Sen. Baucus should resign or be removed from office.

In case you haven’t been following this scandal (it certainly hasn’t received half the press it would have if Baucus had an “R” behind his name instead of a “D”), Baucus recommended his then-secret lover, Melodee Hanes, to be U.S. Attorney.  He supposedly only nominated her because she was such a great prosecutor, but the liberal DailyKos destroyed that argument.  Even her ex-husband said that Baucus only recommended Hanes because she was sleeping with him.  He should be removed from office for that malfeasance alone — our system of justice is too important.  Montana media have been calling for him to be held accountable.  But there’s more to the story.

Baucus and his girlfriend were both married to other people at the time, but the press has so far given him a pass on the adultery because he was supposedly separated from his wife at the time.  Baucus even trotted out his spokesman to say, “In no way was their relationship the cause of their respective divorces.”

Riiiight.  He just happened to separate from his wife for no apparent reason in March 2008 and start his affair with Melodee Hanes a month later, and the fact that she was now sleeping with her boss had nothing to do with Ms. Hanes filing for divorce six months later from her husband of 12 years.   When I first read the story, the only thing I couldn’t understand was how the National Enquirer missed this sex scandal.

From that moment, of course, it was clear to anyone with eyes to see that they were lying.  Now, we find out that Melodee Hanes met twice with Baucus’ divorce attorney way back in 2007, well before Baucus had discussed a separation with his wife.  Supposedly, of course, that meeting was in her professional capacity as Baucus’ state director, and we’re supposed to believe that it in no way indicates that they were sleeping together at the time, even though her meeting with the lawyer involved them working together to construct a separation agreement.

In my opinion, it’s now only a matter of time before the rest of the story is exposed and Baucus has to resign.