The Mollohan investigation: A compelling case

18 May 2007 // The so-called "culture of corruption" attributed to the Republican Party by the Democratic Party apparently is a bipartisan affair.

Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., marked his 64th birthday this week while under investigation by a federal grand jury. The Fairmont native has plowed $500 million in U.S. taxpayers' money into his district during the last decade and is regarded as the congressman who delivers.

But authorities are investigating whether Mr. Mollohan failed to disclose sources of income and profited illegally from directing funds to organizations he helped start.

Caught in "inadvertent errors" Mollohan, for example, restated his reported assets. They rose from less than $600,000 in 2000 to more than $6 million in 2004 -- owing, he says, to appreciation in real estate assets and an inheritance from his father.

The investigation was prompted by a 500-page National Legal and Policy Center report. It questioned real estate purchases in which the congressman participated with folks to whose companies or organizations he directed federal earmarks.

The case against Mollohan crosses ideological lines. The liberal Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington named him one of the 20 most corrupt members of Congress.

No charges have been filed, but rankness exudes from a congressman whom Citizens Against Government Waste called 2006's "Porker of the Year."