James Gordon Meek reports in the New York Daily News:
There is so much political corruption on Capitol Hill that the FBI has had to triple the number of squads investigating lobbyists, lawmakers and influence peddlers, the Daily News has learned.
For decades, only one squad in Washington handled corruption cases because the crimes were seen as local offenses handled by FBI field offices in lawmakers’ home districts.
But in recent years, the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal and other abuses of power and privilege have prompted the FBI to assign 37 agents full-time to three new squads in an office near Capitol Hill.
FBI Assistant Director Chip Burrus told The News yesterday that he wants to detail even more agents to the Washington field office for a fourth corruption squad because so much wrongdoing is being uncovered.
I’ve heard this before. I noticed that Congressman Bob Ney of Ohio recently copped a plea. Duke Cunningham went to prison. But I am skeptical of how far the FBI will go to uncover corruption as long as Alberto Gonzales is in charge of the Justice Department. At a minimum I expect him to drag his feet as much as possible.
I thought Bush was going to restore honor and dignity to Washington. They all need to frog-marched out.
