Progressive Democrat Issue 114: CALIFORNIA FOCUS: Corrupt California Republicans

Seems Republicans are still as corrupt as ever, despite the defeat of corrupt Republican Pombo by Progressive superstar, Jerry McNerney. This is from the California Democratic Party:

Pop quiz: Which Southern California Republican Congressman was the happiest to see San Diego-based U.S. Attorney Carol Lam whacked by the Bush crony - Alberto Gonzales?

a) Gary Miller (R-Diamond Bar)
b) Ken Calvert (R-Corona)
c) Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands)
d) All of the above

The answer will be revealed later on, but first let's review.

A) Miller, the millionaire developer/part-time Congressman from Diamond Bar, has been living under the growing shadow of an FBI investigation into his potentially illegal real estate dealings. Of course, there are also the additional accusations facing Miller that he used his congressional staff for personal errands and that he pursued federal funding for projects beneficial to properties that he and his campaign contributors owned.

B) Then there's Calvert, another real estate investor who dabbles in his Congressional duties when it suits his business needs. In 2006, the FBI began investigating Calvert after the Los Angeles Times reported on Congressional earmarks benefiting redevelopment of land owned by a Calvert company. The paper reported that in one instance, after a $1.5 million earmark for fixing up the closed air base, Calvert and a partner sold the land for a nearly 100 percent profit a year after its purchase. Just last month it was reported that the Riverside County grand jury is investigating Calvert's land deals.

C) And then there is Jerry Lewis, the former Chairman of the House Appropriations Committee. McClatchy Newspapers now reports that on the same day in May of '06 that it was reported the Justice Department was expanding the Duke Cunningham probe to look into Lewis' actions, "Kyle Sampson, then [Attorney General Alberto] Gonzales' chief of staff, sent an e-mail to deputy White House counsel William Kelley, asking Kelley to call to discuss 'the real problem we have right now with Carol Lam that leads me to conclude that we should have someone ready to be nominated on 11/18, the day her 4-year term expires.'" Wow, what a coincidence. The same day the Justice Department starts looking into another Republican's activities, you start laying the groundwork to dump your U.S. Attorney. Nice.

It has become painfully obvious that this ethically-challenged trio all stood to gain from Lam's immediate removal from her post.

So which of these three amigos would have been happiest to see Lam fired from her post by the Bush Administration? The answer is d) All of the above.

Last November the American people wholeheartedly rejected the Republican Culture of Corruption (Richard Pombo ring any bells?), but it seems clear that the voters' clarion call has fallen on deaf ears in the Bush Administration - while these Republican Congressman continue to act like they are above the law.

For more on Gary Miller from Citizens for Responsiblity and Ethics in Washington (CREW) CLICK HERE.

For more on Ken Calvert from Beyond DeLay, CLICK HERE.

And for more on Jerry Lewis from CREW CLICK HERE and from Beyond DeLay, CLICK HERE.


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