Hello Pot... Kettle calling.

Interesting to see how a Democrat handles allegations of improprity (which appear to be smears). Rep. Allan Mollohan is the ranking Democrat on the House Ethics Committee and today he temporarily stepped down from his post. A Republican hit group National Legal & Policy Center (NLPC) alleges that there were omissions in his financial disclosures. What is noteworthy is that he has not been indicted -- there isn't even a formal government investigation. NLPC has simply filed a complaint with the FBI. But it gets worse -- his accusers won't even release the details of his alleged wrong-doing. georgia10 tells us:

Mollohan has vehemently denied any wrongdoing. He says he was unaware of any errors in his financial disclosures, if any do exist. And he'd like to address the details of the NLPC's complaint--except he hasn't received any information from the group.

Indeed, the NLPC refuses to publicly release the 500-page report. Mollohan has demanded it. Mollahan's Republican opponent has demanded it. The media has demanded it. And yet, the center won't release it. One local media outlet reports that the NLPC refuses to release its report because "some items it contains may not be accurate."

Were there errors in Mollohan's disclosures? If so, were they inadvertent or intentional? Eventually, we'll find out. In the meantime, by stepping down, Mollohan is stepping up and showing the GOP the proper way to react to ethics allegations.

You see, there this concept that Republican politicians don't understand--it's called the greater good.

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Yet for Mollohan, and Democrats in general as Matt Stoller points out, it is about principle:

I know the press is going to report that a Democrat is under investigation, but that's not the real story. The real story is that faced with the perception of an ethics problem, Democrats chose to confront it directly and honorably even though they knew it would cost them politically.