Begala's point about Clinton being investigated over football tickets....

[phillybri]

Is that actually true?

I need to get a source on that to shove it up some Repug ass! Before I do, let me get this straight:

Free Football Tickets?: Worthy of independant investigation.

Outing of a CIA operative?: Who gives a shit?

I think I get it. Can I be Freeper now?

[Yavin4]

1. Yes, It's True

Former Sec. of Ag., Mike Gillespe, was investigated for taking free tickets to a Cowboys game from Perdue chicken. Don't forget the travel office firings investigation.

If a Clinton official farted wrong, the Republicans appointed a special prosecutor.

[Dudley_DUright]

2. Yup it is true

Mike Espy, Clinton's ag. sec. had an independent counsel on his case for accepting football tickets. The IC spent $17 Million but Espy was acquitted.

See:

http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1998/12/04/counsel/

[gratuitous]

3. Not Clinton, his Agriculture Secretary Mike Espy

Believe it or not, Mr. Espy was the subject of a full-blown independent counsel investigation and prosecution about whether or not he was engaged in an unlawful conflict of interest for accepting tickets to sporting events paid for by industry big shots at Tyson Foods. When Espy paid the big shots back for the tickets, the independent counsel expanded his allegations, because Espy mailed his check, so he was using the U.S. mail to cover up his "crime."

There's a pretty good (though partisan, sorry Tucker Carlson) recap here:

http://www.americanreview.us/smaltz.htm

Mike Espy was charged with was accepting items such as US Open Tickets and Super Bowl tickets from companies whom he had the responsibility to regulate. The gifts in total were reportedly about $35,000. This amount appears to be inflated by four inauguaral tickets that Mike Espy received which total $6,000 of this amount.

It is my view that this investigation should have taken about two days. Yet Smaltz has spent more money to investigate the gifts received by Mike Espy than murder, kidnapping investigations and domestic terrorism investigations. The taxpayers have been stuck with a $20,000,000 cost to pay for Mr. Smaltz's reign of prosecutorial terror.

_______________________

Compare this $35,000 in "bribes" with, for example, the increase in Crash Cart's personal wealth by the awarding of contracts to Halliburton, and you begin to wonder if Republicans have a soul at all. I won't keep you in suspense: They don't.