Quote of the Day

It goes to out-going CREW director Melanie Sloan.

“It is a sad day for America when the Department of Justice declines to take action against a senator who has violated the law as blatantly as Sen. Ensign,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW). “The department had abundant evidence, including witnesses who could testify regarding the senator’s criminal conduct, yet failed to act. Repeatedly, the Department of Justice has chickened out, refusing to hold politicians accountable for their deplorable actions.

“The department’s record is abysmal: it let former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) walk away scot-free, it cleared Rep. Don Young (R-AK) in four different corruption investigations, and it let all lawmakers involved skate away from the PMA scandal,” Sloan said in a statement. “Exactly what will a politician have to do for the Department of Justice to sit up and take notice? The department might as well disband the Public Integrity Section for all the good it does. This is not the kind of change we signed on for.”

I’m still trying to recover from this:

Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, will leave the group early next year to join former Clinton-era White House Counsel Lanny Davis in a legal practice, she announced Friday in an e-mail to the group’s donors and supporters.

Nothing is sacred.

Author: BooMan

Martin Longman a contributing editor at the Washington Monthly. He is also the founder of Booman Tribune and Progress Pond. He has a degree in philosophy from Western Michigan University.