ANOTHER GOP CONGRESSMAN RAIDED BY THE FBI –

[jaysunb]

California Democratic Party
Friday, April 20, 2007


MEMO TO POLITICAL REPORTERS, EDITORS, INTERESTED PARTIES
FROM: Roger Salazar, CDP [phone]


ANOTHER GOP CONGRESSMAN RAIDED BY THE FBI – REP. GARY MILLER BREATHES A (TEMPORARY) SIGH OF RELIEF


When millionaire developer and part-time Congressman Gary Miller read this morning in Roll Call that “the Justice Department has been running a two-track investigation” into a member of Congress “regarding a land deal, as well as a piece of legislation” that this particular Congressman “helped steer that may have improperly benefited a major campaign contributor,” we can imagine Miller’s heart skipped a beat.



Fortunately for Miller, this time the Feds are focused on another GOP member of Congress, Rick Renzi (R-Arizona). Renzi now has the dubious distinction of becoming the second Congressional Republican in a week whose family has been raided by the FBI, and the second such member to subsequently step down from his coveted committee assignment in the wake of the raid. (Roll Call, April 20, 2007)



Still, Miller’s sense of relief will most certainly be only temporary, as questions continue to mount surrounding the Congressman’s real estate deals, and accusations that he pursued federal funding for projects beneficial to properties that he and his campaign contributors owned.



In an editorial* in today’s Daily Bulletin, the Congressman’s hometown newspaper says Miller “has on numerous occasions pushed legislation that expressly benefits one of the region's top developers - the Lewis Group of Companies.” According to the Daily Bulletin, “Miller, whose campaigns have received $22,150 from the Lewis Group's top executives since 1999, denies using his office to benefit the Lewis Group. But many Lewis projects have gained a big helping hand from their connection to the congressman.”

The editorial continues: “It is such an obvious conflict of interest that Miller should do the obvious thing - and not only bow out of voting on any project that has a direct link to a major campaign donor, but stop aggressively pushing legislation that favors such projects….Why can't, or won't, Miller make that simple concession, and refrain from feeding the perception that he is personally steering public funds directly into the hands of his benefactors?”

Of course, we don’t expect Miller to make that concession anytime soon – you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Like Duke Cunningham, John Doolittle, and Rick Renzi before him, we imagine that Congressman Miller will be pointing fingers at others and proclaiming his innocence all the way up the courthouse steps.

[Ghost in the Machine]

1. ... and the Republican Culture of Corruption marches on ....