Crime Pays: The Perks of Being a Disgraced Member of Congress

By Ken Silverstein

There’s been speculation in the press that Congressman Rick Renzi of Arizona will step down following an FBI raid on his wife’s business. Meanwhile, Renzi is under investigation for taking $200,000 from a business partner whom he may have helped out on a highly profitable land deal. The congressman claims that the $200,000 he received was simply repayment of an old loan, but for some reason he didn’t disclose it in his personal financial disclosure report, which would appear to be a clear violation of House ethics law (must have been an oversight).

Logically speaking, one would expect a congressman to relinquish his seat under such circumstances. But Renzi says he intends to tough it out—and he’d be a fool not to. That’s because the common folk must pay lawyers out of their own pockets or turn for help to a public defender, but members of Congress can use campaign funds to hire a dream team of defense attorneys. As of March 31, Renzi has only $80,561 on hand. Given his legal predicament, he'll burn through that in a couple of months. From a fiscal (if not moral) standpoint, he'd be wise to stick around and see what other funds he can raise.

He'd be in good (relatively speaking) company. During the first quarter of this year, seven current and former members of Congress (six Republicans and one Democrat) used their campaign treasuries to pay legal defense bills. The top three:

1. Ex-congressman Mark Foley, whose unconventional relationship with Congressional pages led to his downfall. Foley has paid more than $200,000 in legal fees to the firm of Zuckerman Spaeder, and still has more than $1.7 million in old campaign funds, so he shouldn’t have any trouble mounting an aggressive defense.
2. Former Congressman Curt Weldon, who spent $132,000 on legal fees. Weldon, who as a congressman established successful jobs creation programs (for his family members and friends), lost his re-election bid last year following an FBI raid on his daughter’s home. Karen Weldon was a lobbyist who specialized in signing up clients her father had helped out in congress.
3. Former Congressman Jim Kolbe of Arizona, who is reportedly under investigation over a decade-old camping and rafting trip he took with a group that included two teenage congressional pages.