In late August, a great crack resounded across Philadelphia’s Democratic establishment when Gregory Naylor, a prominent political consultant, entered a guilty plea in federal court, implicating not only himself but also a U.S. congressman and several of his key allies in a sordid and complex fraud scheme involving taxpayer dollars and campaign finances.

The plea memorandum mentions only “Elected Official A,” but numerous details corroborate the identity of Representative Chaka Fattah, one of the most powerful men in Philadelphia. The son of a vocal black nationalist activist, Fattah cut his teeth in politics in the late 1970s when he was just 22, running with a friend for election to the city commission. Though he lost that election, Fattah learned a valuable lesson about political organization and spent the subsequent decades building one of the most effective political machines in Philly, an effort that eventually won him not only local prestige but also ten terms in Congress.

Naylor and Fattah have dominated the African-American faction of Philadelphia’s Democratic party and “have, for years, been major figures in the political discussion here, recognized for their ability to determine the outcome of races,” says Dan Fee, a political consultant who has worked for Ed Rendell, the former governor, and other major Pennsylvania candidates.

Furthermore, as a senior member of the House Appropriations Committee, which manages more than $1 trillion in federal discretionary spending, Fattah excelled at bringing the federal bacon home to Philadelphia. “I think probably Chaka was more successful at delivering to his constituents than any number of congressmen — certainly [he is] the most successful in Philadelphia, or the Pennsylvania delegation, for that matter,” says Carl Singley, the former dean of Temple University Law School.

Now, after Naylor’s guilty plea, many of Philadelphia’s top Democrats see the congressman as vulnerable. A surprisingly juicy read, the plea memorandum details the alleged misdeeds not only of Fattah but also of several other political big shots who supported him.

“My God, [the feds] must have had an awful lot of stuff for Greg Naylor to dime out Chaka Fattah just like that,” says Jim Foster, the publisher of the Germantown Chronicle and a longtime observer of Philadelphia politics who mounted a symbolic challenge against Fattah two years ago, winning 1.4 percent of the vote as an independent.

SNIP-

Read more:http://www.nationalreview.com/article/38...an-kay-melchior

Zitat

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Does the Democratic power broker Chaka Fattah run a crime family?

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Isn't the whole Rat party a crime family?

BTW, anyone really expect Holder to pursue a conviction against one of his buds?