Shays Lashes Out: Congress Has ‘A Harder Time Getting Along Than Sunnis And Shiites

The Washington Post reported recently that between April 2006 and election day, Rep. Chris Shays (R-CT) announced at least 25 new federal grants or projects totaling more than $46 million. Seven Bush administration officials visited Shays’ district during that time.

Soon after the Post report, Rep. Henry Waxman (D-CA), chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, announced he was initiating an investigation into whether the White House made improper use of federal resources in the 2006 elections to boost Republicans, including Shays, who narrowly won a tough re-election fight.

Yesterday, Shays bitterly attacked Waxman’s inquiry as “a partisan witch hunt.” As proof of this, Shays complained that congressional investigators are only looking into him and “not going back and looking at what might have happened under Bill Clinton.” While every action President Clinton took was thoroughly investigated, Shays has thus far eluded oversight. Now Shays is lashing out:

“It’s the kind of thing that I think might happen in a place like Russia where the party in power goes after the party that they want never to be in power,” Shays said of the investigation. “This kind of stuff just grosses me out.”

Later, speaking about Iraq, Shays argued, “Republicans and Democrats have a harder time getting along than Sunnis and Shiites.” The stress of being placed under the heat of a congressional investigation appears to be getting to Shays. Regardless of whatever ideological differences exist in Congress, they do not translate into sectarian bloodshed on the House floor.

UPDATE: My Left Nutmeg has notes from the Shays press briefing.

UPDATE II: Shays gets livid over the audacity of bloggers to ask him a question at a press conference and tape it. Watch it: