House of Murtha

The scandalous 13 seconds that are haunting a would-be Democratic leader.

Published November 15, 2006 9:53PM (EST)

John Murtha, House speaker-in-waitng Nancy Pelosi's choice for majority leader, has a bit of history up on the wire. The following is a few seconds of a much longer FBI video from the 1980 Abscam sting, which was devised to catch corrupt lawmakers. In the clip -- which is being screened regularly by right-wing cable hosts -- Murtha appears to turn down a bribe without exactly shutting the door on possibly accepting later. Murtha wasn't indicted, although six members of Congress and a senator were eventually convicted of bribery and lesser charges.


By David Puner

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