The triumph of imagination over intelligence

by: Yellowstone Kelly

Sat Dec 26, 2009 at 11:01:05 AM MST

Until the story broke about Tiger's tendency to stray, none of us knew much about his private life. Beautiful wife. Check. Son. Check. Pancake house waitress. Whaaaat?

As with Tiger, until recently, we knew very little about Max Baucus' private affairs.

Since, 1974, Max's handlers have carefully developed and airbrushed a squeaky clean image. Yes, he and Ann divorced early on in his career. Weathered that one. Survived a sexual harassment allegation by a former chief of staff. As time has gone along, Max, to some extent like Bill Clinton, evidently has come to believe he could do what he damned well pleases.

Sleeping around on Wanda and having a girlfriend who, until 2009, served as his staff director (in more ways than one) while married and serving in the US Senate is bad enough. But, to nominate his bed partner to be US Attorney in February 2009?

Wait a minute.

Not only bad judgment. It represents arrogance of power at its worst.

Look. Anyone who has been to Washington, DC in recent years and who was invited to the Baucus residence for social functions had to have to concluded that Melodee Haines acted in the capacity as the lady of the house. (Wanda must have been out performing community service for the mulch melee at Johnson's Nursery.)  

No one said a word, at least publicly. Last year, there were whispers that something was going on. Do you really believe Max's staff was in the dark? And, that Jim Messina, of all people, didn't know?

It's not the affair, it's the coverup

by: Jay Stevens

Fri Dec 11, 2009 at 13:26:34 PM MST

For starters, in the post of links to the story, I missed editorials from three of Montana's biggest newspapers. The Billings Gazette is surprised at Baucus' judgment. "What was Max Baucus thinking? That his personal relationship with his state director, Melodee Hanes, wouldn't matter when he forwarded her name for consideration as Montana's US attorney?" (The Gazette also provided a handy timeline of the affair.)

The Missoulian excoriated Baucus for actively suppressing knowledge of his relationship with Hanes during the vetting process of his US attorney nominations:

Eight months ago, when Hanes' name surfaced as one of the nominees for the U.S. attorney's job, the Missoulian asked Sen. Max Baucus' spokesman whether Baucus was involved in a romantic relationship with Hanes - as her ex-husband was alleging - and if so, why Baucus would pursue a course that posed such a clear conflict of interest.

Not only would Baucus not speak directly to the Missoulian, but his then-spokesman, Barrett Kaiser, refused to address the issue and strove to keep any story at all about Hanes' nomination from print. Indeed, the night before the story was to run, Kaiser called the paper and told us that Hanes' nomination had been withdrawn.

With nothing from Baucus on the record, and no way to prove the veracity of Hanes' husband's assertions, the Missoulian couldn't responsibly print the allegations.

(Is it me? Or did they totally drop the ball on this story? What kind of reporter stops investigating a story when the investigated subject refuses to speak about it? They couldn't find anyone else to confirm Baucus' relationship to Hanes? Really?)

A Baucus scandal?

by: Jay Stevens

Sat Dec 05, 2009 at 12:49:40 PM MST

Senate Finance Chairman Max Baucus' office confirmed late Friday night that the Montana Democrat was carrying on an affair with his state office director, Melodee Hanes, when he nominated her to be U.S. attorney in Montana.

Hanes withdrew her name from consideration to move to Washington DC.

Update: Emptywheel:

...while we're getting all scandalized about Baucus's bad judgment, let's talk about the bad judgment that did hurt taxpayers, rather than the one that almost did: the way in which the revolving door on his committee staff made it very easy for the insurance industry to write the Senate's health care reform bill. I'm much more offended-and directly affected-by the fact that former Wellpoint VP Liz Fowler wrote the Senate health care bill than I am that Baucus nominated, then withdrew, his mistress for a plum job.