Corruption Bill's Bipartisan Moment May Be Coming

Source: National Journal

A little-noticed bill pending before the Senate Judiciary Committee would give federal officials significantly more money, resources and power to crack down on public corruption.

Authored by Judiciary Chairman Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, the Public Corruption Prosecution Improvements Act would boost funding for federal public corruption investigations by $100 million over four years. It would also make it easier for Justice Department and other investigators to prosecute federal gratuities violations. A Judiciary Committee markup is scheduled for Thursday.

Lawmakers rarely jump at the chance to impose stricter rules on themselves -- indeed, a virtually identical version of the bill was downed by the GOP in the previous Congress. But the fact that recent corruption probes have netted Democrats and Republicans alike may create an opening. There's a "unique opportunity" to enact the bill this year, a Leahy aide said, since "nobody is going to see it as a partisan attack against them."

. . .

Recent court cases have substantially narrowed federal bribery and gratuities statutes, say legal experts, making it almost impossible to prove that a public official accepted gifts or payments illegally. The bill would more broadly define how existing laws apply to corruption offences and "eliminate legal ambiguities" that make them tough to prosecute, Leahy said on introducing the bill with Cornyn on the first day of this Congress.

"This is just restoring the bribery and gratuities statutes to their former intent," said Tara Malloy, associate legal counsel for the Campaign Legal Center, one of several good-government groups backing the bill.

Read more: http://www.nationaljournal.com/njonline/rg_20090302_7354.php

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This watered-down statute is probably why Tom Delay is not wearing a nice bright orange jumpsuit.

and he'll be using 'Capt Oxycotin' to brow beat the Senate into filibustering it.