[cross-posted at dlcc.org]
Texas GOP state Rep. Joe Driver has learned the hard way that public corruption is like a one-way street: once you’ve gone too far, there’s no turning around.
Driver, an 18-year veteran of the Texas House, pled guilty on Election Night to charges that he illegally pocketed nearly $50,000 in taxpayer funds over his two decades in office:
State Rep. Joe Driver, who candidly acknowledged pocketing taxpayer reimbursements for travel paid by his campaign, will enter a guilty plea on abuse-of-office charges, a third-degree felony, a top prosecutor said Tuesday night.
“He is going to plea to the third degree felony,” said Assistant Travis County District Attorney Gregg Cox, head of the Travis County Public Integrity Unit. “It is a plea of guilt.”
The genesis of this scandal was an excellent piece of reporting by the Associated Press over a year ago, in which reporters noticed that Driver had been billing both his campaign and the State of Texas for “luxury hotels, airline tickets, meals, fees and incidentals” related to travel – and then pocketing the extra cash.
That AP’s article included a brief interview with Driver, who not only admitted double-dipping, but also offered up this classic explanation of his actions:
"Now you're scaring the heck out of me," Driver told the AP, adding: "It pretty well screws my week." (…)
Driver insists he thought the double-billing was perfectly appropriate - until talking about it with the AP.
"Well, it doesn't sound like it is now. If you bring it up that way," he said.
“If you bring it up that way,” illegally taking $50,000 sounds almost wrong, doesn’t it?
Driver has announced his retirement from office next year, but that’s not good enough for the people of Texas. He pocketed at least $50,000 of their tax dollars, and we’ll never know if there was more because reimbursement records prior to 2005 have been destroyed.
Now Driver wants to serve the rest of his term with a felony conviction for public corruption. He would spend another 15 months as a lawmaker who, for instance, remains eligible for official travel reimbursements at taxpayer expense.
Driver should resign today.
