CULTURE OF CORRUPTION PROBES FOCUS ON FEENEY, RENZI, ROVE; DEMS SNUB KUCINICH IMPEACHMENT BILL.

ABRAMOFF CORRUPTION PROBE: Add Congressman Tom Feeney (R-FL) to the list of possibly corrupt federal legislators in the FBI's crosshairs. The St. Petersburg Times reported that the FBI this week requested further information from Feeney about his ties to Abramoff. Former House committee staffer Mark Zachares -- who was a pampered guest on Abramoff's infamous luxury golf trips to Scotland (along with Bob Ney, Tom DeLay and Feeney) -- pled guilty Monday to felony corruption charges for accepting over $30,000 in gifts in exchange for inside information about legislative action and homeland security contracts. Zachares is reported to be cooperating with the FBI in exchange for a lighter sentence. Zachares' attorney told reporters his client is "fully cooperating" with the investigators in order to get a reduced sentence. Zachares is the 11th person to plead guilty in the Abramoff scandal. Feeney was identified as the previously unnamed “Representative #3” in Justice Department indictment documents filed this week in the Zachares case. For those of you who have already forgotten, imprisoned former Congressman Bob Ney (R-OH) was the unnamed “Representative #1” in other Abramoff case affidavits. Feeney told The Hill on Tuesday he is "not worried" and had "no relationship" with Abramoff. "The Scooter Libby case showed that you must be careful when dealing with the [Department of Justice, but] we’re giving them everything they need and more," said Feeney. In news that may also be related, former Feeney Chief of Staff Jason Roe abruptly resigned Tuesday as Deputy Campaign Manager for Mitt Romney's Presidential campaign. Roe, who was responsible for day-to-day operation of the Romney campaign, claimed "family obligations" as the reason for his sudden departure. Hmm ... John Doolittle, Bill Jefferson, Jerry Lewis, Gary Miller, Rick Renzi, and now Tom Feeney. The list of House members under FBI investigation rapidly continues to grow.
CORRUPTION #2: In a sign of the seriousness of his growing FBI problems, Congressman Rick Renzi (R-AZ) on Tuesday resigned from all of his committee assignments. After the FBI raided his wife's insurance business last week -- reportedly seeking information related to Renzi and his wife's involvement in some questionable business deals -- Renzi quit his post on one committee. He quit the other two this week.
CORRUPTION #3: The Los Angeles Times and MSNBC reported Tuesday evening that the US Office of Special Counsel (OSC) is launching a potentially explosive and broad criminal investigation into the White House's political operations. Presidential political strategist Karl Rove is believed to be the central target of the probe, with the initial focus being the allegedly improper role he may have played in the firing of US Attorney David Iglesias of New Mexico. The White House first tried to imply they initiated the probe in order to clear the air of all allegations of improper conduct. However, Iglesias quickly debunked the story and confirmed Tuesday evening for MSNBC that he was the person who filed a formal Hatch Act complaint with the OSC charging Karl Rove and others with possibly having violated federal law by firing him over his failure to initiate partisan-motivated prosecutions. Iglesias, who was appointed as US Attorney by President Bush in 2001, was the GOP nominee for NM Attorney General in 1998. The investigation could also cause electoral complications for US Senator Pete Domenici (R-NM) and Congresswoman Heather Wilson (R-NM), who Iglesias believes pressured the White House to fire him for failing to rush politically charged case to produce indictments just before the November 2006 elections. Both Domenici and Wilson are up for re-election next year.
KUCINICH: Congressman Dennis Kucinich (D) is trying to garner some much-needed media attention for his underdog Presidential campaign. On Tuesday, Kucinich announced he was filing a bill of impeachment against Vice President Dick Cheney. The articles of impeachment include allegations of knowingly providing false intelligence information in public appearances before the Iraq War in order to mislead Congress, made false statements about ties between al-Qaeda and Saddam Hussein's Iraqi government, and is endangering national security by making his recent public threats of military action against Iran. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer was immediately dismissive of Kucinich's impeachment resolution, telling the Washington Post that "I don't have any thought about it" and that he and Speaker Pelosi planned to keep the House "focus[ed] on the substance of the issues at hand, and that's what we're going to do." Translation: Kucinich will get no committee hearings and no House floor time to debate his resolution