Ouch. Think the Obama PAC's were ready for this one? Pals with Abramoff and DeLay? Attended college on Social Security? Really?
Meet Paul RyanFrom
HuffPo:One year before DeLay was indicted on conspiracy and money laundering charges, Ryan called the attacks "gutter politics at its worst," according to the Washington Post. And added: "You're going to see a big rallying around Tom."
For that remark, a columnist for the Wisconsin State Journal wrote that Ryan had "put his head in the sand." But Ryan only stepped up his defense of DeLay.
Six months before the indictment, Ryan called the investigation and ensuing public outcry over DeLay "an effort to 'lynch him politically,'" according to Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Even after a Texas grand jury indicted DeLay on October 3, 2005, Ryan still refused to return $25,000 in donations from the then-former House Majority Leader. The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported that Ryan said he would only return the cash if DeLay was convicted.
Soon thereafter, Ryan, like others in Congress, had to deal with fallout over his ties to Abramoff. In January 2006, the lobbyist pleaded guilty to charges that he committed fraud, tax evasion and engaged in a conspiracy to bribe public officials. Ryan donated close to $2,000 to charity -- the amount he received from a PAC for which Abramoff worked and from the lobbyist personally. Ryan said he wanted "to remove any shred of concern," the Journal Sentinel reported.
