McCain Myth Buster: John McCain and Bob Riley
Senator John McCain
WASHINGTON, March 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
The following is being issued by the Democratic National Committee:
After casting himself as a "Maverick" in 2000, the new John McCain is walking in lockstep with President Bush, pandering to the right wing of the Republican Party, and embracing the ideology he once denounced. On the campaign trail McCain has callously abandoned many of his previously held positions, even contradicted himself, in a blatant attempt to remake himself into a candidate Republicans can accept in 2008. So just who is the real John McCain? The Democratic National Committee will present a daily fact aimed at exposing the man behind the myth.
Today's McCain Myth: John McCain doesn't do political favors for friends.
Though John McCain has repeatedly claimed he took on Jack Abramoff and the Republican culture of corruption, a recent story revealed that McCain covered for his friend, Alabama Governor Bob Riley, who was fighting a tight re-election battle at the time, by refusing to release key evidence that would have linked Riley to the Abramoff scandal. Yesterday, Riley returned the favor by endorsing McCain.
As chair of a committee conducting an investigation on Abramoff, McCain had access to an incriminating email sent just one month after Riley was elected to office detailing what Abramoff wanted Riley to do in return for the contributions Abramoff's tribal clients directed toward his campaign. But instead of including the email in his report on the Abramoff scandal, McCain instead chose to withhold the email, shielding Riley from becoming implicated in the scandal as he was waging a bitter fight to keep his seat, a race that even Karl Rove became involved in. [Huffington Post, 2/25/08]
This cycle of quid pro quo seriously calls McCain's integrity into question and is further evidence that the so-called "maverick" isn't the Washington reformer he claims to be.
McCain: Abramoff Investigation Shows He Made Change. "Ask Jack Abramoff if I'm an insider in Washington -- you'd probably have to go during visiting hours in the prison -- and he'll tell you and his lobbyist cronies of the change I made there." [Fox News Republican Debate, South Carolina, 1/10/2008]
McCain Didn't Investigate Republican Colleagues for Their Illegal or Unethical Behavior. John McCain's Indian Affairs Committee hearings failed to go after federal lawmakers who benefited from Jack Abramoff's lobbying. "McCain said his committee continues to examine all the financial angles of where the $82 million ended up, as well as other political and charitable contributions the tribes made at Abramoff's request. But he reiterated that he was following the money trail, not the legislative actions taken by Members of Congress. 'We stop when we find out where the money went,' he said." [Roll Call, 3/10/05]
McCain Acknowledged That Some Legislators Had Committed "Wrongdoing," But Refused To Investigate. Asked if he believed that some legislators had committed a crime related the Abramoff scandal, Senator McCain said "There's strong evidence that there was significant wrongdoing, but I'm not a judge or jury," and refused to investigate his colleagues in Congress, saying "I will not, because I'm a chairman of the Indian Affairs Committee. This was brought to our--this whole thing started--was brought to us--attention by some disgruntled tribal council members in a small tribe in Louisiana, and we took it as far as we thought was our responsibility, which is where the money ends up." [NBC, Meet the Press, 12/4/05]
Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee, http://www.democrats.org/.
This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's committee.
Source: Democratic National Committee
CONTACT: Damien LaVera of DNC, +1-202-863-8148
Web Site: http://www.democrats.org/
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