Senate Scandals

This week, two members of the Senate Leadership, one in each party, found themselves at the center of serious investigations because of unethical, perhaps even illegal, activity. First, two staffers at the DSCC, run by Sen. Chuck Schumer, were found to have illegally obtained the credit report of Maryland Lt. Gov. and potential Senate candidate Michael Steele. It is obvious that there were illegalities in the organization, but the question is whether Sen. Schumer had any knowledge of them. Since taking the helm at the DSCC, Schumer has had a take no prisoners/win at all costs approach that has even aggravated members of his own Party. Now, it appears that such an attitude has extended to the Senate Committee. The two staffers involved in the criminal act resigned. You can take it to the bank, though, that both will reap the benefits of their activities with perks given them by the Democrat establishment. Regardless of whether the credit reports themselves are used by the Democrats, they surely have already received whatever benefits they could have desired from the information simply by having seen them. The leads are all there. Expect to hear more about the probe in the coming weeks. If it is proven that Sen. Schumer was involved in any way - and there is as yet no evidence that he was - he will soon change careers and go into the license plate business.

Sen. Bill Frist, the Senate Majority "Leader", has also found himself at the center of a probe, but this one goes much more directly to the member. In 2002, Frist dumped stock in the family company HCA Inc., which was founded by his brother and father four decades ago. Just two weeks later, the stock dropped 9%. In January of 2003, Frist denied knowing that he held stock in the company, but he had been informed of this ownership several times prior to the sale. At the very least, there is sufficient evidence that there were improprieties in Frist's activity. At worst, Senator Frist engaged in insider trading, a federal crime for which he should not be exempt from prosecution simply because he is a United States Senator.

Frist has been an ineffective leader from the get-go. President Bush's social security reform plan has fallen flat. Frist failed to deliver the votes on the constitutional option, showing an incredible lack of influence over his Senate colleagues. Just before the August recess, Frist flopped on stem-cell research, abandoning the Party base because he felt threatened by StemPAC, who began running ads against him in New Hampshire. Now, the White House is talking about nominating a nominee without a track record for the second time because they cannot rely on Senator Frist to deliver the votes necessary to confirm a distinguished jurist like Judge Janice Rogers Brown. This scandal will not help.

RedState said it earlier in the week. I will say it now. Senator Frist needs to step aside from the "Leadership" because of his ineffectiveness. Depending on what actually transpired with the HCA stock, it may also be for the best that he resign from the Senate. Conservatives will stick by leaders who stick by us, including with regard to ethical conduct. That is why we have rallied for House Majority Leader DeLay. That is why there will be no such rallying around Bill Frist.