Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) running again under a cloud

From Taegan Goddard's Political Wire we get the report that while John doolittle is running again for reelection to his house seat, his connection to the Abramoff scandal has the Republican Party worried about whether he is vulnerable. He

...may face as many as three primary challengers next year, the Sacramento Bee reports.

Doolittle defeated Democratic challenger Charlie Brown by three points in 2006, and with Brown to run again, Republican leaders are growing increasingly worried. NRCC Chair Tom Cole said whether Doolittle would seek re-election was an open question, despite Doolittle's insistence otherwise.

Abramoff is the gift that just keeps on giving to Democrats.

Details on Rep. Renzi corruption.

Emptywheel at The Next Hurrah concisely explains the corrupt land swap for which Arizona Rep. Rick Renzi is being investigated by the FBI.

It is becoming more clear that U.S. Attorney Paul Charlton was most likely removed by Gonzales' DoJ because of this corruption investigation. Charlton's objection to the Death Penalty and his efforts to get approval to tape record confessions by criminals (currently prohibited by DoJ policy) were excuses that Gonzales dreamed up to justify the real reason Charlton had to go.

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Addendum 3:25 PM
The Wall Street Journal weighs in with a front page story on the details of the questionable and almst certainly corrupt land swap.

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So far we have:

• Carol Lam - removed as U.S. Attorney in San Diego because of her investigations into corrupt Republican Congress persons Duke Cunningham and John Doolittle, and
  
• Debra Yang - U.S. Attorney of Los Angeles bought off with a lucrative job (at the law firm which represents Rep. Jerry Lewis no less) and a $1.5 million bribe signing bonus because she was investigating - you guessed it - Rep. Jerry Lewis. Now we have
  
• Paul Charlton - U.S. Attorney of Arizona removed as he was investigating Rep. Rick Renzi, Republican of Arizona.

Prior posts can be found by clicking on the labels "Lam," "Yang" and "Renzi."

Rep. Doolitle is in the investigator's sights now.

Damn! These investigations are slow! If this were a TV movie, it would only have taken two hours to get this far, and they even throw in commercials!

California Rep. John Doolittle (CA - R) has been talked about as a target of investigations for corruption since 2005, and his close association with Abramoff has made it clear that there is more than just smoke there. But now everything seems to be heating up. Kevin Ring has just resigned suddenly with no notice from his lucrative job as a lobbyist. This is usually the pattern just before a person makes a deal with the investigators for a lighter sentence if he will give up someone higher on the food chain. In Ring's case it is going to be his former employer, Rep. Doolittle.

TPM Muckraker has the story.

All I can say is, it's about time. Now when does Rep. Jerry Lewis (CA - R) get his turn in the barrel?