For Green and Ryan, toil and trouble;DeLay, Abramoff make scandal bubble

The Green-Ryan-Graul-DeLay-Abramoff connections. Where should we begin? Maybe with the cast of characters, in the unlikely event someone who's not a politics-obsessed insider is reading this.

Green and Ryan are Wisconsin Congressmen, named Mark and Paul respectively. Graul is Mark Graul, Green's former chief of staff in the House and now his campaign manager in Green's run for governor. DeLay, whose first name is Tom but who's known as The Hammer, was the Republican floor leader in the House until he was indicted on money-laundering schemes. Abramoff (first name Jack) is a DeLay crony and one of DC's most powerful lobbyists until he came the focus of a far-ranging investigation of all sorts of illegal and unethical behavior.

DeLay distributed political action money to many, many GOP Congress members as a way to insure their loyalty. Green got $30,000 and Ryan $25,000 from DeLay. Both refuse to return the money, even claiming it would be "illegal" to do so, although that is not true. Three other Rs in the House already have said they will give back DeLay's money.

Ryan keeps saying it's illegal to return it, but the Federal Elections Commission website offers a specfic example of how to return PAC money to "Very Controversial PAC." He also claims that he's already spent DeLay's money, since it was given to him for past campaigns, but that's bogus, too. Ryan and Green have always had far bigger bank balances than the amount they got from DeLay. To try to claim which donations were spent on past campaigns and which were left in the bank is an exercise in fiction writing.

Green's case is more complicated since he transferred $1.3-million from his Congressional campaign to his governor's campaign. That included more than $500,000 (some estimates say $800,000) in federal political action committee money, including DeLay's $30,000. The transfer was legal under a state law loophole that has since been closed, but it allowed Green to transfer hundreds of thouosands of dollars in PAC contributions that would be illegal for his governor's campaign to accept.

So Green's money isn't in a federal account and not subject to the same FEC rules. But a State Elections Board spokesman says Green could return the money.

The Elections Board also has said candidates can contribute to non-partisan voter registration and education drives.

Green's campaign committee also could give $5,000 a year to DeLay's PAC, which would take a long time on the installment plan. But he could give $5000 now and another $5000 in January.

The Democratic Party has launched a website called Dirty Green to put some pressure on him to return the dirty DeLay dough.

You have to wonder why Green and Ryan don't just give it back. Their campaigns don't need the money. The negative publicity they're getting doesn't seem worth it.

Ryan, who presumably wants to run for Senate someday, is in a safe seat and doesn't have to worry about 2006. Green, however, is in a GOP primary for governor. Wouldn't you think he's want to put some distance between himself and DeLay? Maybe he doesn't want to offend his good buddy DeLay, who made Green a GOP whip, but it seems very risky to be tied to him. Both Green and Ryan have contributed to DeLay's legal defense fund, too.

It does not seem like an issue that's going to go away, but could dog Green's campaign for the next year.

One interesting question: What does Scott Walker think about the issue? He hasn't volunteered anything, and is probably happy to sit back and watch Green take a pounding. Perhaps some enterprising reporter could ask Walker for his take on the question, and at least get a "no comment."

Then there's Abramoff and Graul. Graul turned up on a list of people getting free tickets to Abramoff's box for a World Wrestling Federation event in DC, along with some lobbyists who are good DeLay pals. Graul was running Green's Congressional office then; now he's running his campaign.

When I reported the freebies, some Republicans pooh-poohed it, saying a couple of tickets weren't even worth mentioning. A couple of things in that regard:

First, House rules say staffers can't accept a gift worth more than $50. Graul got two tickets worth $45 apiece. My math says that's a violation. There's also a $100 per year limit on gifts from any one source. Do you suppose people in the Abramoff skybox bought their own popcorn and soda, or do you think there was an open bar and expensive spread of food? (I don't know the answer, but I can guess.) I also suspect that those two tickets are the tip of the iceberg, and that Graul and other Green staffers' names will show up more as the Abramoff case and investigation unfold. The media haven't asked Green about this, either, of course.