Government Corruption at the Highest Level

To watch "The Memo" click here.

Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly.  Thank you for watching us tonight.

Government corruption at the highest level.  That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo.

The capitulation of Senator Robert Torricelli is the result of the folks, pure and simple.  If it were up to the Democratic Party, the Justice Department, or the Senate, Torricelli, a man who apparently accepted bribes, would be acceptable as a U.S. senator.

That, of course, is unacceptable to we, the people.

Let's run it down.  After WNBC-TV here in New York City ran a devastating report on Torricelli's situation, the voters in New Jersey told the pollsters the senator was done.  So Democratic leaders like Tom Daschle forced Torricelli to quit the race, even though a week earlier Daschle was campaigning for the Torch, as the senator is called.

The Democratic leadership knew Torricelli had taken gifts and cash from convicted felon David Chang in return for lobbying South Korea to award Chang a Billion-dollar insurance contract.  That, if proved in court, would be bribery.

The Senate Ethics Committee, comprised of Democrats Daniel Inouye, Jack Reed (ph), and Blanche Lincoln and Republicans Pat Roberts, George Voynovich, and Craig Thomas, also knew that Torricelli had taken the gifts and money.  Yet that committee stonewalled public disclosure and issued a meaningless review.

The U.S. attorney's office, headed by the since-retired Mary Jo White, refused to indict the senator and also refused to tell the public anything about the investigation, citing grand jury rules.

However, the feds must have uncovered some information outside the grand jury because we here at The Factor did.  So hiding behind the grand jury seems disingenuous at best.

On July 1, former U.S. ambassador to South Korea Stephen Bosworth told Factor producer Nate Fredman, "I spoke with federal investigators back in 2001 about this.  It doesn't look like they're going to do anything with it.

Bosworth apparently knew the fix was in.  What Ambassador Bosworth told the feds was this, that Senator Torricelli brought David Chang to a meeting with Korean finance minister Kang Bang Quong (ph) and at that meeting heavily lobbied for Chang to be given the insurance contract.

Bosworth says he apologized to Chang on behalf of the United States for Torricelli's conduct.  Torricelli denies Bosworth's account, saying that David Chang sneaked into that meeting.

Now, that sounds credible, doesn't it?  Anyway, the truth is that the Democratic Party knew Torricelli was corrupt and chose to let him run for reelection anyway.  The Justice Department also knew and did not indict, and finally the entire Senate knew and looked the other way.

So there you have our justice system at the highest level.  You can read this Talking Points Memo on our Web site.  Read it and weep.

And that's The Memo.

The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day

Time now for "The Most Ridiculous Item of the Day."

Despite all the controversy surrounding our investigations of the charities after 9/11, the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences has honored us.

The proclamation reads, "The NATAS is honored to recognize Bill O'Reilly for contributions to the reporting of momentous events beginning on September 11, 2001."

Well, since I get few honors, I really appreciate this one.  And my staff does too, since they did much of the heavy lifting.  They all got certificates as well.

The question now becomes: Should I send the citation to George Clooney, or would that be ridiculous?  Let me know through the mail!

— You can watch Bill O'Reilly's Talking Points and "Most Ridiculous Item" weeknights at 8 & 11p.m. ET on the Fox News Channel. Send your comments to: oreilly@foxnews.com