This weekend, The New York Times included a cute story entitled "The U.S. Attorney, the G.O.P. Congressman and the Timely Job Offer" on its opinion pages.
The story is about Debra Wong Yang, a U.S. Attorney from California who resigned last October. Prior to her resignation, Yang was leading the corruption investigation of U.S. Congressman Jerry Lewis, a powerful California Republican.
Through last October, Lewis' legal fees had already reached $800,000 -- and he hadn't even been indicted yet. In other words, the investigation was a big deal. His friend, former U.S. Congressman Duke Cunningham, was already in jail.
So what law firm does a guy like Lewis turn to? A powerful one with ties to the Bush administration: Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher.
Now remember Ms. Yang, mentioned at the top of this post? She was the U.S. Attorney leading the Lewis investigation. Who do you think hired immediately after her resignation?
That's right. Gibson, Dunn, & Crutcher. The same law firm representing Jerry Lewis, the guy who she had been investigating. And they are paying her a $1.5 million signing bonus.
Guess who Yang's working for at Gibson? Theodore Olson, the lawyer who represented President Bush in Florida and served in his administration as Solicitor General.
Now why is it that a story like this is buried on the opinion pages of the New York Times? Everything that I've written up until now are facts, not opinions. There was a time when a scandal much less important than this would qualify as news!
It's outrageous that the New York Times considers a story like this a matter of opinion.
It's even worse that no other major media outlet has covered the story since the Times published its piece.
It's exactly what's wrong with our nation's media.
© Jed Lewison