One down, 231 to go

WASHINGTON, D.C. (Reuters)--Republican scumbag Bob Ney of Ohio pleaded guilty on Friday in the Jack Abramoff political corruption investigation, becoming the first lawmaker convicted in the election-year scandal that is eating the ass out of the GOP.

Representative Ney admitted he had illegally accepted trips, meals, drinks, hookers, drugs, plumbing supplies, sex toys, tickets to concerts and sporting events, shiny glass beads, animal pelts and other items worth tens of thousands of dollars in return for exploiting the trust of his constituents by whoring his office on behalf of crooked über-lobbyist Abramoff and his clients.

Ney, who abandoned his re-election race in August when it became clear he would be going to prison, said he was chagrined to have been caught and will resign from Congress when he gets around to it.

But with the election less than a month away and Democrats increasingly optimistic about winning control of Congress, the Bush Crime Family and House Republican leaders urged Ney to step down immediately so the rest of them can limit their exposure to what will undoubtedly be a blizzard of subpeonas.

House Speaker Dennis Hastert of Illinois and other Republican House leaders said they will move to expel Ney when Congress resumes its legislative work in November, if Ney has not yet resigned and Hastert has not yet been indicted for his crooked real estate scams or forced to resign in the Mastergate cover-up.

"Bob Ney must be punished for acknowledging his criminal acts," they said in a statement. "He betrayed his oath of omerta and violated the trust of those he represented on K Street. There is no place for him in this Congress now that he's been convicted."

Appearing at a federal court a few blocks from the Capitol, Ney gave brief answers to the judge's questions and said he has been hiding from the media in an alcohol treatment program during the past month.

In a statement issued after the hearing, Ney said, "I have made mistakes of judgment and acted in ways that have worked out badly for me."

The Abramoff scandal and the Mastergate scandal involving lewd computer messages sent by disgraced former Representative Mark Foley to hot young male congressional aides have hurt Republicans as they seek to keep control of Congress in the November 7 elections and avoid an unstoppable cascade of corruption investigations.

The Abramoff scandal has reached into the White House, with the conviction of former Bush Family bagman David Safavian and last week's resignation of Susan Ralston, an Abramoff whore on loan to top presidential ratfucker Karl Rove.

Ney, who copped a plea with prosecutors last month, admitted he conspired to commit fraud and other offenses and that he filed false financial disclosure forms.

"I accept responsibility for those of my actions which have been discovered and I am prepared to face the consequences of what I have been convicted for," he said in his statement.

U.S. District Judge Ellen Segal Huvelle told the 52-year-old Ney that he faced a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison and that, as part of his plea deal, prosecutors recommended he get 27 months in prison. She added that she was not bound by the government's recommendation and set sentencing for January 19.

Ney's lawyer requested that Ney be given treatment for his alcoholism while in prison, and an extra blanket.

Ney, who was first elected to the House of Representatives in 1994, said he will resign from Congress in the next few weeks once he makes sure "my staff members have received their hush money and that any open constituent matters and obligations are unlikely to come back and queer my deal before sentencing."