Republican Rep. Bob Ney stepped down temporarily from his chairmanship. Ney is certain that he will be cleared of any charges. I am sure that the people in his district are dismayed of all this publicity surrounding their friend, Ney. I'll try to explain it in one sentence:
Bob Ney is accused of taking BRIBES.
Raw Story has some of the links:
TIME Magazine Lobbyist Jack Abramoff's Oct. 23, 2000, e-mail to his business partner Michael Scanlon was, as usual, not subtle. "Would 10K for NRCC from Suncruz for Ney help?" Scanlon shot back: "Yes, alot [sic]! But would have to give them a definate [sic] answer--and they need it this week ..."
That electronic exchange, a record of which was reviewed by TIME, is among the evidence that Republican Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio accepted favors from Abramoff and Scanlon as part of an alleged quid pro quo--a charge to which the business partners each recently confessed in larger plea deals. While the plea agreements spell out various gifts, campaign donations and junkets that Abramoff and Scanlon say they provided to Ney in return for "official acts," the e-mails present in one place the specific elements of a swap that Abramoff has told investigators was prearranged and explicitly reciprocal, according to a source close to the Justice Department probe. To wit: a $10,000 donation to the Republicans just days before Ney inserted into the Congressional Record a statement praising an Abramoff business partner. Ney's lawyer, Mark Tuohey, calls the accusations "totally false...."
Ney received certain goodies in return for "official acts"???? Sounds like the evidence is mounting against Bob Ney!
Newsweek Ohio Rep. Robert Ney personally lobbied the then Secretary of State Colin Powell to relax U.S. sanctions on Iran. Who asked him to? A convicted airplane broker who had just taken the congressman and a top aide on an expense-paid trip to London, NEWSWEEK has learned. Ney's lawyer confirmed to NEWSWEEK that federal prosecutors have subpoenaed records on Ney's February 2003 trip paid for by Nigel Winfield, a thrice-convicted felon who ran a company in Cyprus called FN Aviation. Winfield was seeking to sell U.S.-made airplane spare parts to the Iranian government—a deal that would have needed special permits because of U.S. sanctions against Tehran....
Ney knew that taking political favors was wrong. Ney is going to be the poster boy for political corruption, and, I predict, he will be the first of many Republicans involved in this scandal.
and from the Chicago Sun Times:
...Ney is at the center of the Justice Department's ongoing corruption probe and has been identified as the congressman referred to by Abramoff in his guilty plea earlier this month.
The Administration Committee that Ney headed controls disclosures of lobbying practices and would be a key part of efforts to reform the system.
A GOP leadership aide said Friday that House Speaker Dennis Hastert was pressuring Ney to step aside because he believes it would be inappropriate for him to head the committee with jurisdiction over the Republican reform agenda.
Ney's statement Sunday said he had notified Hastert earlier in the day of his decision.
''I want to assure my colleagues and my constituents that I have done absolutely nothing wrong, and I am convinced that I will be vindicated completely at the end of this difficult process,'' Ney said...
I hope that no one holds their breath waiting for Ney to be "vindicated."