Wiener Pulls Out Of Congress!

Ever heard of the term: "Resigning so you won't BE indicted"?

Why Sen. Ensign should be worried about possible indictment
By Jon Ralston (contact)


In the federal penal code, it is known as “structuring.”

And it is a word Sen. John Ensign should remember because it is very likely to be on any indictment with his name on it.

That’s what I am told by a reliable source familiar with the deliberations occurring inside the Justice Department as federal authorities in Washington try to do with Ensign what they could not do with former Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens: Get their man. Or, because they had Stevens and then lost him because of misconduct, Justice wants to make sure if it goes to the next step with Ensign, the charges stick.

Structuring is a broad term that refers to the crime of creating financial transactions to evade reporting requirements — for example, a $96,000 payment to your mistress laundered through a trust controlled by your parents and calling it a “gift” instead of what it obviously was: a severance payment that had to be reported.

That the feds are looking at structuring as a possible crime will not surprise many old hands who have watched the sordid Ensign saga play out, morphing from a fairly grotesque he-slept-with-his-best-friend’s-wife-who-was-also-his-wife’s-best-friend story to a fantastically creepy tale of a senator trying to keep the cuckolded husband quiet by any means necessary, including, perhaps, structuring transactions with businesses in exchange for campaign contributions.

Maybe Ensign won’t be indicted. Maybe he will resign in exchange for not being indicted. Maybe he will serve out his term or even be re-elected. Would that be any more incredible than anything else we have seen?

Vitter solicited prostitution. That's a criminal offense... Is your standard now whether there was a conviction, but just being indicted, or almost indicted is okay, as long as it's a Republican?

Ensign broke the law, and whether they choose to indict him is still being considered....Is your standard now whether there was a conviction, but just being indicted, or almost indicted is okay, as long as it's a Republican?

Sorry... Your ever-changing goalposts of what is okay for a Republican and what is not okay for a Democrat leave you with no credibility whatsoever. (And Weiner still did NOT break the law, and both Vitter and Ensign did...whether or not they've been prosecuted for it yet.)

Weiner could have saved himself if he just walked up to the reporters on day one and said, "yes, I did it, I was wrong, and I hope my wife and constituents can forgive me". But he to the path of deception and even tried to blame an innocent man of hacking his account. Who does that? That to me is the worst part of this, not the sexting.

You flatly stated that Vitter and Ensign committed criminal acts. From a legal stand point shouldn't it be that they allegedly committed criminal acts?

Since they have not been convicted (yet), you are expressing your opinion based on what you've heard or read. If we use that standard, then shouldn't we agree that Bill Clinton (perjury) and Charlie Rangel (tax evasion) also committed criminal acts? I'm the one trying to be consistent here. Also how about Al Gore (no controlling legal authority)?

In my opinion, Vitter did commit a criminal act as I stated before. Ensign's case is more complicated, as is John Edward's. My guess is he did commit a criminal act but I don't know the law well enough. We'll see if or what he gets charged with. From what I've heard, it's possible John Edwards might even be found not guilty so I can't even say he committed a criminal act at this point or not. My guess is he did as well. He'd still be a slimeball regardless.

You keep twisting it into claiming I'm supporting Ensign and the Republicans. Nothing is further from the truth. He should of been gone when this stuff first came out. Same with Vitter.

Now how consistent are you? Should Bill Clinton or Charles Rangle of resigned as well? I think so. And Rangle didn't even cheat on his wife.

Now Weiner is a different case in that so far it appears he didn't break the law (I guess it's legal to email nude photos to people without their consent?). But his case is so outrageous that I don't see how he could of continued on as a congressman. I'll agree, though, that if he can manage to get people to vote for him some time in the future for an office, then so be it. But he'll probably get hired by some TV network first.

CriticalBill wrote: Weiner could have saved himself if he just walked up to the reporters on day one and said, "yes, I did it, I was wrong, and I hope my wife and constituents can forgive me". But he to the path of deception and even tried to blame an innocent man of hacking his account. Who does that? That to me is the worst part of this, not the sexting.

That's what he said today at his press conference, and kissing ass as well.

I flatly stated it because it was true...

And yes, I think Rangel should have resigned...But he didn't... He also hasn't been convicted of any crimes...(since that seems to be more important to you than actually doing something wrong.) Are you trying to have it both ways now?

Nixon also committed crimes...He wasn't convicted because he was pardoned before it could go to trial...

Ollie North committed crimes, but got off on a technicality.

G. Gordon Liddy & Charles Colson both committed crimes, and both served time...

Jack Abramoff committed crimes and is/was served time.

Randy "Duke" Cunningham committed crimes and served/is serving time...

Bob Ney committed crimes and served/is serving time...

How far back would you like to go with this? And what possible bearing does it have on Anthony Weiner resigning? (And Weiner STILL did not commit any crimes...)

At this point, you're just arguing for the sake of arguing, and whatever you think you can pull out of your backside to play "gotcha" with me... Have a nice day..

Couldn't help but laugh at the "Yeah, bye bye pervert!" comment at about 1:55. I wonder if that was a Howard Stern plant?

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Thought I should end tis thread with this...