ORANGE COUNTY GOP WILL BACK MILLER REGARDLESS OF HOW CROOKED HE IS

Although no one is ever going to overtake Jerry Lewis as the worst crooked pol in Southern California-- almost a million dollars in legal fees already and the indictment hasn't even been served!-- Lewis' far right pal from Diamond Bar, Gary Miller, is coming up on him. (Oops! I forgot Duncan Hunter. Still, third place in the corruption sweeps ain't bad good.)

As news of the Miller real estate scandals spills over into the district, and it becomes common knowledge that he is the focus of FBI and IRS investigations-- as well as a House Ethics Committee investigation-- politicians of all stripes are starting to size up a race for Congress in 2008. DWT has been contacted by several Democrats-- Miller had no opponent in 2006-- and now Republicans in the area are quietly looking for a "fallback" in case, as looks likely, Miller is indicted and forced to resign.

Yesterday's Orange County Register, claims that so far local GOP leaders are sticking with Miller. "While Miller isn't often seen around Orange County GOP events, several central committee members have said they are standing behind him." Others are withholding judgment until reaction from a public sick and tired of Republican congressmen enriching themselves at the public trough can be measured.

The heavy lifting in terms of Miller scandals reportage is being done by local journalists Fred Ortega and Gary Scott. These guys are doing a great job-- and they were at it again today. Miller, one of the dozen richest members of the House (you can't get a straight answer out of him, of course, but his net worth could be over $50 million; he adamantly refuses to allow anyone to examine his tax records), is crying to local media that his "reputation is being destroyed." He blames "Democrats," although I, for one, was never aware that Bush's FBI and IRS are filled with partisan, vengeful Democrats out to screw innocent Republican congressmen. Men's reputations should be based on their deeds, not their p.r. His deeds speak for themselves. Right now he's trying to bully local officials who have given statements to FBI and IRS investigators about his corrupt behavior.

Unfortunately for Miller, the more this matter is looked into, the more of his dark little secrets become public. Example: the money he made in one of his real estate scams was used to "buy property in Fontana from Lewis Operating Corp., a development company he had done business with before and that had contributed significantly to Miller's congressional campaigns. In 2006, Lewis gave $8,500 to Miller, who ran for re-election unopposed. In 2004, the company gave him $10,000, making it the third largest contributor to his campaign." Nice and cozy.


UPDATE: MILLER BLAMES EVERYONE BUT HIMSELF FOR HIS CROOKED LAND DEALS AND TAX FRAUD-- AND CLAIMS HE WILL RUN FOR CONGRESS AGAIN!!!

Miller, still claiming that he's not a crook, admits that "he never should have turned to campaign contributor Lewis Operating Corp. when looking for an investment to shelter the proceeds from a 2002 land sale in Monrovia." He claims the media is out to smear him for just making some bucks. He's still bitching that he only made a $10 million dollar profit on a $1.8 million investment when he sold some land to the city of Monrovia and he seems to have some animosity towards the city's mayor, Lara Larramendi who he castigates as "a registered Democrat." Poor fella! Sitting on all that land and only making $10 million; no wonder he turned around and bilked the IRS out of the taxes due (around $3 million) by lying and claiming the city had forced him to sell it (a lie). He's pulled the same stunts in several other cities in the area, including Fontana and Rancho Cucamonga.

The sleazy multimillionaire, who has worked with another crooked pol, Jerry Lewis, in schemes to enrich themselves at the public's expense, claims he was concerned about his grandchildren's well-being and that's why he has been wheeling and dealing in the real estate market while he was getting paid (handsomely by most peoples' standards) to be a congressman. But if you just rubber stamp everything the Regime sends down the shoot, I guess you have plenty of time to figure out ways to rip off the IRS on bogus real estate deals. Miller insists he's going to run for Congress again. "I plan on running again. I am not going to be impugned by the press."