Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Who is Will Heaton?
Short answer: Will Heaton is a former CoS for Rep. Bob Ney (R-OH). Heaton pleaded guilty to his role in the Abramoff corruption scandal.
Here are the things I find interesting: Of the four government employees who went on the 2002 Scotland golfing junket with Abramoff, three have pleaded guilty to felonies:
It is worth noting that in Bob Ney's plea agreement, Heaton was referred to as "Staffer C" while Vinovich was not given a moniker. Vinovich was routinely described in prose such as "another Ney staff member". Also, former Ney CoS Neil Volz was on the 2002 Scotland trip. While Volz has pleaded guilty, I did not include him in the above list since Volz had left Ney's employment earlier in 2002 and was a lobbyist at the time of the Scotland trip.
More interesting is this: Various court documents have given fun names similar to Heaton's "Staffer C" to participants in this scandal. Let's see where they are now:
That list is exhaustive. I don't know about anyone else, but I have to believe that Paul Vinovich is in a much better position than that Representative #2 guy. I also seem to recall that Representative #2 guy going on an awfully similar Scotland junket hosted by Abramoff.
* Yeah, yeah, I know of Ronnie Earle's partisan indictment. I'm talking about real crimes here. Stuff related to Abramoff.
Here are the things I find interesting: Of the four government employees who went on the 2002 Scotland golfing junket with Abramoff, three have pleaded guilty to felonies:
1. Rep. Bob Ney - GUILTY
2. Will Heaton - GUILTY
3. David Safavian - GUILTY
4. Paul Vinovich - Not charged
It is worth noting that in Bob Ney's plea agreement, Heaton was referred to as "Staffer C" while Vinovich was not given a moniker. Vinovich was routinely described in prose such as "another Ney staff member". Also, former Ney CoS Neil Volz was on the 2002 Scotland trip. While Volz has pleaded guilty, I did not include him in the above list since Volz had left Ney's employment earlier in 2002 and was a lobbyist at the time of the Scotland trip.
More interesting is this: Various court documents have given fun names similar to Heaton's "Staffer C" to participants in this scandal. Let's see where they are now:
1. Representative #1 - Bob Ney - GUILTY
2. Representative #2 - Tom DeLay - Not charged*
3. Staffer A - Tony Rudy - GUILTY
4. Staffer B - Neil Volz - GUILTY
5. Staffer C - Will Heaton - GUILTY
That list is exhaustive. I don't know about anyone else, but I have to believe that Paul Vinovich is in a much better position than that Representative #2 guy. I also seem to recall that Representative #2 guy going on an awfully similar Scotland junket hosted by Abramoff.
* Yeah, yeah, I know of Ronnie Earle's partisan indictment. I'm talking about real crimes here. Stuff related to Abramoff.
