Republicans: Making Government Smaller

Another suddenly alcoholic Republican MC, Bob Ney of Ohio, made the news today, pleading guilty to charges of conspiracy, making false statements, and bribery, in connection with one of the numerous scandals centered around former lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Ney's plea completes the trifecta of House GOP members who have lost or resigned their seats in the past year because of influence-peddling and allegations of illegal campaign finance activities. The other two were, of course, Randall "Duke" Cunningham and Tom "The Bugkiller" DeLay. Cunningham pled guilty to tax evasion, conspiracy, mail fraud, and wire fraud for taking bribes from government defense contractors. DeLay, the former House Majority Leader, eventually resigned his seat after being indicted on state charges of conspiracy and money-laundering. Two of DeLay's former aides, Tony Rudy and Michael Scanlon, have pleaded guilty to federal conspiracy charges for their involvement with Abramoff.

The CNN article did not say whether Ney's continuing cooperation with prosecutors was a condition of the plea agreement. However, an earlier article, reported on the day the plea deal was filed, stated that Ney would be required "to make a full, accurate, and complete disclosure" to prosecutors, but went on to say that "Ney's lawyer...expects Ney will not be asked questions outside the circumstances of the charges." (emphasis added)

Huh? Why would Ney's mouthpiece expect that?

Is the Justice Department trying to contain the Abramoff scandal? Shouldn't any and all criminal activity Ney knew about, including things in which he didn't participate, be fair game? After all, expanding the scope of an investigation is one of the primary reasons for letting a perp cop a plea.