LA Times Shines a Light on Stones-Loving Pol

You probably don’t know the name of Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA), but you should.

One of the richest lawmakers in Washington (and allegedly one of the most corrupt), reporters have been digging into him for months. Today the Los Angeles Times delivers a punishing combination of allegations from former aides — and most appear to be violations of federal law.

First, there’s the possible attempted bribery (which has Miller trying to land a local pawnbroker a seat on a presitious federal panel). Then there’s illegal “self-enrichment” — in this case, Miller appears to have trumped up “rent” fees for his campaign in order to give himself a cut of his political donations.

But our favorite allegation is his apparent abuse of federal funds. Miller seems to have a habit of using his taxpayer-funded congressional staff to do personal errands for him — like check his stock prices, help his son register for college classes — or score him sweet tickets to a Rolling Stones concert:

Miller learned in May 2002 that the band was coming to Edison Field in Anaheim that October.

“Per his instructions, we are checking with city officials, Edison contacts, etc., to see what we can come up with,” an e-mail written by an aide to Miller’s chief of staff states.

A few days later, the staff was told by Miller’s chief of staff to look for tickets to a Staples Center concert as well, according to e-mails. By May 29, a Miller staffer had prepared a memo outlining four options for getting tickets. The most promising was for the Edison Field show.