Why Isn't Justice Investigating the Bribery on the House Floor?

Promising to direct $100,000 to Rep. Smith's son's campaign clearly meets the legal definition of bribery. The only question, then, is who to prosecute.

We know House Speaker Dennis Hastert spent a lot of time that night trying to win over Smith. The trade publication CongressDaily spotted Hastert around 4 a.m., about an hour into the extended Medicare roll call, placing his arm around Smith and gesturing. Twenty minutes later, CongressDaily saw Hastert work Smith over again, this time with Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson. At 5:30 a.m., with less than half an hour left until the final tally, CongressDaily saw Hastert and Thompson give it one final try.

Rep. Smith himself made reference to "bribes and special deals" that "were offered to convince members to vote yes," though he shed little further light on who, his own case, the perpetrator or perpetrators were:

Other members [i.e., not Hastert] and groups made offers of extensive financial campaign support and endorsements for my son, Brad, who is running for my seat. They also made threats of working against Brad if I voted no.

If the Bush Justice department hasn't made inquiries about this yet, it isn't doing its job.