Stimulating Your Friends

It pays to be friends with Colorado governor Bill Ritter.

Ritter hired his former law firm, the Washington-based Hogan & Hartson, in a no-bid contract to review stimulus spending, The Denver Post reported Friday. It said the firm was paid $40,000 in stimulus money through June.

Aides to the governor insisted the contract was properly awarded. The state attorney general's office deemed the contract necessary to allow the state to have speedy legal advice about stimulus money. The contract is too small to require competitive bidding.

I can't spend $3000 without putting it out for competitive bid.

This might be clean, but Republicans are required to avoid even the appearance of impropriety. Democrats aren't held to so high a standard.

Hat tip: Hot Air

Name That Party

The governor of Puerto Rico's been busted.

The governor of Puerto Rico and at least 12 others, including members of his campaign finance committee, were indicted in San Juan in the culmination of a three-year investigation into the governor's campaign finances, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office on the island.

Gov. Aníbal Acevedo Vilá is expected to turn himself in Friday to face a variety campaign related crimes: conspiracy to violate election laws, making false statements, wire fraud, program fraud, conspiracy to defraud the IRS and filing a false tax return.

The 27-count indictment began with a long-running grand jury probe into how the governor funded his election to become Puerto Rico's resident commissioner, the nonvoting position in Congress he held prior to becoming governor.

Of course, the story doesn't mention his party affiliation until the 10th paragraph, when the governor himself brings it up.

Acevedo maintains that the drawn-out grand jury investigation into his finances is the product of a witch hunt. As members of Acevedo's staff and even his family were paraded to the grand jury in a prolonged probe, the governor's supporters claimed the case is another example of a Republican-led Justice Department going after Democrats.