The Most Corrupt Bushies

The Most Corrupt Bushies

Who are the 25 most corrupt officials in the Bush Administration? Where does one even start?

With Scooter Libby, on trial for lying to federal investigators? David Safavian, the top procurement official convicted of obstructing the government’s probe of Jack Abramoff? How about Dusty Foggo, the CIA’s #3 guy, who steered contracts to lobbyist friends of Duke Cunningham? Don’t forget Kenneth Tomlinson, the man Karl Rove appointed to censor NPR and PBS.

Narrowing a down a list like this is no enviable task. Luckily Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has sifted through the records. Over the last six years CREW found over 160 cases of misconduct in the Bush Administration and narrowed the cast of “criminals and scoundrels” down to 25, “based on type of offense, the official’s level of responsibility and the impact on the public trust.”

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Who are the 25 most corrupt officials in the Bush Administration? Where does one even start?

With Scooter Libby, on trial for lying to federal investigators? David Safavian, the top procurement official convicted of obstructing the government’s probe of Jack Abramoff? How about Dusty Foggo, the CIA’s #3 guy, who steered contracts to lobbyist friends of Duke Cunningham? Don’t forget Kenneth Tomlinson, the man Karl Rove appointed to censor NPR and PBS.

Narrowing a down a list like this is no enviable task. Luckily Citizens for Ethics and Responsibility in Washington (CREW) has sifted through the records. Over the last six years CREW found over 160 cases of misconduct in the Bush Administration and narrowed the cast of “criminals and scoundrels” down to 25, “based on type of offense, the official’s level of responsibility and the impact on the public trust.”

The examples of offense range from “sexual misconduct to theft to immigration fraud,” the report states. Some are pathetically hilarious. Most are deeply disturbing. The report as a whole is a damning indictment of the way this Administration does business. Click here to read the full report.

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Between the reemergence of right-wing red-baiting and Donald Trump’s use of the chilling National Security Presidential Memorandum–7 to criminalize left political organizing, we’re seeing McCarthyism reborn before our eyes.

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Katrina vanden Heuvel
Editor and Publisher, The Nation

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