Democrat Dirty Laundry: One is a Fluke, Two is a Coincidence, Three is a Trend

SPIN CYCLE: Pelosi Once Promised to ‘Drain the Swamp’ and Sweep Corruption out of Washington

“‘Drain the swamp’ means to turn this Congress into the most honest and open Congress in history. That’s my pledge — that is what I intend to do,’ Pelosi stated in an interview with NBC’s Brian Williams.” (Brian Williams, “Rep. Pelosi poised to make history”, NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, 11/08/2006)

RINSE CYCLE: Rahall’s Son Let Off the Hook Thanks to Dad Flexing Some Congressional Muscle:

In February 2005, as his troubled son was facing felony robbery charges in Virginia, Rep. Nick Rahall (D-W.Va.) wrote a letter to a Fairfax County judge on congressional stationery, imploring him to show mercy on the then 27-year-old Nick Joe Rahall III.

Nick Joe Rahall, the congressman’s only son, was given a four-year suspended sentence, avoiding prison time in this instance despite being incarcerated twice in the previous four years.

Rahall acknowledged to POLITICO that he should not have used congressional stationery for the Feb. 14, 2005, letter, but said it was not the same type that he uses for official or committee business. House ethics rules bar the use of congressional stationery for anything but government-related activities.

Rahall also denied that his son was granted any special breaks because of his status as a member of Congress or due his intervention on his son’s behalf.

“I should have used different personal letterhead,” Rahall said in a statement to POLITICO. “Back then as I do now, I keep a supply of personal non-congressional stationery on hand. In the emotions of the moment I may have drawn from the wrong stack of paper, but my message was 100% from the heart of a father. I would send the message again in a heartbeat.”

Rahall added that he “will be reimbursing the Treasury [Department] for the paper.”

But Republicans have targeted Rahall – first elected in 1976 – for defeat this year, and the GOP could use this incident with his son to attack him. Spike Maynard, the GOP candidate, has cited Rahall’s support for the Democratic climate change bill as the basis for challenging the 17-term incumbent.

“This raises troubling questions about how else Rahall may have abused his office and broken the public trust,” said Ken Spain, communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Another defendant in the same case, Melissa Overheu, was sent to prison for 11 months.

Rahall’s letter to Judge David Stitt includes the congressional seal, the words “Congress of the United States of America” prominently displayed across the page, lists Rahall as “Nick J. Rahall II, M.C., West Virginia,” and includes his committee assignments, Public Works and Transportation and Natural Resources. Rahall is now the chairman of the Natural Resources Committee.

While lawmakers often use a facsimile of official stationery for personal correspondence or campaign activities, there are strict guidelines on how it can be designed. For instance, the congressional seal may not be used on campaign mailings, and neither can the words “Congress of the United States of America” or “United States House of Representatives.”

“Official stationery, like other official resources, may be used only for official purposes,” states the House ethics manual. One ethics expert, who asked not to be named, said Rahall was wrong to use this stationery in his letter to Judge Stitt and should have checked with the House ethics committee before doing so.

In his letter to Judge Stitt, the elder Rahall made an impassioned plea to keep his son from being incarcerated yet again, although it also reveals the stains of holding congressional office and raising a family.

“While I have not been the perfect father & not ‘there for him’ at perhaps critical times in his decision making process, I do now feel that he & I are ‘a team’ working together stronger than ever to get his life back on a proper course,” the West Virginia Democrat wrote.

Nick Joe Rahall has a long record of drug use and criminal behavior that began with his arrest in Maryland in 1998 on drug charges. Some of these arrests of made headlines in West Virginia and nationally, although Rahall publicly pledged to stand by his son.

In August 2001, the younger Rahall was arrested on charges of possessing heroin, marijuana, and drug paraphernalia.

He received probation in that case, but was quickly arrested again on heroin possession charges by U.S. Capitol police after being seen using drugs in a car just blocks south of the Capitol. The charges were later dropped after Rahall’s attorney challenged the legality of the arrest.

The younger Rahall entered a drug treatment facility in early 2002, and he did a short stint in jail on the earlier marijuana charges.

On July 13, 2003, Rahall and another man entered the home of Richard Hagy in Annandale, Virginia, held him down on the floor and robbed him of $5,000, according to Fairfax Courty court documents and media reports.

Overheu had a lengthy criminal record of her own. Hagy was Overheu’s boyfriend and she told police that she had tipped off Rahall that the money was in Hagy’s home.

Ten days later, Fairfax County police issued arrest warrants the younger Rahall on felony breaking and entering charges.

On July 25, while still wanted on the felony robbery charges in Fairfax County, Rahall flipped his car over on the West Virginia Turnpike at 3:30 a.m. and was charged with driving under the influence.

The younger Rahall was processed in West Virginia on the DUI charge, and then moved to Virginia to be arraigned in the robbery case. He was released on $15,000 bail.
However, he was arrested again a month later – August 2003 – for selling cocaine to a police informant in West Virginia. That drug deal was secretly taped by police, according to court documents.

In December 2003, the younger Rahall pled guilty to distribution of cocaine charges in the West Virginia sting and was later sentenced to 14 months in prison, with three years’ probation tacked on. He served less than seven months and was released on Oct. 29, 2004, records from the federal Bureau of Prisons show.

While still on probation for the cocaine charges, the younger Rahall came up for sentencing in the Fairfax robbery case. He pled guilty to conspiracy to commit robbery, a lesser offense, thus avoiding a trial.

In a sentencing guideline report prepared for Judge Stitt – defendants are evaluated on a mathematical formula based on their criminal history and the severity of the crime – the younger Rahall was rated at just under the level required for mandatory incarceration. He was given probation and fined $9,160, according to court documents.

Overheu, for her part, was given a much worse score on the sentencing guidelines and sentenced to 11 months in prison. Her case was overseen by a different judge, and the sentence was handed out before Nick Joe Rahall went in front of Judge Stitt. She was released from prison at the end of May 2005.

Overheu was a single mother with a criminal history extending back nearly a decade before she committed the robbery with Nick Joe Rahall. Several of the cases involved forging drug prescriptions, Virginia arrest records show.

After being released from prison, Overheu went back to using drugs. A bench warrant was issued for her arrest in January 2006 after she failed a drug test while still on probaton, but she died just days later, aged 31.

Nick Joe Rahall has not gotten into trouble with the law since the 2005 case, according to the congressman. (John Bresnahan, “Questions Raised About Rahall Helping Troubled Son,” Politico, 8/12/10)

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