Dirty money for the inaugural

An inaugural committee has no less responsibility to avoid dirty money as a campaign committee. So, it is distressing that President Barack Obama's inauguration accepted the maximum donation possible, $50,000, from Michelle Lerach, wife of infamous class-action plaintiffs' attorney and federal convict, William Lerach. Lerach was imprisoned in 2008 for a major kickback scheme stretching back three decades -- and three of his former partners likewise were imprisoned, while their former law firm reached a "deferred prosecution agreement" requiring it to pay a $75 million penalty.

The inaugural committee also accepted $50,000 from controversial plaintiffs' attorney Stanley Chesley, who headed the litigation against silicone breast implants that helped bankrupt Dow Corning -- even though the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Science later found that cancer and other diseases are "no more common in women with breast implants than in women without implants." And it accepted $200,000 from billionaire investor George Soros and three other family members, despite Soros' conviction in a European insider trading case.

If Barack Obama really wants to set a new tone in Washington, he should return these and all other “dirty money” contributions forthwith. And, at the very least, he ought to direct that the Democratic National Committee, which he effectively controls, refuse any such tainted financing in the future.