GOP Leaders Hesitant to Endorse Doolittle
With fresh subpoenas landing in the office of Rep. John T. Doolittle, a pair of leading House Republicans declined to say yesterday whether they would endorse the veteran California Republican for re-election.
Doolittle was already forced off his key assignment on the Appropriations Committee in April after the FBI raided his Virginia home. Yesterday his office announced on the House floor that his chief of staff and deputy chief of staff had been subpoenaed by a federal grand jury in Washington to testify in connection with the Jack Abramoff investigation -- in addition to a string of former aides who have already acknowledged talking to the FBI and Justice Department.
Asked whether he would endorse Doolittle, Rep. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) signaled that the issue of Doolittle's re-election campaign might be a moot point.
"I think we're still a long way from the primary and a lot of circumstances will change one way or another between now and then," Blunt, the minority whip, told Capitol Briefing.
Another member of the leadership, House Republican Conference Chairman Adam Putnam (R-Fla.), echoed Blunt when asked about a possible endorsement of Doolittle:
"I think it's premature to speculate on that," Putnam said.
Doolittle is already facing a GOP challenge in the primary next June, with a filing deadline of early March. He has maintained his innocence throughout the Abramoff investigation and has pledged to run in 2008, which could likely pit him in a rematch against Democrat Charlie Brown. Hammering away on the Abramoff matter, Brown's under-funded campaign nearly knocked off Doolittle last year.
Doolittle's statement today noted that he was active in his Sacramento-area district last week. The statement touted Doolittle's securing of funds for key transportation projects.
The statement also showed impatience with the Justice Department's investigation.
"I think everyone can agree that this issue needs closure," Doolittle said. "Three years seems like more than adequate time to determine the facts. I look forward to the truth finally being established and hope that we may have a resolution soon."
The Justice Department has been investigating Doolittle for his Abramoff ties since at least July 2004, when a grand jury first subpoenaed the lawmaker's wife Julie. Her event-planning firm received $5,000 a month from Abramoff from late 2002 to early 2004, at a time when her husband took legislative action in favor of Abramoff clients, including writing a letter to federal regulators in support of opening a tribal casino in Iowa. A religious conservative, Doolittle has publicly opposed gambling for most of his political life.
Rather than publicly calling for them to resign, House leaders appear to be doing the send-a-signal routine with Doolittle and other ethically embattled lawmakers, hoping they get the hints that the leadership would prefer they make the decision to step aside on their own. Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) got the signal. Renzi, like Doolittle, was stripped of his committee assignments when his home was raided in May in connection with an Arizona corruption probe. He announced last month he won't seek re-election, giving Republicans a better chance of holding a seat that leans Republican.
Doolittle's district is a sure-fire Republican seat in a normal environment -- Doolittle used to regularly receive 65 percent of the vote, and President Bush won the district with 61 percent in 2004.
For now, Doolittle has not taken the hint and is still in the race for re-election, which might have prompted today's even stronger hints from Blunt and Putnam that the issue be resolved before the primary next June.
By Paul Kane |
September 4, 2007; 8:32 PM ET
Ethics and Rules
, GOP Leaders
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Posted by: Patrick Huss | September 5, 2007 7:32 AM
From here in Sacramento, I'd like to assure your readers that the GOP has no intention of returning Do-little to WA. Besides the entry into campaign of two & maybe three local GOP leaders, the NRC has already told him they would not financially support him. The problem is not just Abramoff; it's his own greed. You reported that he paid his wife 15% of $ she raised. As I understand it, he paid her 15% of all campaign dollars! His neighbors are not happy.
Posted by: phyto706 | September 5, 2007 11:50 AM
Doolittle is a fitting name
Posted by: Erica | September 5, 2007 5:10 PM
'A B-52 bomber was mistakenly armed with six nuclear warheads and flown for more than three hours across several states last week, prompting an Air Force investigation and the firing of one commander, Pentagon officials said Wednesday.'
Ramping up to bomb Iran and start WW3, the war that will end civilization? Looks like it.
Posted by: | September 6, 2007 7:59 AM
On the other page we have 11 Democrats arrested in New Jersey today, 2 NJ Representatives, 2 Mayors and a bunch of staff and City Council members , the entire town will need to hold elections to hold their next City Council meeting, but then they are just Democrats, and those evil Republicans must go to prison.
Posted by: edmcgarvey1 | September 7, 2007 12:54 AM
Why do people override common sense with party loyalty? Does it matter what party a corrupt official belongs to? Once proven corrupt, shouldn't any politician be forced out of office?
To EdMcgarvey:
Don't project your skewed partisan agenda onto us, Ed. We want ALL corrupt public servants thrown in jail, be they the "evil" Republicans or the "feeble" Democrats. This is not the fault, as your post implies, of some biased media; this article was posted on the 4th of September, before any news of the Dems in New Jersey was released to the public. So, instead of whining about the persecution of Republicans who abuse their positions and break the law, why don't you focus your outrage on the scum who have done so much to help themselves while ignoring the inevitable damage their actions have visited on the Republican constituency. Ed, its not our fault your guys can't play by the rules...and, before you suggest otherwise, had your post been from a Democrat attempting to defend the criminals in New Jersey, they would have gotten the same response here that you have.
Posted by: Patrick Huss | September 7, 2007 10:35 AM
this guy shouldn't resign, he should shoot himself
Posted by: jimmy in SD | September 8, 2007 6:28 AM
As if the Rs haven't enough, Cong. Jerry Weller (IL-11)has been outed as a Central American land baron by (of all things) the Chicago Tribune.
Posted by: Tom Brislane | September 11, 2007 4:01 PM
Doolittle, if I was in your shoes I would want the investigation to go away too.
Posted by: jlspruill | September 11, 2007 10:44 PM
The comments to this entry are closed.
Just when you think the GOP has reached an all-time low, what with Gonzales, Craig, Rove, Stevens, et al, the Abramoff debacle rears its ugly head and reminds us that the filth has not been fully scraped from Congress' shoes. Lawbreaking Republican lawmakers continue to make ordinary Americans retch over the putrid smell of corruption and decaying integrity that presides, like some moral smog, inside the beltway. Thats not swamp gas, ladies and gentleman... thats the telltale stench of maggots feasting on the carcass of the GOP's moral highground.
Good riddance, and pass the Lysol...