Oh shit, Lanny Davis is his mouthpiece? I knew there was something I didn't really like about that guy. Forget Oil for Food for a second- I'm sure that will shake out one way or the other (and Kemp will be the front page posterchild, marking the first time the scandal reached the headline if he's dirty) Lanny Davis is a scumbag, a hair-splitter, a shyster. Anyone who hires him as their lawyer is automatically guilty of consorting with known trash.

Isn't the Kemp/Davis connection proof enough that these people are all in bed together and are in it only for themselves?

Eh. A Republican involved in Oil-For-Food. Had to happen sooner or later. Don't really care, myself. If he knowingly was doing things not on the up-and-up, nail him to the wall with the rest of 'em. This thing is about a thousand times bigger than partisan politics.

You'll know that Kemp is really in trouble when he no longer has Lanny Davis, political spin-meister, speaking for him, but a lawyer with real experience in criminal law. So long as Kemp has Davis, assume this is mostly a P/R problem, not a criminal matter...

Saw the article in the Post this morning, too, and read it with great interest, since Kemp was an early favorite political influence. Anyway, while this Samir Vincent guy is really an unknown factor, it seemed to me that Kemp was meeting with him because they shared a common interest in Kemp's proposals to lower the sanctions on Iraq in exchange for a return of the UN / US inspectors. So, on Kemp's part, it could be his optimism (and egotism for coming up with a solution) overwhelming his common-sense decision making.

Of course, if it turns out there was a little payola or something else going on, then throw this out the window and JK needs to be hang out to dry for his actions. Who knows at this point what really happened, but you know the media will spin it as "GOP Big-Whig Behind Oil for Food!!!"