(Rubbing Hands Together) Another Republican Under Investigation

Well, yet another member of our distinguished House GOP delegation here in California is the subject of an FBI investigation:

Following reports and complaints of fishy land deals, the Feds have been investigating Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), making him the 20th member of the 109th Congress to fall under federal scrutiny.

Miller, a real estate developer by trade, came to the attention of the FBI when a Washington, D.C.-based watchdog group complained last summer that the congressman hadn't paid taxes on two land deals he was involved in, The San Gabriel Valley Tribune reports.

I'm losing count, how many CA Republicans from the 109th Congress have been under investigation? Cunningham, Hunter, Lewis, Doolittle, Miller... who am I missing?

This investigation started last year, perhaps after this article in the LA Times, which recounted how Miller was trying to use eminent domain laws to get out of paying taxes on real estate he sold in Monrovia. Later, I wrote about the almost cartoonishly evil case of Miller's property in Rancho Cucamonga, where he played upon a family's grief to drive down the purchase price of a property, which he then threatened to overdevelop and turn into a deathtrap unless the city bought him out.

I can tell you good news - there IS a movement afoot to have a netroots-backed challenger in this district. That's all I can say for right now. Miller is not only being watched by the FBI, but by the progressive community, and he will be hard-pressed to escape either.