The Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group that is dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions. They have released their third annual report on the most corrupt members of Congress. While the list is heavily Republican, Democrats do not escape unscathed. CREW's corruption list, which bears the name: "Beyond DeLay," is named after the former Republican Majority Leader who resigned during a criminal investigation in his home state of Texas.
In a press release Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW said, “Every year CREW creates this compendium of corruption to expose and hold accountable those members of Congress who believe they are above the law……With the third edition of Beyond DeLay it has become abundantly clear that many public officials believe that the rules don’t apply to them…… Nevertheless, Congress persists in abdicating its constitutional responsibility to police itself, opting to ignore the ethical and legal transgressions of its members. Luckily for the public, at least the Department of Justice still believes that political corruption is worth pursuing.”

Getting on CREW’s list has not been good for a politician’s career. Those on last year's corruption list included twenty-five lawmakers, ten of whom are no longer in Congress either because they resigned or lost re-election. Eight lawmakers from last year's list are now under federal indictment. Ironically, on the same day CREW's report was released, thirteen members of Congress, including many that appeared on CREW's list this year, were subpoenaed to testify in the investigation of defense contractor Brent Wilkes, who faces charges relating to Cunningham's bribery conviction.

The senators who made CREWs list are, Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), Mitch McConnell (R-KY), Lisa Murkowski (R-AK), Ted Stevens (R-AK). From the house we have, Ken Calvert (R-CA), John T. Doolittle (R-CA), Tom Feeney (R-FL), Doc Hastings (R-WA), Duncan Hunter (R-CA), William J. Jefferson (D-LA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), Gary G. Miller (R-CA), Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV), Timothy F. Murphy (R-PA), John P. Murtha (D-PA), Steve Pearce (R-NM), Rick Renzi (R-AZ), Harold Rogers (R-KY), David Scott (D-GA), Don Young (R-AK), Jerry Weller (R-IL), Heather A. Wilson (R-NM). In Addition, two GOP senators, Larry Craig and David Vitter, received "dishonorable mention" on CREW's list.

At Beyond Delay.org, you can find short summaries of each member’s transgressions, full-length profiles and all accompanying documentation. CREW stated that, to create this report it reviewed news media articles, Federal Election Commission reports, court documents and members’ personal financial and travel disclosure forms. “We then analyzed that information in light of federal laws and regulations as well as congressional ethics rules.” Check out the site to see the corruption currently infecting our government.