Rick Renzi (R-Mantech) smeared?

Now, Congressman Rick Renzi is claiming that the reports of an investigation into his land swap deals and legislation to benefit his father’s company, Mantech International, are nothing more than an election year “smear tactic”.

Hmmm...let's take a quick look at his record….

He’s been called one of the “20 Most Corrupt Members Of Congress” for reasons that include “outside income earned by his administrative assistant and from legislation he sponsored that benefitted his father.” And that distinction was earned *before* any reports of an investigation.

More on the administrative assistant in question, Patty Roe, can be found in Harper’s.

The Phoenix New Times has been *all* over the land swap/campaign finance connection.

Like our JD, he’s got some Abramoff ties, too.

And to Tom Delay, too.

He's had a number of personal financial problems since he entered office.

There were even allegations, quickly derided as "exaggerations", that he assaulted a Republican colleague on the House floor. Perhaps they were "exaggerations", but in light of his attempts to intimidate Ellen Simon in an elevator, they deserve to be reexamined.

The League of Conservation Voters lists him as one of its "Dirty Dozen;" not corruption per se, but he consistently favors corporate polluters (and their large campaign contributions) over the interests of his constituents.

And in perhaps the most damning piece of video ever shot, Renzi was caught laughing and flirting with Katherine Harris during an intimate dinner for two…oh WAIT!

It was actually on the House floor!

[I included the Harris link for the 'Ewww!' factor, but the video clip at the link is another piece of evidence that Renzi's judgement is just as strong as his ethics. ]

Oh, and his residency has been an issue since before he was ever elected. His wife and children still haven't moved to the district, and when Congress is in session, he commutes from home...errr...a house in Virginia.

It's not a "smear" when it's the truth.

Rick Renzi can claim the investigation is an "election year smear" all that he wants, but he's been an indictment waiting to happen since he entered the Arizona political scene.