Judd Gregg got caught dancing along the outer rim of ethical behavior, but says his toes never crossed the line.

“I am absolutely sure that in every way I’ve complied with the ethics rules of the Senate both literally and in their spirit relative to any investment that I’ve made anywhere.” -Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H.

If Mr. Gregg is trying to convince me he’s the one and only ethical republican in Washington, I can’t say that I’m convinced. The odds just aren’t in his favor. But if that’s the case, then it’s about time those rules got changed. Why have rules of ethics if they can be interpreted so broadly?

I wonder what would have happened if Mr. Gregg hadn’t declined President Obama’s offer to make him commerce secretary? Would those on the right spun this as more democratic corruption and ineptitude as they did with other Obama nominees, or would they have just left it alone? Would ordinary citizens have been in danger of right-wing pundit’s heads exploding?

AP Exclusive: Gregg had stake in, won aid for base

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Barack Obama’s former nominee to become commerce secretary, Sen. Judd Gregg, steered taxpayer money to his home state’s redevelopment of a former Air Force base even as he and his brother engaged in real estate deals there, an Associated Press investigation found.

Gregg, R-N.H., personally has invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in Cyrus Gregg’s office projects at the Pease International Tradeport, a Portsmouth business park built at the defunct Pease Air Force Base, once home to nuclear bombers. Judd Gregg has collected at least $240,017 to $651,801 from his investments there, Senate records show, while helping arrange at least $66 million in federal aid for the former base.

Gregg said he violated no laws or Senate rules.