Craig Makes Surprise Return to Capitol Hill, Cornyn Still Supporting!

Twelve days before his "intended" resignation, Larry Craig surprises many colleagues by ducking into a policy lunch, before joining the Republicans in the chamber.

"Senators and aides were caught off-guard by the embattled conservative’s appearance in a chamber where many had expected the stigma of a gay sex sting arrest to keep Craig away for good," according to The Hill.

Sen. John Cornyn (Texas), vice chairman of the GOP conference, has stayed mum on the scandal due to the Ethics Committee investigation he may have to help steer against Craig if the Idahoan hangs on to his seat. But Cornyn was supportive with a kind word for Craig on Tuesday, telling reporters that he told Craig, “My family and I are praying for you.”

Mikal Watts' Judge Buying - Grounds For Disbarment?

According to the Texas Disciplinary Rules of Professional Conduct:

8.04 (a) A lawyer shall not... (5) state or imply an ability to influence improperly a government agency or official

If we backtrack to see where Watts has claimed an advantage because of his and his firm's "heavy" financial support to court judges, how can that NOT be a grounds for at least some sort of action.

Recently unearthed, though, is a new series of emails between Watts and his chums about how to meet, and how to coordinate their millions to best buy seats on the court. In "A Plot To Control The Bench," El Defenzor posts full emails between Mikal Watts and other area attorneys. With a subject line of Keeping Our Power Dry on the 148, the attorneys collude to hand-pick the best candidates:

What does everyone think about a meeting two Fridays from now to discuss a plan of action? - Mikal Watts, Watts Law Firm

We operate with a lot more clout and effectiveness when we operate together. - Mikal Watts, Watts Law Firm

I am also in trial and also agree entirely. - William Edwards, Edwards Law Firm

I want everyone to be spending money on the same candidate for the 148^th. - Doug Allison, Law Offices of Doug Allison

Sounds good. - Jim Ragan, Law Office of Jim Ragan

By the way, it is my understanding that both Elbert Ocanas and David Huerta would only run for the 148^th if Marisela did NOT. - David Bright, Watts Law Firm

sounds good. - David Rumley, Wigington Rumley LLP

Which makes me wonder about...

col·lu·sion /kəˈluʒən/ Pronunciation Key - Show Spelled Pronunciation[kuh-loo-zhuhn] Pronunciation Key - Show IPA Pronunciation

–noun

1.	a secret agreement, esp. for fraudulent or treacherous purposes; conspiracy: Some of his employees were acting in collusion to rob him.

2.	Law. a secret understanding between two or more persons to gain something illegally, to defraud another of his or her rights, or to appear as adversaries though in agreement: collusion of husband and wife to obtain a divorce.

Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

So at the very least, a solid group of affluent Corpus Christi lawyers are working together to get judges elected, and at least one, Mikal Watts, has used that fact to persuade legal opponents to settle out of court. If not illegal, it's unethical at best. Trial lawyers typically claim they stand for the common guy against large corporations, but at the cost of justice in our courts, I'm not sure that's a fair trade.

Watts Calls out Cornyn on Craig

Yesterday Junior Senator John Cornyn told the Dallas Morning News about Larry Craig, "I'm limited in what I can discuss. If a senator is alleged to have violated any Senate rule or regulation or statute, whether or not it's in the conduct of their official duties," seemingly still dodging the issue. Earlier, he made another statement, saying Mr. Craig's political future "is best left up to Senator Craig and his constituents. I make it a point not to comment on the personal problems of other senators."

Apparently, Cornyn actually can't talk about the case, as he serves on the ethics committee that may review whether Craig may be able to continue to serve, but also because he's standing up for his fellow GOPers - but is Craig worth standing up for?

Opponent and San Antonio millionaire Mikal Watts, called Cornyn to "come out of hiding" on the Craig issue, as well as two other GOP Senators that have been in question - David Vitter (LA), who admitted using escort services, and Ted Stevens (AK), whose home was raided by FBI and IRS agents in connection with a bribery investigation.

Cornyn shoots back at Watts, calling it the "desperate cry of a would-be political candidate for attention," and one that ignores his duties as a member of the ethics panel. "I'm trying to do my best to meet my responsibilities here."

Even Sean at Save the GOP jumps in on the issue:

From the files of “You can’t make this stuff up”: There is currently a debate going on at DailyKos over whether Senate candidate Mikal Watts has contributed enough to Democrat legislative candidates to get a free pass for telling a legal opponent that he had effectively bought a Texas appellate court. The Democrats have been in the Majority for less than a year and they have already gone from overlooking their incumbents’ ethical problems to recruiting candidates who think buying the government is acceptable. Not for anything, but if Craig’s alleged conduct was enough to force him out of the Senate, this should force Watts out of the race. I’d say that there should be an investigation of the incident and that Watts should probably end up in court, but we all know how that would turn out.

I'm sorry to say, Sean, that campaign contributions and speech are completely legal (albeit a little shady), while soliciting in a public bathroom most definitely is not. I'm not supporting Watts by any means, as his actions are still quite questionable, but Craig has dug himself a much deeper hole than Watts' and while Craig has voted against legislation for homosexuals, Watts doesn't even have any legislative experience to be a hypocrite in that regard - they don't even begin to compare.

A Semi-Comprehensive List of Republican Scandals, Corruption Cases, etc.

From ccmask at Firedoglake:

Jack Abramoff -prison
Bob Allen -Veteran Park sex scandal
George Allen -called an American voter a Macaca
Michael Ray Aquino -involved in espionage thru Cheney’s office
Dan Bartlett -DOJ Investigation
Michael Battle -Resigned after informing usa’s of their firing
Ken Blackwell- Election Theft
John Bolton - Resigned. Encouraged the words Yellowcake uranium in Bush’s SOTUS
Michael Brown -Resigned over his handling of Katrina and aftermath.
Conrad Burns –dropped out
George W. Bush -Invaded countries under false pretences
Ken Calvert’s - land deal scrutiny
Andy Card - Resigned. Played a critical role in justifying the Iraq war.
Tucker Carlson -Tracked & beat up a gay man with a buddy
Dick Cheney -Involved in Plame affair; said troops would be greeted with flowers
Susan Collins - Incorrectly claimed a dem tracker acted inappropriately towards her
Ann Coulter -Voter Fraud
Larry Craig -resigns over public toilet sex scandal
Duke Cunningham -prison
Tom DeLay -dropped out – Under indictment
Lorita Doan - Hatch Act violations
Pete Domenici -Iglesias firing investigation
John Doolittle -Entangled with the Jack Abramoff Affair
Lance Dutson - Susan Collins campaign staffer, called FDL a “foul mouth femblog”
Barry S. Edward -Rudy fundraiser steps down wrt sex & stolen computers
Michael Elston -Resigned after urging 4 fired attorneys to keep quiet
Alan B. Fabian -Romney co-chairman indicted fraud, obstruction & laundering
Italia Federici - Resigned. Convicted of obstruction of justice/Abramoff
Tom Feeney -focus Abramoff investigation
Douglas Feith -Resigned OSP. Manipulated intelligence to bolster war in Iraq
Ari Fleisher - Resigned; Involved in Plame Affair
Dusty Kyle Foggo -Indicted for fraud, conspiracy & money laundering
Mark Foley -sex scandal
Jeff Gannon -Illegal White House entry
Steven Griles - Resigned. Convicted of obstruction of justice/Abramoff
Alberto Gonzales- Cut & Run on heels of investigation
Monica Goodling - Heavily involved in planning USA’s dismissals
J. Timothy Griffin - Resigns after Palast turns over 500 RNC emails sent by Griffin
Ted Haggard -removed for sex and drug abuse scandal
Katherine Harris -dropped out; Gave Florida to GW Bush
Duncan Hunter -Involved in ongoing Abramoff investigation
Bernard Kerik -Under scrutiny for tax invasion
Won Kim-Resigns amid DOJ scandal
Doug Lamborn -Left threatening voicemails to locals questioning his fundraising
Ken Lay -Bush’s biggest contributor scams millions
Jerry Lewis -under federal investigation
Scooter Libby -Guilty by his peers; Innocent by his Prez
Rush Limbaugh - Illegal drug use and Importation
Mary Matalan -Attended meetings of the secretive Iraq Study Group
Paul McNulty -Resigned after saying the WH not involved in DOJ scandal
Harriet Miers -DOJ Investigation Subpeona Refusal
Gary Miller -FBI investigation on tax evasion; Withdrew DHS nomination
Lisa Murkowski -land deal scandal
Bob Ney -prison
Wally O’Dell -Bush fundraiser and CEO of Diebold; Insider trading suspicion
Richard Perle -Resigned. Bribery accusations and conflicts of interest.
Richard Pombo -Allegation of corruption and misuse of official resources
Susan Ralston -Resigned. Testified that Rove used RNC email system always
Thomas Ravenel -Indicted on Cocaine charges
Ralph Reed - investigation for his part in Abramoff scandal
Rick Renzi -home raided
Mitt Romney-Lack of oversight of Big Dig causes death of Milena Delvalle
Karl Rove -Resigned for involvement of AG scandal; Hatch Act; Outed CIA agent
John Rowland - convicted and sent to jail for bribe-taking and kickbacks.
Don Rumsfeld -Resigned. Failed to plan for a post-war Iraq.
David Safavian -convicted in Jack Abramoff scandal
Kyle Sampson - Resigned over the AG Scandal
Michael Scanlon -Guilty of corruption charges in Abramoff scandal
Brad Schlozman -resigned amid charges of politicizing DoJ
Jean Schmidt -Called Jack Murtha a coward during an Iraq debate.
Ted Stevens -under investigation
Sara Taylor -resigns amid DOJ scandal, not recalling anything.
David Vitter -sex scandals
David Wurmser -Questioned by FBI about passing classified info to Chalabi
Curt Weldon -dropped out
Heather Wilson -Iglesias firing investigation
Paul Wolfowitz -Resigned as Pres. Of World Bank for a companions’ promotion.
Don Young -under investigation