"Allegations in Keathing 5 were not phoney. McCain was just as culpable as John Glenn, but of course St. Glenn and the 3 others involved were all Dems in a Dem controlled body so McCain enjoyed the benefit of Dems running cover for him. In case you meant this was not a criminal case, that is true, and thus there were no criminal convictions, and really no formal hassles due to good ole boys network."
Of coursse you understand that your comment makes NO SENSE WHATSOEVER! McCainn was a staunch pubbie back then and would get NO cover from the dems. I lived in AZ at the time and followed it closely.
There were no criminal charges to be convicted of.
Good thing Scooter Libby wasn't around back then - he could have been indicted for something then as well.
Correct, but misleading. The dims used him as cover for their folks, the other four bribees, and in ending up protecting them they protected him.
There were no criminal charges to be convicted of.
Also correct, but in this case incomplette. At that time it was legal to take a bribe in the form of a huge "campaign contribution" and it was also legal for the politician to keep any money left over from "campaign funds" when they retired. The bribe was either a retirement fund for those at the end of their careers or, as in McCain's case, a slush fund for his quest for power. That was all made illegal as the result of this scandal, though it took years. As stated, it is what Ney just pleaded guilty of doing.
IOW, it was legal to bribe a member of Congress at the time, but it was "embarrassing" if it became public.
It should have ended the careers of all of them.