A column by Stephanie Grace in today's Times-PIcayune explores the new landscape facing Louisiana Senator David Vitter:

It's been a while since anyone extolled Vitter's ethics. Also gone is any pretense of intellectual consistency, another former calling card.

Vitter once published a lawyerly argument on this page contending that Bill Clinton's behavior during the Lewinsky affair made him "morally unfit" to lead, no matter how well he carried out his official duties. Yet when Vitter addressed his own sexual, and arguably legal, transgressions, he was suddenly silent on whether a philandering politician is fit to remain in office.

And, the controversy surrounding Vitter's long-time employee, Brent Furer, continues to dog the Senator. It seems like none of the answers provided by the Senator are based in reality:

And judging by a cringe-worthy appearance before local media during last week's qualifying, the Furer story has cost the senator one more reliable weapon: He's no longer fearless.

Back in the day, Vitter would take any question from the press, face all comers in a wide-open town hall meeting, put up his dukes and fight.

But the man who stood before reporters last week and fielded questions about Furer looked nervous, and actually kind of desperate.

At one point, Vitter cut off a reporter as she asked a follow-up question on why he didn't fire Furer sooner, and what form of discipline the aide had faced. Even as she was talking, Vitter turned away, scanned the room and asked: "Anybody else?" A confident, self-assured politician, as Vitter once was, doesn't behave that way, certainly not when cameras are rolling.

It didn't help that he forcefully denied that Furer had anything to do with women's issues -- even though he acknowledged that Furer's portfolio included abortion, and advocates who've dealt with the office say Furer represented the senator in a meeting about, of all things, domestic violence.

In the wake of the scandals that have engulfed Vitter, it would be impossible to extol his ethics. Instead, there's now a renewed focus on his ethical failings.

Yesterday, ABC News broke the story about the criminal history of Brent Furer, an aide to Senator David Vitter. Despite Furer's violent past, Vitter kept him on staff -- until the story broke. We're still not sure why Furer was able to keep his job.

Coverage from the Baton Rouge Advocate:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics, a Washington watchdog group, criticized Vitter on Wednesday for failing to dismiss Furer after learning about the attack on his girlfriend.

“Senator Vitter knowingly kept this dangerous person on his staff through … his chilling domestic violence,” Melanie Sloan, CREW executive director said in a statement. “Why have him resign only now?”

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics has clashed with Vitter previously.

The group filed a federal complaint in April accusing Vitter of accepting illegal campaign contributions from a California dry cleaning company that wanted stimulus money.

In September, officials of the same group said it had asked a Louisiana state agency that re-views lawyers’ conduct to investigate allegations that Vitter solicited prostitutes. The bar complaint stemmed from Vitter’s admission of a “serious sin” in 2007 after his phone number appeared in the re-cords of a Washington prostitution ring.

Vitter has declined to discuss details about the matter but has denied later allegations of involvement with prostitutes in New Orleans.

And, NOLA.com:

The ABC story described Furer as having been assigned to work on women's issues for Vitter -- and some online staff listings for the senator's office identified him as such -- but DiGrado said those listings were wrong and Furer's portfolio included military matters, and abortion and stem-cell research.

DiGrado said the senator had been unaware of Furer's earlier legal troubles, but Melanie Sloane, executive director of the watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, who tipped ABC to the story, questioned that.

Sloane noted, for example, that Furer did community service after he pleaded guilty in 2003 to driving while intoxicated in Louisiana, under the supervision of the Rev. Malcolm Richard, who works on Vitter's staff in Louisiana. Richard declined comment.

CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan issued the following statement upon learning the news that Sen. David Vitter’s aide Brent Furer has resigned:

The recent announcement that Sen. David Vitter’s embattled aide Brent Furer has resigned is an obvious attempt by the senator to save himself with women voters as he heads into his re-election campaign this fall. Sen. Vitter knowingly kept this dangerous person on his staff through his drunk driving arrest in 2003 and his chilling domestic violence assault conviction in 2008 – why have him resign only now?

Sen. Vitter has attempted to excuse Mr. Furer's behavior by pointing to his military service. While we honor those who have served our country, military service is hardly a legitimate defense for beating up your girlfriend.

ABC News has an exclusive report detailing the long criminal record of Brent Furer, a top aide to Senator David Vitter. After the news broke, Furer resigned. It's worth reading the ABC report. CREW's Melanie Sloan thinks this news "says something terrible about Senator Vitter's judgment." It sure does:

A longtime aide to Louisiana Sen. David Vitter, who has been assigned by the senator to oversee women's issues, pleaded guilty in 2008 to charges stemming from a knife-wielding altercation with an ex-girlfriend.

The aide, Brent Furer, has had repeated brushes with the law dating back to the 1990s, an ABC News investigation has found. Yet Furer has continued to receive his taxpayer-financed senate staff salary in Washington, even as court records show he remains wanted on an open warrant in Baton Rouge stemming from an unresolved misdemeanor DWI charge.

Those who have had encounters with Furer say his presence on Vitter's payroll raises serious questions about the senator's judgment. Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said it concerns her that the senator has talked so forcefully as an advocate for women and an opponent of drunk driving, and yet would keep someone with Furer's background on his staff.

"It says something terrible about Senator Vitter's judgment that this is the kind of guy he wants to keep in his office," said Sloan, who first alerted ABC News to the assault case. "The people of Louisiana should be asking, 'What does this guy do for Senator Vitter to keep him around?'"

Here's ABC's description of that "knife-wielding altercation with an ex-girlfriend":

Charging documents allege that Furer became angry when he found phone numbers for other men in her blackberry. He smashed her phone when she tried to call 911, the records say, and he shoved her to the floor when she tried to leave, then held his hand over her mouth and threw her on a bed.

Demopoulos told police Furer "uttered the words to her, 'Do you want to get serious.'" Then, the arrest warrant states, Furer "grabbed an unknown object and held it under her neck. The suspect asked the complainant, 'Do you want to die?' The complainant replies and she stated, 'No, I don't want to die.'"

After a 90 minute standoff, Furer made her promise not to call police, and then allowed her to leave. She fled to a friend's house, and was taken by ambulance to the hospital. A slash on her chin took eight stitches to close, the police report says.

Yesterday, CREW and Louisiana citizen Wayne Jerry Phillips today "filed a complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) against the U.S. Dry Cleaning Corporation, Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) and the senator’s campaign committee.

Last week, we posted this item:

The Times-Picayune reported today on the fundraising practices of its home-state Senator David Vitter.  One of Vitter's contributors, Jamal Ogbe, told the paper that he was reimbursed for his contribution to Vitter. That's illegal.

It is illegal under federal campaign finance law. So, CREW plans to file an ethics complaint against the donor who allegedly reimbursed his employees:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) plans to file the complaint with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) this week in light of a recent report that employees at a California-based dry cleaning company were reimbursed for their donations to Vitter’s Senate campaign last summer.

“It’s a clear violation of campaign finance law,” said Melanie Sloan, the group’s executive director.

Earlier this month the New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Jamal Ogbe, a former executive with the U.S. Dry Cleaning Corp., said he was reimbursed by the company for his $4,800 contribution to Vitter’s campaign. The company’s employees and their families gave Vitter a total of $33,000 in the hope that he would help them receive federal stimulus money or other government assistance.

The company, which has since filed for bankruptcy, did not respond to a request for comment.

Sloan stresses the case involving Vitter centers on the contributor, not the Louisiana Republican. “It’s really a complaint more against the dry cleaner,” she said. “The question is whether Vitter knew [what was happening].

The Times-Picayune reported today on the fundraising practices of its home-state Senator David Vitter.  One of Vitter's contributors, Jamal Ogbe, told the paper that he was reimbursed for his contribution to Vitter. That's illegal.

During a West Coast fund-raiser last summer, four officials with a California dry cleaning company and three of their spouses donated $33,000 to Sen. David Vitter's re-election campaign.

The day before, Los Angeles attorney David Golubchik, who provided more than $100,000 in financing for the firm, US Dry Cleaning Corp., gave Vitter's campaign $1,000.

While multiple campaign contributions from executives at the same firm are common in national politics, generally they are made in support of a candidate from the company's home state or for a member with influence over issues important to the firm's bottom line. There are no such obvious links to the Louisiana Republican and the dry cleaning business.

Jamal Ogbe, who was US Dry Cleaning's director of finance at the time of the fund-raiser, said the company was facing financial difficulties in 2009 and hoped that Vitter would help the firm gain access to federal stimulus financing or Small Business Administration Assistance. Ogbe said he was eventually reimbursed by his employer for his $4,800 contribution. Federal campaign finance law prohibits reimbursement for such contributions.

Yes, that is prohibited. CREW has filed FEC complaints for similar practices against candidates, including Rep. Vern Buchanan, and a contributor, Edward St. John.

CREW's Melanie Sloan was on Rachel Maddow's show last night to talk about Senator David Vitter:

Yesterday, CREW filed a bar complaint against Senator David Vitter (R-LA) because of his criminal activity involving prostitutes.  Last night, the Times-Picayune in New Orleans reported on our complaint, noting Vitter's 2007 speech admitting to "a very serious sin." Actually, that "sin" is probably criminal activity related to Vitter's own role in a prostitution ring and should warrant an investigation by the Louisiana authorities who oversee attorney disciplinary activity:

An ethics watchdog group in Washington, D.C. is asking Louisiana’s Office of Disciplinary counsel to investigate whether Sen. David Vitter, R-La., should be disciplined for his 2007 admission of a “very serious sin in my past” related to his phone number appearing on a list compiled by a Washington prostitution ring.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said its request is related to Vitter’s recent request for a Justice Department investigation into ACORN, the community activist group with headquarters in New Orleans. Staffers in at least four ACORN offices around the country have been caught in a video sting giving advice to a couple pretending to be a prostitute and pimp looking for tax breaks and other assistance.

“Sen. Vitter’s zeal to see ACORN criminally investigated for offering advice in setting up a prostitution ring reminded me he has yet to be held accountable for his own role in a prostitution ring,” said Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director. “While ACORN’s conduct is indefensible, so is Sen. Vitter’s and what is good for the goose is good for the gander.”

Sloan asked the state Office of Disciplinary Counsel to investigate whether Vitter violated the state’s rule of professional conduct that says it is professional misconduct for a lawyer to “commit a criminal act especially one that reflects adversely on the lawyer’s honestly, trustworthiness or fitness as a lawyer in other respects.”

Charles Plattsmier, chief deputy counsel for the Office of Discplinary Counsel, said by Supreme Court rules he can't say anything about a complaint filed with the office, even to confirm or deny that one has been submitted.

Via a post titled "Hooker Hypocrisy?" at the "Mouth of the Potomac," we get the response from Senator Vitter to CREW's bar complaint against him:

Vitter spokesman Joel DiGardo says CREW is just trying to take the spotlight off ACORN and Democrats.

“It’s no surprise that CREW, an organization run by a former Democratic Senate staffer, is trying to do anything possible to shift the light off the fact that ACORN has stood hand in hand with the Democratic Party for a long time as it misused taxpayer dollars,” DiGardo said.

That response comes as no surprise to us. But, we actually agree on something here. We DO want to change the focus and direct it at Senator Vitter's criminal behavior with prostitutes. Here's the response from Melanie Sloan:

Sen. Vitter is right on one count: CREW does want to shift focus. This so-called “family values” politician wants the public to ignore his record of criminal sexual encounters with prostitutes while he feigns outrage over ACORN’s admitted misdeeds (and my resume). Even in Washington, this level of hypocrisy is unparalleled – and that’s saying something.

That is saying something.