Ney Leaves Congress

Adamant about his innocence in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, the closest that Ohio Congressman Bob Ney will come to admitting wrongdoing apparently is in abandoning his re-election campaign.

Ney has withdrawn from his race for a seventh term in the U.S. House of Representatives and he is attributing the sudden change to his family, not his well-documented ties to the convicted lobbyist or the federal investigation into his corrupt activities.

Just a few months ago, Ney’s congressional chief of staff pleaded guilty for conspiring to corrupt Ney and other members of Congress and their aides with trips, free tickets and meals. The former aide, Neal Volz, admitted committing the illegal activities over four years. He eventually left Ney’s office to work for Abramoff, who was one of Washington’s best connected lobbyists and a major fundraiser for both parties.

Though Ney categorically denied any wrongdoing, he was clearly tainted by this and was under scrutiny in the corruption scandal that rocked Washington. In the May primary, he won 68% of the vote against a little-known opponent and he vowed to go forth with a seventh term.

Reality Based Educator calls Ney another Abramoff casualty and believes a future indictment is what really prompted Ney’s withdraw, not the stress of the scandal.