"We took a lot of grief from Republicans for an editorial a year ago warning that Mr. DeLay and his crowd had gone Beltway native. It turns out we understated the problem. A spokesman for Mr. DeLay said last week he was unaware of all of this wrongdoing and is shocked by it. But even if he isn't directly implicated, the former House Majority Leader was at best a terrible judge of character. His former associates could yet end up filling an entire wing at Club Fed.

What caused this outbreak of greed is impossible to know for sure. Clearly a sense of entitlement set in among some Republicans, who forgot why they were elected and began to believe that power was its own reward. We can recall when Republicans, back in the early 1990s, proposed to reduce the size of their Capitol Hill staffs in order to reduce the scope of Congressional mischief. That idea went away pretty fast once they became a majority.

The Abramoff story still has a long way to run this election year, and one way or another the Members themselves will not emerge unscathed. If Republicans lose their House majority because GOP voters stay home in disgust, Team DeLay will be one of the reasons."

Get the Story:
Review & Outlook: Rudy (The Wall Street Journal 4/4)

Relevant Documents:
Charges: US v Rudy | Factual Proffer

Relevant Links:
Rep. Tom DeLay - http://tomdelay.house.gov

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