| Posted by Carnacki
The Charleston Gazette's Paul Nyden has a good, detailed story on the federal investigation of U.S. Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV01) who was cleared of any wrong doing after years long probe that began under the highly politicized Justice Department under George W. Bush.
Reports about that investigation surfaced after the National Legal and Policy Center -- a Falls Church, Va.-based organization with ties to right-wing groups -- filed a formal complaint against Mollohan with the U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia on Feb. 28, 2006.
The NLPC launched a public campaign against Mollohan in April 2006, shortly before West Virginia's May 9 primary elections.
Over the years, the group has targeted other political leaders including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., former Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and billionaire author and activist George Soros.
The group routinely criticizes labor unions and also attacked AARP for opposing Social Security privatization.
Founded in 1991, the NLPC received $1.43 million in foundation grants between 1995 and 2005. Three foundations affiliated with the conservative Scaife family in Pittsburgh gave NLPC $1.18 million of that total.
Mollohan became the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee in January 2003.
Mollohan believes NLPC filed its 2006 complaint against him because of the major role he played in preventing Republican leaders from weakening House Ethics Committee rules.
There was never anything to the charges made by the group. If there was anything, under Karl Rove's direction, the DOJ would have brought charges against Mollohan.
Instead they aimed a smoke machine at Mollohan and then tried to claim there must be a fire -- all tied to defeating him in the 2006 election as opposed to tied to actual wrong doing. The GOP and their right wing allies went after Mollohan because he wouldn't make life easy for Tom Delay and Jack Abramoff. |
