WHITE HOUSE CORRUPTION
Columnist Robert Novak reports that "House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert turned down a White House request to elect a permanent successor to Tom DeLay as majority leader in advance of President Bush's State of the Union address on Jan. 31." Bush's aides apparently wanted an early vote to make sure the Republicans' multiple corruption scandals do not overshadow Bush's speech. Bush has still refused to return tens of thousands of dollars raised for his campaign by indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Public documents show Abramoff was one of Bush's top fundraisers, and in just the first 10 months of 2001, "Abramoff and his lobbying team logged nearly 200 contacts with the new administration," according to the Associated Press. CONGRESSIONAL CORRUPTION - REPUBLICANS... |