The Names "Chris Collins," "Duncan Hunter" And "Mark Foley" And Wave Election Years

This is what the Republican Culture of Corruption Looks Like In 2018

With future Speaker Nancy Pelosi's connivance, Denny Hastert-- then Speaker, currently in prison for raping underage boys-- protected alcoholic Florida Congressman Mark Foley (a "nice guy") from ever having to face charges from dozens of young men-- congressional pages-- that he had sex or tried to have sex with them. Congress made sure that he was just chastised for sending naughty e-mails. He still tells people that's all he ever did. No one cared what the boys said. It was before #MeToo.

In fact, it was just before the 2006 election. Rahm Emanuel and Steny Hoyer, aware Foley was about to be outed and forced to resign from Congress in disgrace, chased the progressive candidate campaigning for the seat out of the race and inserted their own candidate, wealthy conservative Republican Tim Mahoney, who quickly re-registered as a Democrat. (Mahoney, a corrupt Blue Dog, was even worse than Folkey in many ways and had his own sex scandal and lost the seat, but that's another story.) How did a creep like Mahoney even win? Easy-- thanks to Rahm and Hoyer, no primary. Then... here's the timeline of what happened:

• Sept. 28- Rahm leaked the information that Foley was fiddling with the pages and ABC News ran the story-- BIG. It spread like wildfire.
• Sept. 29- Foley resigned from Congress to check into a program in Arizona to deal with his alcoholism.
• Oct. 2- The Florida GOP Executive Board selected state Rep Joe Negron as Foley's replacement. As Rahm knew, it was too late to take Foley's name off the ballot-- thus the timing of the leak.

The following month, on election day, Negron was awarded the votes cast for Foley but his name wasn't on the ballot and he lost-- albeit narrowly-- to Rahm's hand-picked corrupt conservative sex predator, Tim Mahoney. Mahoney lost in 2008 in the middle of a second Democratic wave election. (And, no, the DCCC did not learn anything from this episode; they never learn anything from any episodes.)

Ten years later and yesterday's Buffalo News reported that Congressman Chris Collins-- not a child molester (as far as I know), an indicted crook-- "will stay on the congressional ballot in November even though he remains under indictment on insider trading charges, according to four sources familiar with the situation. The sources, who asked not to be identified, say Collins has heeded the advice of his criminal attorneys who fear the potential complications of protracted election law challenges almost sure to be initiated by Democrats if he removed his name from the congressional ballot."

“It’s very fair to say there’s been a drastic shift,” said one of the sources, referring to the congressman’s earlier commitment to cooperate with local GOP officials and step aside for a substitute candidate. One GOP source noted the decision has always remained an option for Collins and that Republican strategists were prepared for his continuing presence on the ballot; but other sources remain unhappy that the move derails efforts to find a substitute candidate.

After the Buffalo News uncovered the story, a Collins lawyer confirmed the congressman's plans.

“Because of the protracted and uncertain nature of any legal effort to replace Congressman Collins we do not see a path allowing Congressman Collins to be replaced on the ballot,” attorney Mark Braden said in a prepared statement.

Collins' decision brought cheers Monday when it was announced at a rally for his Democratic opponent, Grand Island Supervisor Nate McMurray.

In any event, the move signals an end to more than a month of legal wrangling as  top election lawyers retained by the GOP attempted to find some legal loophole to substitute Collins as a candidate for another office, thus removing him from the congressional ballot at this late date on the political calendar. But even some of the potential solutions, such as substituting Collins onto a Town Board slot in his home town of Clarence, were expected to be challenged in court.

Republican leaders appeared ready to have Collins substitute for another candidate in Clarence this week, according to the sources. Now the sources say the party officials were blindsided by the congressman's decision, though one source close to Collins indicated they have been aware all along that continuing the congressional campaign was an option. At this point however, it is clear that local party officials are surprised and unhappy over the move.

They point out that Collins had pledged his cooperation all along and that he would follow whatever path party leaders recommended. Now they say Collins has reneged on that agreement, after lawyers pointed out a host of complications. One source said revocation of his bail on federal charges could result.

Now Democratic challenger McMurray is expected to wage a campaign against an opponent under federal indictment. It opens an almost unprecedented campaign strategy, exactly what GOP officials had hoped to avoid.

Democrats wasted little time trying to capitalize.

"The choices couldn't be more stark. As much as anything, integrity is on the ballot," Tom Perez, Democratic National Committee chairman, said Monday as he helped open McMurray's Hamburg campaign office.

Still, Republican officials realized they would face a host of other legal complications had they found a way to substitute another candidate for Collins.

Collins' decision Monday also means that several Republicans vying to become the replacement candidate will sit on the sidelines-- at least for now. They include Erie County Comptroller Stefan I. Mychajliw Jr., 2010 gubernatorial candidate Carl P. Paladino, Assemblyman Raymond W. Walter, County Legislator Edward A. Rath III, State Sen. Robert G. Ortt and others.

Each could re-enter the political calculus, however, should Collins win the November election and leave office either through resignation or conviction on the criminal charges he faces and subsequent expulsion from the House. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo would then have the option of calling a special election.

Collins faces charges of securities fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy and lying to a federal agent in connection with his involvement with Innate Immunotherapeutics, an Australian biotech firm where he served as a director and the largest investor. His son, Cameron, faces similar charges, as does Stephen Zarsky of New Jersey, the father of Cameron Collins' fiancee.

Prosecutors accused the congressman of hatching an insider stock trading scheme from his cellphone while attending a White House picnic in late June 2017. They say he received an email that night from Innate's chief executive officer, telling him the firm's experimental multiple sclerosis drug had failed in clinical trials. He's accused of then relaying that information to his son, who then told others, allowing them to sell their stock before the news became public and thereby avoid huge losses.

Good news: because the case against Collins was in the hands of the FBI and not something someone like Rahm Emanuel could manipulate, the DCCC didn't pick one of their own god-awful candidates-- they made a half-assed attempt to get a wretched Blue Dog, Kathy Hochul but failed-- to run. Everything I hear about Nate McMurray is good and his campaign's issues page is excellent and far from what the DCCC wants in their candidates. Example:

Healthcare is a right, not a privilege. Everyone should be able to access needed health care regardless of income, and the only affordable long-term solution to America’s healthcare crisis is a “Medicare for All” national health care program.

Every other major industrialized nation has this type of system. The U.S. spends more on healthcare per person than these countries, but we are no more healthy, in fact, we spend more and end up with less. I support the Medicare-for-All bills that have been introduced in the House and Senate (H.R. 676/ S.1804 as well as the New York State Healthcare Bill.

It’s time politicians stop putting Social Security and Medicare at risk.

In a statement yesterday, Nate, after the GOP's anncoument that they would be keeping Collins on the ballot, said that "it’s nice to finally know who I’m running against. But, in truth, we always knew we were running against Chris Collins. There are laws for a reason. There is accountability in our society for a reason. And in the greatest democracy in the world, voters weren’t going to take this kind of sham switching around names on a ballot at the whims of local party bosses. I credit the people of Western New York for standing up in town after town saying 'don’t force him on the ballot in my town.' They saw through this fraud. They weren’t going to fall for the bait and switch strategy by the same team that endorsed, celebrated, took pictures with and defended Chris Collins. There is an incredible grassroots movement in NY-27. Like me, the voters want to Fight Like Hell against the political machine that has let them down for so long. They like that I’m an underdog. Every day when I’m out meeting voters, we talk about affordable, accessible healthcare for all, defending social security, investing in our infrastructure, protecting our farms. But in this region, we’re still always talking about corruption. Voters have a chance to end that once and for all in NY-27 and I’m excited for the next 50 days."

Nate's progressive positions and political independence may explain why the DCCC still hasn't added him to their Red-to-Blue page. So that means the GOP is stuck with 2 indicted criminals on the ballot in November-- Collins and Duncan Hunter in California. Both districts have a PVI of R+11 and both candidates, McMurray in NY and Ammar Campa-Najjar in CA, are progressives, not GOP-lite DCCC types. (In Ammar's case, he's been endorsed by Elizabeth Warren, President Obama, DCCC vice chairs Ted Lieu and Joe Kennedy and the DCCC still refuses to back him and, in fact, goes out of it's way to undermine his campaign. They suck so bad.)