Did Arm-Twisting Escalate to Bribery?

News and Opinion for Democrats Against Bush - Part I b

Did Arm-Twisting Escalate to Bribery? - Re: Nick Smith

"And so the first offer was to give [Brad] $100,000-plus for his campaign, and endorsements by national leadership, and I said no, I'm going to stick to my guns on what I think is right for the constituents in my district."

-- Nick Smith, in taped interview

washingtonpost.com

Michigan Congressman's Charge May Spark Inquiry

By Dee-Ann Durbin
Associated Press
Saturday, December 6, 2003; Page A04

The complete article may be found at-- http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/press-951.html

Before a recent predawn vote on Medicare, Republican lawmakers pleaded with Rep. Nick Smith (R-Mich.) to change his vote and support the bill. Was it just another case of political arm-twisting or something more?

The exchanges that morning on the floor of the House, when a handful of votes could decide the fate of the Medicare bill, have put the retiring Michigan congressman in the middle of a storm of charges and calls for an investigation.

Smith stood firm and voted against the bill, which passed by five votes on Nov. 22. But shortly afterward he leveled an explosive charge ...

c) Washington Post

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A39944-2003Dec5.html

Slate.msn.com

Why Smith Can't Recant

They've got him on tape

By Timothy Noah
Posted Saturday, Dec. 6, 2003, at 11:32 AM PT

The complete article may be found at-- http://www.campaignlegalcenter.org/press-953.html

A taped interview with a Kalamazoo radio station virtually proves that Rep. Nick Smith, R-Mich, has morphed from a whistleblower into an uncooperative witness in a potential bribery investigation. ...

Until this past Thursday, Smith stood by his accusations, but declined to identify the person (or persons) he was accusing, except to say that it wasn't Hastert, Thompson, or Majority Leader Tom DeLay ...

Smith backed off on Dec. 4, just as he was starting to feel some heat from the growing prospect of a Justice department investigation ...

http://slate.msn.com/id/2092153/

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