The blotter

Posted: Monday, April 30, 2007 9:15 AM by Mark Murray
Filed Under: Congress

The East Valley Tribune, one of Arizona’s most conservative papers, calls for Rep. Rick Renzi to resign in an editorial. “We have no idea if Renzi is guilty of any wrongdoing. But we do know the FBI investigation already is hampering Renzi’s representation of the 1st Congressional District, which reaches across a vast swath of northern Arizona. He has stepped away from all of his committee assignments and made himself largely unavailable for comment… The better choice, the honorable choice, would be for Renzi to step aside and let someone else come forward to represent his district and our state in Congress.

Meanwhile, the Washington Post reported over the weekend that the DCCC has established an AZ-01 Special Election Fund. If/when there is a special election to replace Renzi, the fund will ensure that the Democratic candidate benefits from an immediate infusion of funds for the general election.

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Comments

Once again, GOPers, investigations by FBI, wrong doings, all in same story. GOPers step away from working but stay on and still collect their pay and benefits. What a moral group.

Flat-earther, Georgia (Sent Monday, April 30, 2007 11:35 AM)

Of course in our system of justice, being accused is not the same as being convicted, but being the subject of an FBI investigation is probably quite distracting. The GOP does not want to be portrayed as the culture of corruption again in '08, which may be why even conservative sources are calling for Renzi to step down. Also, some Republican seats were lost (Foley, DeLay) because they became open too late for a GOP candidate to mount a vigorous campaign. To be fair, there are also corrupt Democrats (Jefferson and Mollahan) who are hanging on to their seats during FBI investigations. They have not been asked to resign. Jefferson was even reelected??

kim, crofton md (Sent Monday, April 30, 2007 12:24 PM)

Watch out for the D.C. Madam. Lots of people are going to fall. First one to go, Mr. Tobias former CEO of Eli Lilly and AT&T. He was the first director of U.S. foreign assistance tapped by Ms. Rice.One of his projects was HIV?AIDS, designed to promote abstinence and marital fidelty. He admmitted to having a "massage."He was a friend of the current President, who said he was saddended by his resignation. She claims to have clients in the range of 10,000-15,000.

Desmond (Sent Monday, April 30, 2007 1:03 PM)

Just about every week (or so) new information/facts/ scandals are uncovered and brought to light, that is negative to the Bush administration. When they are, it clearly shows the Bush administration is not good at having to explain them. 6 years plus of no accountability or taking responsibility for their actions had worked well for them. Well, no more. Pretty soon one of the scandals to come will be the one that takes down Bush, Cheney, his administration and many of the Republicans in Congress with him.

Robert C Ankeny, IA (Sent Monday, April 30, 2007 3:25 PM)

There is a scandal that can bring them down- the Abramoff scandal. Its prosecution has been slowed down by multiple changes in the lead prosecutor- sound familiar???

kim,crofton md (Sent Monday, April 30, 2007 6:01 PM)

I thought Jefferson would have been beaten in the election, too, kim. Some people don't see corruption, whether they be republicans or democrats. There's no one group immune from corruption. I'd like to see people vote for the best person, and not just the party, but it's easy to see the wrong in someone who is unlike you and easy to forgive someone who is more like you. It's wrong, but it's the way it is. Who doesn't do this? I guess we vote for the people we think will represent "our way" the best, as much as we can figure out what that is at any given time.

Jane, Southern Mississippi (Sent Tuesday, May 01, 2007 1:18 AM)

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