The Daily Background

From today’s Washington Post:

Federal prosecutors signaled this week that they have decided to pursue a wide range of allegations about dealings between Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and lobbyist Jack Abramoff, rather than bringing a narrowly focused bribery case against the congressman.

[…]
Ney has been under investigation by federal authorities in Florida and the District for actions that helped Abramoff and two partners buy a Fort Lauderdale-based casino cruise line. The deal that Ney promoted in the Congressional Record hinged on the Abramoff group’s creation of a counterfeit $23 million wire transfer.

There have been rumors that Ney was in very serious trouble for a few months now, including rumors spurred by a Republican Senator, who speculated that there was one Senator who was likely to be indicted, and he hinted that it was obvious who the person he was referring to was, to anyone who had been paying attention. Well, for my money, it’s Ney. Oddly enough, Ney says he’ll run for re-eleciton this year no matter what (even if he is indicted).

The perfect situation for Democrats would be if he beats his Republican primary challenger (the first one he’s ever had, since he took office), and then gets indicted. He’d be impossible to replace, and Democrats could take advantage of his legal peril. But as long as questions are spinning around about his uncertain future, that’s going to create divisions within his local Republican constituency. And that’s a Good Thing for Dems. It’s not likely that Dems are going to win his seat, but every seat is worth fighting for. Full article.

Filed under: Bob Ney, Z-TDB Blog