Ray Nagin, Democrat

So, it turns out that Ray Nagin, whose lasting legacy includes this famous photo, is in a bit of hot water over certain things he is alleged to have done in the aftermath of the hurricane.

Federal prosecutors today announced a 21-count indictment against former New Orleans Mayor Ray Nagin, accused of enriching himself as the city struggled to rebuild in the wake of Hurricane Katrina.

Nagin is accused of using the office of mayor to steer city projects to business associates who, in turn, allegedly paid kickbacks and bribes and flew him on lavish free trips to Hawaii, Jamaica, and Las Vegas.

Nagin was charged with bribery, honest service wire fraud, money laundering, conspiracy and filing false tax returns.

This does not surprise me in the least, except possible for the fact it took so long for charges to be brought.

Now I know that he's innocent until proven guilty. I accept the possibility that he actually is innocent of these charges. I would say there is a small but non-zero probability that he didn't do any of it. But I don't think federal charges would have been brought against him, especially given his party affiliation, unless the case was pretty airtight.

And in case you're wondering why I included said party affiliation in the subject, as Michelle notes:

If you don’t know what political party Nagin belongs to, read the entire ABC News story and by the time you’re finished you… still won’t know. Ditto for USA Today, CNN, WaPo and the LA Times. The AP and NOLA are two places where you can get that hard to find piece of information.

Democrats by no means have a monopoly on corruption. Republicans do it, too; it's just that, when they do, the fact they are Republicans is noted much more readily for some reason.