Pelosi Could Be Haunted by Key Dems’ Ethical Clouds

One of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s favorite boasts is that she “cleaned out the swamp of Washington,” a none too subtle swipe at what she calls the G.O.P.’s “culture of corruption” as evidenced by imprisoned former Rep. Duke Cunningham, disgraced Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff or the coterie of members he tainted, including Rep. Bob Ney who is also in prison and former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, who is still fighting charges that he violated Texas campaign finance laws. Unfortunately for Pelosi, the Democrats’ record is far from clean, and her bold words could well come back to haunt her and her party in next year’s midterm elections.

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(Jay Newton-Small, “Key Dems’ Ethical Clouds Could Haunt Pelosi,” Time, 8/22/09)