integrity to The White House.

The Republicans are supposed to stand for high morals and family values.

Maybe I'm missing something, but where is the integrity, morals, and values when a married Christian man sleeps with a hooker?

This seems much worse than a BJ given in a moment of weakness. Hiring a hooker takes planning ahead. This is a First Degree Scandal instead of a Second Degree Scandal.

IMPEACH!

[NewJeffCT]

34. When Bush took office

They announced that the adults were back in charge... or something like that.

When the Democrats take back the White House, do we say "Competence has returned to the White House" or "Sanity restored at White House"?

[renate]

45. "Decency has returned to the White House"

It's not particularly stirring, but caring and compassion as well as good behavior all come under the umbrella of "decency."

[FlaGranny]

52. Yes, but only adults

should be allowed to use prostitutes, so . . . . .

[bluestateguy]

17. You'll have to fill me in. What is "Hookergate"?

I knew that phony war hero Cunningham was dipping it into the cookie jar, but I did not know that others were involved too.

[NewJeffCT]

35. In summary

Duke Cunningham reportedly was involved in trading votes for sexual favors from prostitutes at - get this - Watergate. The FBI is interviewing escort services, strippers, etc all around the DC area, and supposedly several other Republican congressional people are under suspicion.

Even Joe "Newt Gingrich is too liberal for me" Scarborough thinks this is an unprecendented scandal, as past sex scandals in DC were involving illicit affairs, mistresses, interns, etc. This is actually trading votes for sex.

[Quantess]

36. me too, please.

Is this about Gannon only, or are there other known prostitutes?

[vickitulsa]

21. It does sound like he's trying to "innoculate the jury pool"

before more indictments come rolling in.

It appears lately that at least some Repugs are getting as disgusted with their own party members as everyone else is. This is in line with the DU thread yesterday regarding Repugs lying about ever having voted for Bush/Cheney now that so much lawbreaking and so many scandals are making headlines.

If I weren't so concerned about the damage done to our Constitution, our entire system of government, poor Americans and many people in other countries, I'd be laughing my ass off on a daily basis at these creeps as they're exposed for what they really are.

[shain from kane]

24. Certainly can't keep their promises. Graduated from "no new taxes".

>>>>>"...we promised we were going to be different than the Democrats...">>>>>

They are certainly different than the Democrats. Has there been a Democrat scandal invoving prostitutes in the past?

[charlie]

30. Yes

Wilbur Mills and Wayne Hays both endured big public scandals. Look up Fannie Fox and Elizabeth Ray.

[shain from kane]

37. Elizabeth Ray as a typist was a hunt and pecker.

I know about both of them, and they were scandals. However, I don't think you should calssify them as prostitutes. Fannie was supposedly an exotic dancer and Elizabeth Ray was supposedly a secretary that he added to his payroll.

[charlie]

39. Supposedly

The supposedlys were weak excuses for 2 old men paying for sex with young women. The women perhaps weren't pros, but that didn't make a whit of difference in the public mind.

[shain from kane]

40. I agree with everything that you say, but I made the distinction

because I don't believe that they were open for business with the general public.
Of course, that would not exclude the possibility that they were passed around with other members of Congress, that exclusive fraternity.

[charlie]

46. Okay, here's one I forgot

Didn't make much of a splash at the time -- Barney Frank's live-in running a call ring out of his house. Was more like guilt-by-proximity to prostitution, unlike the others though.

I take your point that this Cunningham thing might become a singular and unprecedented scandal. I wonder if it's possible nowadays to have a Profumo-sized shakeup from something like this? This is once instance where I hope we can count on America's bluenoses to do what they do best.

[shain from kane]

62. Wasn't there a warning to politicians that the worst thing that could

happen to you would be for the press to find you in bed with a dead woman, or a live boy?

I guess Barney Frank could claim partial immunity from that danger, as long as the boy was old enough.

[charlie]

65. Heh. Barney Frank

has full immunity, because he's got steel, he bites Republicans in the ass.

He was the one who stopped Gingrich's whisper campaign against Speaker Tom Foley cold -- they made Foley out to be a closeted gay, a surreptitious cruiser of bathhouses -- by booking time on the Sunday talkshows and saying there were a dozen closeted Republicans he was willing to out if they didn't knock that shit off. It ended right there.

Years later, he'd recount with a chortle, it was bullshit and bluster on his part.

[DAMANgoldberg]

75. LA

that would be the immortal Huey P Long, D-LA

[robbedvoter]

32. Rollins - known to talk to much. First came to infamy in NJ - fired

as advisor of lautemberg GOP oponent - for telling the press how his campaign was buying votes. he knows stuff, and can't keep it to himself.

[leesa]

41. Well, thank God one of these ugly bastards finally got a blowjob...now

maybe Americans will FINALLY take their crimes seriously.

[lutefisk]

44. First we have to spend $80,000,000.00 to trap them in a lie...

...about the bj.

[callous taoboy]

42. There is this asshole in town with a bumper sticker:

"Vote Republican: Values DO matter"

[Aviation Pro]

64. Retort

Vote Democrat: Truth Trumps Your (Lack of) Values

[Raksha]

68. Soon we'll be able to revise that slogan with just one word:

"Vote Democratic: Values DO Matter"

and EVERYONE will know what we mean! No explanation necessary.

[originalpckelly]

43. I think they've screwed themselves so much this time...

that their constituents will finally dislike them (well someone screwed them.)

:rofl:

[Little Star]

47. Re: Hooker-gate

All I can say is at least Bill didn't have to pay for what he got like those losers.

[oldtime dfl_er]

74. zing!

great one!!

[incapsulated]

76. lol

Damn straight. I mean take a look at these guys? Who wouldn't demand cash up front?

[mtnester]

48. Sheesh, lie and get our boys & girls killed in illegal war, not to mention

the untold amount of Iraqi's killed....nah that won't get you thrown out of the WH

Lie about outing a CIA agent at the peril of national security - that won't get you thrown out EITHER


But toss some hookers in the mix, and THEN, it becomes high crimes and misdemeanors....REALLY big.


I continue to be amazed...really I do...just when I thought I could no longer be so amazingly stupefied, bang, there I am with my mouth hanging open going "WTF?"

[Frank Cannon]

49. GOP = Giddy Over Prostitutes

Why is it these prostitution scandals always seem to involve Republican administrations? And why are they always swept under the rug by the mainstream media? I thought sexual activity of ANY KIND was illegal and/or impeachable in the Federal government.

[Libby2]

50. "Even" a couple of Democrats?

LMAO....I love that line.

[ArbustoBuster]

51. Apparently it's hookers and keggers 24/7 in the Grand Old Parrrrtay.

I hope this scandal finally makes it clear to the mouth-breathing 32% who still support Dubya and the Republicans that they're not the lily-white Christian martyrs that they pretend to be. They're lying, scandal-ridden thieves who are paying for a disgustingly rich lifestyle with our stolen tax money.

[Initech]

54. Cant we impeach these guys for hiring hookers?

If the party of morals and values had any of either, these guys should be impeached for this. I mean, they got Clinton for a blowjob... what's next?

[Vinca]

55. My first reaction is sympathy for the prostitutes.

How badly must a girl need money to screw the Dukester? Just wondering. Anyone heard any other names mentioned?

[w8liftinglady]

56. lol..my thoughts,too...as i glance upon the repubs

-imagine doing these guys?

[Vinca]

58. OMG - that Denny. What a hottie!

:rofl:

[in_cog_ni_to]

57. Maybe even a couple of Democrats??? Hmmm...I wonder who THAT

could be?

[katty]

59. I've read elsewhere this is big-so sex takes them down?! ha!

[DURHAM D]

60. I wonder - Ed and others of his era that have been pushed out

of the Repug inner circle may be trying to start a third party - probably focused on McCain as the candidate in 2008 if he does not get the Repug nomination.

[mb7588a]

63. The DC legacy

DC has long been a mecca for prostitution, illegal drugs, and scandal.
Since its inception, DC has been where "statesmen" come to lose their dignity. It was a lively city, full of brothels and high-priced sexual services.

Sadly, this isn't really new. :(

[Catrina]

67. Maybe, but this was the administration that was supposed to change all

that. And what's really disgusting about this particular scandal and Duke Cunningham and his defense contractors, is that while they had the American people roused up into a Patriotic frenzy, accusing anyone, like Kerry, who questioned the amount of money (remember the $87 billion dollar fiasco?) being spent on the war, and asked for accountability, of 'hating the troops', while all the time they were partying.

This involves the War ~ the money that was flowing as a result of the war. At least one of the Defense Contractors now indicted for bribing Cunningham to get contracts, is one of those talking about Hookergate.

They slammed Kerry, and I know those of us who tried to back him, and others up, who questioned the war funding, were called traitors and troop haters. To think that as soon as they got their hands on the money, they celebrated by partying like adoloscents while the troops and the Iraqi people were dying.

I think that's why Ed Rollins is saying it's going to be big.

[Independent_Liberal]

66. Hookergate! Hahaha!!! :)

I love it!

:D

[AwakeAtLast]

77. Yeah, but I called it that over a week ago!

:( I didn't get any recognition for it! :(

I'm gonna take my toys and go home!

;)

:hi: