Will ABC’s Scoop On Violent Vitter Aide Get Lost In McChrystal Cycle?

by Glynnis MacNicol | 10:05 am, June 23rd, 2010

» 5 comments

Political scandals these days are coming so fast and furious they are weirdly setting the bar higher for what constitutes a career-ending mishap (notwithstanding badly thought-out interviews with Rolling Stone). Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) has already survived one brush with scandal after it was revealed in 2007 that he has once frequented a prostitute, and chances are he will survive this latest round if only because the story will likely get buried underneath McChrystal’s visit to the Oval Office today. That’s not to say it’s not an awful story. It is. From ABC News:

A longtime aide to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who has been assigned by the senator to oversee women’s issues, pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges stemming from a knife-wielding altercation with an ex-girlfriend.

The aide, Brent Furer, has had repeated brushes with the law dating back to the 1990s, an ABC News investigation has found. Yet Furer has continued to receive his taxpayer-financed senate staff salary in Washington, even as court records show he remains wanted on an open warrant in Baton Rouge stemming from an unresolved misdemeanor DWI charge.

[...]

“It says something terrible about Senator Vitter’s judgment that this is the kind of guy he wants to keep in his office,” said Sloan, who first alerted ABC News to the assault case. “The people of Louisiana should be asking, ‘What does this guy do for Senator Vitter to keep him around?’”

Perhaps not surprisingly, when contacted for comment Furer said he was “too swamped” with Gulf issues to talk. The story is apparently a big scoop for ABC News, though one wonders if they shouldn’t have held off for one day in the hopes that they could better penetrate the McChrystal cycle.

Updated: Furer has now resigned.

ABC News, Brent Furer, David Vitter, Stanley McChrystal

paulmdoro

I believe NY governor David Paterson took significant heat for similar troubles faced by an aide of his.

Vitter is a scumbag of almost epic proportions. He really is a disgraceful politician. Constantly beats the pro-family values drum while frequenting a prostitute an employing an aide like this. His opponent must be quite weak for him to be heading to reelection. Vitter needs to go.
Barney

The genius who posted this wrote ” it was revealed in 2007 that he has once frequented a prostitute”

..he ONCE frequented a prostitute?

Jesus Christ….Mediaite has to have the stupidest fucking contributors of any site on the web
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Amsel/1450316715 Bob Amsel

It’s tough keeping up with Vitter’s sexcapades, but there was the New Orleans whore he visited prior to his getting caught with the Washington “Mommy” dominatrix, for whom he was a “regular” and for whom he crawled around in diapers. (My more adventurous friends inform me that this particular scene often includes Mommy’s “punishments” for baby’s being “naughty” to include enemas and water sports. So I guess such games do express family relationships, if not values precisely. Still, let’s pity his poor humiliated wife.

As for Vitter’s having kept the aide Brent Furor on after Furor got into trouble for trying to slice and dice his ex-girlfriend, I’m certain Vitter was only trying to show genuine Christian forgiveness and compassion. As Jesus said, “Judge not lest ye be judged” and “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone.”
jrcmi

The writer used the word “once” in the past perfect tense – as in “YOU once had integrity . . . as an infant.”

Bob: I’m not sure if you’re being serious. In any case, hasn’t Vitter raised enough “Furors”?

Q: “What gets between David Vitter and his prostitute?”

A: “Depends.”
http://www.facebook.com/people/Bob-Amsel/1450316715 Bob Amsel

Very funny joke, jrcmi. I hadn’t heard it before. (And my comment was written tongue-in-cheek. Who could be serious discussing Sen. Vitter?)