For over three years, the U.S. Department of Justice has been investigating West Virginia Congressman Alan Molloham. According to an exhaustively documented 500-page complaint filed with the DOJ by the conservative non-profit watchdog group National Legal and Policy Center, Mollohan was and is likely guilty of hundreds of ethics law violations.
Mollohan's a Democrat, of course, so perhaps it's logical that a conservative watchdog like NLPC would be gunning for him. However, the liberal watchdog group Citizens for Ethics in Washington (CREW) is also targeting him, calling him one of the one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress. It seems that Cong. Mollohan really is corrupt, no matter through which political lens you view his behavior.
"The bottom line is Mollohan got very wealthy in a four year period," NLPC Chairman Ken Boehm was quoted as saying in a January 2006 press release. "The fact that he earmarked well over $100 million in tax dollars to groups associated with his business partner is about as big a red flag as one can imagine," Boehm said.
Amazingly -- despite credible allegations of numerous violations of federal law -- Mollohan is still the Chairman of the House Appropriation Committee's Subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies. That subcommittee, according to Cong. Mollohan's own website, "funds the departments of Justice and Commerce."
So let's get this straight: The highest-level legislator responsible for funding the Justice Department is himself the subject of a very serious Justice Department investigation. Was there ever a bigger conflict of interest?
One could see this situation playing out in one of several different ways:
- The DOJ drags out their investigation (which seems to have already happened) in the hopes that he will increase the department's funding as a way to "get on their good side."
- The DOJ delays (or even tables) their investigation out of fear that Cong. Mollohan might try to slash their funding if they would come down hard on him.
- The DOJ plays it straight, and pursues every one of the hundreds of leads to its conclusion and then decides whether or not to seek federal charges depending on their findings.
I'd like to believe that the third approach is the one currently being followed, but I have my doubts based on personal experience with another federal bureaucracy (the Dept. of Transportation). Bureaucrats don't usually like to "rock the boat" -- especially when their department's funding is at stake. Coming down hard on Mr. Mollohan would certainly be rocking the boat and its "skipper" (the good Congressman). Most bureaucrats (even those charged with investigating wrongdoing) subscribe to the old adage "don't make waves."
Conflicts of interest like this one cannot remain unnoticed and unchallenged!