G.O.P. On The Griddle

By DOUGLAS WALLER

Scandal, or at least the persistent allegation of it, is as much a feature of election years as is the stump speech. And so far this season, the G.O.P. seems more besieged than its adversary. After a three-month investigation, Senate sergeant-at-arms William Pickle reported last week that at least two Republican staff members downloaded and circulated some 4,670 confidential files from the computers of Democratic Senate Judiciary Committee members from 2001 to 2003. They did so by exploiting a weakness in the computer security system. The aim: to gain an edge in the rancorous battle over President Bush's judicial nominations. Some of the memos, which at times suggest liberal special-interest groups' fingerprints on the Democrats' strategy, were even leaked to G.O.P.-friendly journalists. Manuel Miranda, a former aide to Senate majority leader Bill Frist, does not deny snooping but contends that Pickle's report did not find a "credible suggestion of criminal acts."

Still, a Justice Department probe may be in the offing, and it won't be the only one aimed at Republicans. The FBI is investigating whether Michigan Republican Representative Nick Smith was offered a bribe to support the Medicare reform bill. Smith alleged in November that unnamed G.O.P. Congressmen offered to donate $100,000 to his son's campaign for the House if he backed the bill. (He now says he got only a vague offer of "significant financial support" for his son.)

The investigations aren't confined to the Hill. A Democratic district attorney in Texas is looking into whether a political-action committee created by House majority leader Tom DeLay illegally funneled corporate donations to Republican candidates for the statehouse. DeLay dismisses the inquiry as a "vindictive and partisan" witch hunt. Faced with an uphill battle to win seats in the House and Senate, Democrats smell opportunity in the profusion of probes. Says a senior Senate aide: "We won't let this die."

--By Douglas Waller