“That’s politics, that’s politics. Not about whether or will, it’s about how much, and that’s our politicians in New York, they’re all like that. And they get like that because of the drive that the money does for everything else.”

— New York City Councilman Daniel Halloran (R), quoted by the New York Times, in a complaint charging him with an attempt to rig the mayoral election.

Former Florida Republican Party Chairman Jim Greer was sentenced to 18 months in state prison, the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Greer last month “pleaded guilty to money laundering and theft, admitting he had created a company called Victory Strategies to siphon to himself and an associate some $200,000 of party donations.”

Said a judge: “You’re now a convicted felon, sir. I feel that this crime deserves prison. You egregiously violated a position of trust.”

A federal grand jury in Miami is investigating Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), “examining his role in advocating for the business interests of a wealthy donor and friend,” the Washington Post reports.

“Menendez has intervened in matters affecting the financial interests of Florida ophthalmologist Salomon Melgen, seeking to apply pressure on the Dominican government to honor a contract with Melgen’s port-security company, documents and interviews show. Also, Menendez’s office has acknowledged he interceded with federal health-care officials after they said that Melgen had overbilled the U.S. government for care at his clinic.”

Florida Lt. Gov. Jennifer Carroll (R) “abruptly resigned amid law enforcement questions about a Florida Internet sweepstakes company at the center of a nationwide criminal investigation,” the Miami Herald reports.

“It’s unclear if Carroll is the target of any criminal charges. Attorney General Pam Bondi and law enforcement officials have scheduled a 2:30 p.m. press conference in Orlando to discuss the case. Gov. Rick Scott also has announced an afternoon press conference.”

Daily Beast: “On one fateful night in Boston, two dynamic speakers made waves at the 2004 Democratic National Convention. Both men, young, black, and products of hardscrabble Midwestern cities, were considered rising stars and were getting major exposure on one of the country’s biggest stages. One of those men was a first-term state senator from Illinois named Barack Obama. The other was the charismatic first-term mayor of Detroit: Kwame Kilpatrick.”

“To say that the fortunes of those two men have gone in opposite directions is an understatement. Obama’s DNC speech, which followed Kilpatrick’s that night, helped propel him to national stardom, a seat in the U.S. Senate, and eventually the presidency. On the other hand, Kilpatrick, who narrowly won re-election in 2005 before a sex scandal and perjury conviction cost him the job in September 2008, was convicted on 24 counts including federal racketeering, extortion, mail fraud, and tax evasion on Monday. He was later sent to prison to await sentencing. He is one of 35 former city employees, including other elected officials, to be convicted by the federal government in the past eight years.”

Former Detroit Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick (D) was convicted of corruption charges, “ensuring a return to prison for a man once among the nation’s youngest big-city leaders,” the Washington Post reports.

“Jurors convicted Kilpatrick of a raft of crimes, including racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum punishment of 20 years behind bars. He was portrayed during a five-month trial as an unscrupulous politician who took bribes, rigged contracts and lived far beyond his means while in office until fall 2008.”

Detroit News: “Kilpatrick will learn shortly whether he is headed directly to prison today after being found guilty on 24 counts in his corruption trial earlier Monday morning.”

Police say a man in Lexington, KY stole $274,000 in campaign-contribution checks intended for the Democratic Governors Association, the Jessamine Journal reports.

National Journal reports that disgraced former Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH) makes dramatic accusations against Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) in his new memoir, Sideswiped.

Writes Ney: “If the Justice Department were ever to make John produce receipts for his addiction to golf just for the years from 1995 to 2004, he would be hard-pressed to comply. John got away with more than any other Member on the Hill.”

A key suspect in a criminal case tied to former Rep. David Rivera (R-FL) “will officially switch his plea to guilty in three federal charges for illegal campaign activity,” the Miami Herald reports.

“Justin Lamar Sternad’s admission of wrongdoing next Wednesday will be another sign that he’s cooperating with the federal government in its investigation of Rivera.”

Oscar Hernandez, the unschooled and illiterate former mayor of the scandal-ridden suburban city of Bell, CA claimed in court that he had no training that would have alerted him that his huge salary was illegal, the AP reports.

“Hernandez is among six former Bell city officials charged with misappropriating funds. He was earning just under $100,000 a year for the part-time job.”

“Legally, the officials could have paid themselves $673 a month for what was a part-time job, since they didn’t actually run the city… But in addition to their inflated council salaries, the officials appointed each other to commissions that did nothing and often met yearly just to increase their pay, he said.”

“Tell everybody back home, I’m sorry I let them down, OK?”

— Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL), to Lynn Sweet after pleading guilty to misuse of campaign funds.

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D) pleaded guilty today “to a conspiracy to siphon about $750,000 in federal campaign funds for their personal use,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

“About 3,100 personal purchases were made on campaign credit cards, totaling $582,772.58… Prosecutors said $60,000 was spent on restaurants, nightclubs and lounges; $31,700 on personal airfare; $16,000 on sports clubs and lounges; $17,000 on tobacco shops; $5,800 on alcohol; $14,500 on dry cleaning; $8,000 on grocery stores and $6,000 at drug stores.”

“In one of the more exotic purchases, Jackson used campaign funds in the spring of 2011 to pay a taxidermist in Montana $7,058 for two mounted elk heads to be shipped to his office in Washington. This was the beginning of an FBI sting, according to court documents.”

Former New Orleans
Mayor Ray Nagin (D), “the brash spokesman for the city inundated by Hurricane
Katrina, is expected to plead not guilty in federal court on Wednesday
to charges that he accepted kickbacks in exchange for city contracts,” Reuters reports.

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson (D-IL), who will plead guilty today to taking more than $750,000 in campaign funds, once co-authored a book with his father titled, It’s About the Money!

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D), and his wife, former Chicago Alderman Sandi Jackson, “are expected to plead guilty to federal charges today, when more details may emerge about an alleged crime spree in which he is accused of spending more than $750,000 in campaign cash to buy luxury items, memorabilia and other goods,” the Chicago Tribune reports.

“Attorneys familiar with public corruption investigations said the amount of campaign cash allegedly converted to personal use in this case is the largest of any that they can remember.”

An unprecedented leak of Pope Benedict XVI’s personal correspondence shows “tales of rivalry and betrayal, and allegations of corruption and systemic dysfunction that infused the inner workings of the Holy See and the eight-year papacy of Benedict XVI,” the Washington Post reports.

“The next pope may bring with him an invigorating connection to the Southern Hemisphere, a media magnetism or better leadership skills than the shy and cerebral Benedict. But whoever he may be, the 266th pope will inherit a gerontocracy obsessed with turf and Italian politics, uninterested in basic management practices and hostile to reforms.”

The Week: Can the Vatican survive in the digital age?

Former Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-IL) implicated his wife, Sandi, in his plea agreement with federal prosecutors, CBS Chicago reports.

“Jackson will plead guilty to one felony count of misuse of campaign funds and then let a federal judge determine his punishment… Jackson’s deal calls for him to repay hundreds of thousands of dollars spent for things like travel and meals with a mistress and a $40,000 men’s Rolex watch he bought for himself. Jackson’s resignation from Congress was also part of the deal.”

“But Jackson’s pleading guilty to using campaign funds for personal expenses could expose Sandi, his campaign manager, to tax-fraud charges. The congressman’s guilty plea says Sandi knew about improper purchases that apparently include breakfast snacks, cosmetic services, even beds purchased for campaign workers.”

“The campaign manager for Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst (R), already facing a
state investigation over allegations of theft from Dewhurst’s political
account, has been accused of also taking at least $1 million from the
Republican’s U.S. Senate campaign last year,” the Dallas Morning News reports.