Murtha: Pelosi's First Big Mistake

Americans had a chance to send some strong messages to Congress when we voted. We voted to end congressional corruption and the Iraq war. We didn't vote against one or the other. We voted against both.

The Democrats have chosen to ignore the message about corruption, so they will have to be reminded. We want ethics reform, new lobbying rules, the elimination of money-laundering through PACs. We do not want corrupt politicians in leadership positions.

John Murtha, by absolutely every account, is one of the most corrupt Democrats in Congress. He has been watch-listed by CREW, which cites a host of offenses, including influence-peddling through his brother's defense lobbying company.

Murtha's ethics problems go back years, as this Abscam video shows. In his 1980 meeting with undercover FBI agents, Murtha says he'll wait a bit before taking a $50,000 bribe, but wants money deposited in banks and other companies in his home district. Here is some of the transcript, provided by columnist Jack Anderson in 1980:

"You give us the banks where you want the money deposited," offered one of the bagmen.

"All right," agreed Murtha. "How much money we talking about?"

"Well, you tell me."

"Well, let me find out what is a reasonable figure that will get their attention," said Murtha, "because there are a couple of banks that have really done me some favors in the past, and I'd like to put some money in....["]

The full transcript is here and it is damning. The full video of Murtha's Abscam interview is available on-line.

Google Video (53:40)