From the Whistleblower (of all places...)The National Republican Congressional Committee will be honoring Springboro, Ohio former city councilman Michael W. Hemmert, 53, with a Republican Congressional Medal of Distinction, an award he will accept later this month in a two day celebration including a dinner with President George W. Bush. Hemmert, shown in a photo from Talkingpointsmemo.com (not our usual provided photo we filch from the Fishwrap) will have to notify his probation officer before leaving for Washington . Hemmert resigned his Springboro council seat on February 14 after the Greater Warren County Drug Task Force seized cocaine, marijuana, drug paraphernalia and two cars during the first of two searches of his residence. Hemmert was arrested after a second search on March 13 netted more cocaine and marijuana, and a special prosecutor was appointed. Hemmert was placed on probation a week ago. Warren County Prosecutor Rachel Hutzel acknowledged Hemmert had helped her raise campaign funds. Sounds like the kind of conduct we’ve all come to expec t from our Portly Part-time Prosecutor Don White over in Clermont County .This is pretty much a boneheaded move by the NRCC...
While there is a zero-tolerance policy now in place with the Ohio GOP to deal with issues like this one, I also like to hear loud condemnations from the usual suspects too. I've said it before and I'll say it again, it is scumbags like this guy that are damaging the Republican brand in general and the Ohio Republican namesake for certain.
And now a few clarifications...
First: One of my sources says this:
This “distinction award” is a fundraising gimmick. The “honorees” from this thing make a contribution and get this recognition in return (kind of like buying a “membership” card from the RNC). It’s made to look far more official than it actually is, and they’ve been doing this for years much to our dismay. As for the dinner with the president, it’s nothing more than the annual dinner he does for the NRCC. They used to call this thing the “President’s Advisory Council” until too many people started throwing it around like it was official.
Second: This guy resigned before condemnation could be effectively leveraged (which is a good thing if you ask me).
