Ney Calls It a Day

Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, has finally thrown in the towel on his hapless re-election bid. Ney is the member of Congress most identified with the scandals surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff. Ney (aka "Representative #1") is named in no fewer than four plea agreements as the recipient of much largesse from and doer of many favors for Abramoff. In his Jan. 3 guilty plea to conspiracy, mail fraud, and tax evasion, Abramoff admitted that he

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provided a stream of things of value to a Member of the United States House of Representatives ("Representative #1") and members of his staff, including but not limited to a lavish trip to Scotland to play golf on world-famous courses, tickets to sporting events and other entertainment, regular meals at defendant ABRAMOFF's upscale restaurant, and campaign contributions for Representative #1, his political action committee, and other political committees on behalf of Representative #1.

In exchange, Abramoff's plea agreement continued, Ney passed legislation, inserted comments into the Congressional Record, held meetings with Abramoff clients, and pushed for an Abramoff client to receive a lucrative contract from the House to install wireless telephone equipment. (During one election cycle, Ney performed a crucial favor to Abramoff and friends but received only $4,000 in campaign contributions, proving at least in this instance that Ney was either innocent of bribery or guilty of having a shockingly low price.) Also damaging to Ney was the May 8 plea agreement to conspiracy of Ney's former communications director and chief of staff Neil Volz, who subsequently worked for Abramoff. Volz said that he, too, showered his former boss with goodies in exchange for legislative favors.

In his forthcoming book, Heist: Superlobbyist Jack Abramoff, His Republican Allies, and the Buying of Washington, Peter H. Stone says that Volz's plea was "a key stepping stone" to indicting Ney: "Volz faced a maximum of five years in jail, but was expected to get less if he cooperated in the ongoing probe." Stone quotes "a somewhat beleaguered Ney" telling Fox News, "I haven't done anything wrong" and "I don't believe I'm going to be indicted."

Ney, incidentally, is the blowhard who punished France by renaming pommes frites "freedom fries" during the run-up to the Iraq invasion. Score another one for Jacques Chirac, who all of a sudden is running the world.

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Timothy Noah is a senior writer at Slate.

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