Those of you who have been around here for awhile know that I spent much of my first year on Daily Kos as part of the dragon-slaying effort to get Richard Pombo (CA-11) booted out of the Congress. We succeeded, and many newer users here may never have even heard of that noxious Tom Delay lieutenant.
One of Pombo's habitual sidekicks in malfeasance, corruption, etc. was one John Doolittle, who declined to run again in CA-04 last year, after the FBI raided his home, etc. This from Roll Call today:
Federal prosecutors named ex-Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) as a co-conspirator Thursday in the public corruption case against former House aide-turned-lobbyist Kevin Ring.
There's a bunch of others in the ongoing mop-up of the Republican Culture of Corruption also named as co-conspirators. Jack Abramoff is probably the most visible front man for said corruption. The link gives brief thumbnail sketch bios of the rest, most of whom were Congressional staffers whose names were not so high profile, even if their crimes and misdemeanors were significant - they were the ones carrying the water and doing much of the dirty work for the more famous names.
The main defendant at this phase of the process is Kevin Ring.
Ring, a former aide to Doolittle and then-Sen. John Ashcroft (R-Mo.), is charged with violating federal laws, including bribery and conspiracy to commit fraud for providing gifts to public officials in exchange for official acts. ... Ring was indicted as a result of the influence-peddling investigation of his former boss, disgraced ex-lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
"Disgraced" is a bit of a euphemism - try "convicted felon" Jack Abramoff, if you want the reporting to be accurate. It's the old Washington revolving door in action, at its nadir. At least one hopes that was its nadir.
I got wind of this story because Charlie Brown, the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for CA-04, a big chunk of the northeast part of the state, bordering both Nevada and Oregon, posted the link on FaceBook.
For those who think that voice might be a little familiar? It's Rickie Lee Jones, who did some creative work supporting a variety of Democratic candidates.
Here's some links to relevant diaries about Doolittle I've written in past years:
How Did Richard Pombo Become House Resources Chair?
Mrs. Doolittle: Getting Much for Doing Little
Cheney Visited Pombo-Land Today
CA-04: Doolittle's in Deep Doo-Doo
BREAKING Update!! FBI Raids Doolittle's Home!
WSJ's John Fund: Thumbs Down on Doolittle
CA-04: "Bad Boy" Doolittle, w/poll
CA-04: Doolittle the Crybaby
It's a shame, really, that Doolittle dropped out of the race. Charlie Brown, a good man indeed, might have beaten him last year.
Here's Doolittle with his wife Julie, also named a co-conspirator, with another guy it's a relief to have out of power, too, from a May 2006 fundraising event:
Sometimes, it's good to revisit these horrible people. Helps keep the complaints about the current situation in perspective a bit. Things have improved a lot, really, even though there's still a long ways to go.