Dorgan does the right thing

Sen. Byron Dorgan, perhaps a bit tardily, is doing the right thing and returning $67,000 in Jack Abramoff campaign contributions.

(Dorgan, D-ND) said Tuesday that while he never met Abramoff and didn't take any actions at the lobbyist's behest, he nonetheless wants to return the money to avoid any appearance that tribal money was directed to him by the controversial lobbyist.

Just to refresh our memory, here was Dorgan’s connection to Abramoff:

AP reported in three stories over the last month that Dorgan did not disclose during the probe that he took actions favorable to Abramoff's tribal clients, often around the time he collected donations from Abramoff's firm or clients.

For instance, Dorgan:

— Used Abramoff's arena skybox in March 2001 to raise money, letting one of Abramoff's tribes foot the bill. The senator says he didn't know at the time that Abramoff leased the box. He recently reimbursed that money.

— Persuaded Congress in the fall 2003 to press government regulators to decide, after decades of delay, whether the Mashpee Wampanoag tribe of Massachusetts deserved federal recognition. Dorgan met with the tribe's representatives and collected at least $11,500 in political donations from the Abramoff partner representing the Mashpee around the time of the help.

— Collected $20,000 from Abramoff's firm and tribes about the time he wrote a letter in 2002 urging the Senate Appropriations Committee to fund a school construction program that Abramoff's clients and other tribes wanted. The letter mentioned one of Abramoff's tribes.

In a sidebar — Sen. Dorgan, if it’s legal, rather than giving the money back to Abramoff, why not do some real good with it and give it the the Sioux and other Indian tribes in your state?

And, to show people like Josh Marshall that, just because I say that the Abramoff scandal, at least as far as continuing to feed false impressions, isn’t just about Republicans, let’s take a look at the other side of the aisle in the Senate:

The office of Sen. Conrad Burns R-Mont., another lawmaker named in the AP stories, said Tuesday he has no plans to return the $150,000 he got from Abramoff sources because he already has spent the money.

I’m sure Burns has more than $150,000 on hand; this is just bullshit.

Indeed, Open Secrets reports Burns has $3 million in the bank.

And, on the Democratic side, now that Dorgan has seen the light, will Harry Reid also do the right thing?