Baucus nominated girlfriend for U.S. attorney post

http://www.billingsgazette.com/news...cle_3d7f02de-e164-11de-b6c2-001cc4c002e0.html



HELENA - Sen. Max Baucus' office confirmed late Friday that the Montana Democrat was romantically involved with his state director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her for Montana's U.S. attorney, Roll Call is reporting.

Hanes withdrew her name from consideration earlier this year.

Baucus submitted her name in March along with two others, Mike Cotter and Mike Wheat, to the White House for the top federal prosecutor’s job in Montana. President Barack Obama named Cotter to the job last month.

Roll Call, citing an anonymous source, said Baucus and Hanes began their relationship in the summer of 2008, nearly a year before the senator and his wife, Wanda, got a divorce in April 2009. The newspaper said Baucus and his wife had separated in March 2008 and lived apart when he began dating Hanes.

Hanes pulled her name from consideration for the U.S. attorney job to move to Washington, the newspaper said. She works in the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention as a counselor to the administrator.

Roll Call said Hanes, who also is divorced, now lives with Baucus in the Eastern Market neighborhood of Washington, D.C.

Baucus spokesman Ty Matsdorf issued a statement saying the Baucus-Hanes relationship wasn’t the cause of the divorce, nor did Baucus arrange for her job at the Justice Department.

“In no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces,” Matsdorf said. “When Sen. Baucus and Melodee Hanes, his former state director, realized that their relationship was developing beyond a purely professional nature, Melodee began the process of resigning her Senate employment.”

After she withdrew from consideration for the U.S. attorney post, Hanes independently applied for the Justice Department job, Matsdorf said.

“Having extensive experience and qualifications in the field, Ms. Hanes was awarded the position based solely on her merit,” he said. “Since then she has excelled in her role.”

Baucus previously was married to Ann Geracimos before marrying Wanda Baucus.

MainJustice, the Web site that broke the story, had this comment from Hanes’ ex-husband, Thomas Bennett of Billings: “She was recommended for the position because of a very close and personal relationship with Max Baucus, and she withdrew because of a very close and personal relationship with Max Baucus.”

Roll Call said Hanes worked as the regional finance director for Baucus’ 2002 re-election campaign. From 2003 to 2005, she served as field director and counsel to his office. Hanes was Baucus’ state director and counsel from 2005 until this spring.

The newspaper said Hanes previously was a deputy county attorney in Yellowstone County and mainly prosecuted felony sexual assault and child abuse cases.







Man, these dems are really something else. Feminism for democrats means if a woman spends enough time on her back she will get the job.

 

If TW was Prez, he could fill the Supreme Court.

 

Man the liberals on this board are pretty mum about this. They must be busy discussing "Hope" and "Change".

 

I guess I don't understand why porking someone should be any more likely to cause corruption and nepotism than sharing their political views, family tree or social circle. GW Bush didn't (presumably) fuck or suck anyone to become president, but he sure as hell had about as much merit for the job as Monica Lewinsky.

Why is sexual nepotism viewed as worse than any other kind of nepotism? Why is it assumed that if you fuck a hot piece of ass who is in politics, she or he is incapable of getting the job on their non-sexual talent?

Julius Caesar fucked half the Roman political class, and their wives (sometimes simultaneously). Your puritan values are so delightfully quaint and amusing.

 

Barney Frank's lover and then friend Herb Moses (some say he called this guy moses his spouse) was an exceutive with Fannie Mae.

Frank was and is serving on the House banking committee and getting large campaign contributions from Fannie Mae.

How is that working out.

This kind of Nepotism is inconsistent with the concept of a democracy or meritocracy.

Look at the inside deals that Pelosi has allegedy sent her husbands company's way.

Look at Cheney and Haliburton.

These types of ethics violation should be penalized not condoned.

 

She's not as hot as any of Tiger Woods's mistresses.

 

Simultaneously, nice.