Not-So-Slick Henry Cops Plea, Pays Piper

By accepting a plea bargain and agreeing to pay a $10,000 fine for misleading the FBI, former housing secretary Henry Cisneros has inadvertently added a moral postscript to the already ponderous Clinton-Lewinsky file: While good politicians sometimes pay for telling lies, the truly great ones never do. Cisneros, who served as HUD chief in the first Clinton administration, has at least a few things in common with his former boss. Both men inspired great expectations early in their careers, and both were investigated tirelessly by independent counsels over allegations of extramarital affairs — and their inevitable aftershocks.

Unfortunately for Cisneros, he is not nearly as adept a liar as Clinton. Thanks to a few sloppy mistakes and a futile effort to maintain his dignity in a ridiculous situation, Cisneros was tripped up on the basic economics of his story: Did he pay his former mistress $10,000 or $60,000 a year? His inability to get his numbers straight catapulted him into the jaws of independent counsel David Barrett’s four-year, $10 million investigation. If Cisneros had been a more astute Clinton disciple, he would have known not to leave a paper trail of any kind — who needs all those hard facts haunting you during your trial? The only evidence you want presented against you is the testimony of witnesses who seem inherently untrustworthy and inspire even more animosity than you do, à la Linda Tripp. It also doesn’t hurt to be pursued by an unbearably smug independent counsel. Now that Cisneros has settled his bill and can get on with his political career, he should stick to the straight and narrow. Anyone who has such a hard time hiding the truth doesn't belong anywhere else.