Baucus to Marry Former Aide
Politico reports:
Sen. Max Baucus, chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, will wed a former staffer whom he once recommended for a U.S. Attorney position, according to a statement released by the Montana Democrat's office on Monday.
Baucus announced over the holidays that he was engaged to Melodee Hanes. The couple, who left their respective spouses in 2008 and later divorced them, have been living together on Capitol Hill.
Baucus included Hanes, a prosecutor and Justice Department official, as one of three potential nominees for the U.S. Attorney job in Montana in early 2009, after the two had become romantically involved.
Hanes's nomination was withdrawn in March 2009 after the Missoulian, a Montana newspaper, asked Baucus's office about his relationship with Hanes, who had also served as an aide to the senator.
Baucus denied that Hanes's withdrawal was triggered by the Missoulian's questions over the relationship. The newspaper never published a story on the Hanes-Baucus relationship, but the relationship became public in December 2009, spurring calls for an ethics probe.
The Senate Ethics Committee, however, did not investigate, and Baucus defended his actions as on the "up and up."
