Democrat Baucus Nominated His Girlfriend To Be A Federal Prosecutor

I don’t usually talk about the politics of personal destruction…well, unless a politician abuses his or her power. And this is one of those times.

From Roll Call:

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus’ office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. attorney in Montana.

According to a source familiar with their relationship, Hanes and Baucus began their relationship in the summer of 2008 – nearly a year before Baucus and his wife, Wanda, divorced in April 2009. The Senator had informally separated from his wife in March 2008 and they were living apart when he began dating Hanes, according to Baucus’ office.

I don’t care who met who and when it happened…if you’re sleeping with somebody and you’re in a position of power it’s not appropriate to nominate them for a job. No way, no how.

What a blunder!

Here’s the question: Will this undermine Baucus’ work on the health care bill?

(Photo: AP via Daylife)

UPDATE:
Here’s the statement about this from Baucus’ office:

Senator Baucus is currently in a mature and happy relationship with Melodee Hanes. They are both divorced, and in no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces.

When Senator 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.

With an extensive background as a prosecutor and extensive legal experience (see resume below), Ms. Hanes submitted her name for consideration for the U.S Attorney position from Montana. Her name was one of six that was submitted for review by Senator Baucus to an independent, highly respected Montana attorney who reviewed the applications. After an extensive evaluation of all the applicants’ qualifications, Ms. Hanes was one of three applicants the third-party reviewer recommended for consideration. Senator Baucus and Senator Tester then interviewed those candidates and Senator Baucus then submitted those three names to the White House, with no ranking or preference.

While her personal relationship with Senator Baucus should in no way be either a qualifier or a disqualifier for the position, during the nomination process and after much reflection, both Senator Baucus and Ms. Hanes agreed that she should withdraw her name from consideration because they wanted to live together in Washington, DC.

After withdrawing from consideration for U.S. Attorney, Ms. Hanes independently applied for her current position at the Department of Justice. Having extensive experience and qualifications in the field (see resume below), Ms. Hanes was awarded the position based solely on her merit. Since then she has excelled in her role.

Just my personal opinion, but if Hanes would have gone for this job and Baucus’ wouldn’t have said a word…I’d have no issue with this. Hanes does seem like a highly qualified candidate. But given that he’s an elected official, this is an abuse of power. Plain and simple. You just don’t do this kind of thing.

Of course, Baucus doesn’t have any problem taking millions from the insurance companies in campaign contributions and then holding up health care legislation to protect them…so this shouldn’t be much of a surprise.