Using his platform as the Chair of the Republican Governors Association (RGA), Governor Mitt Romney spoke out today calling for additional GOP leaders in Congress to step aside in an attempt to restore public confidence in the GOP.

From the AP story:

Gov. Mitt Romney, a potential Republican presidential candidate in 2008, said Monday his party should push for more high-level resignations so it can move past the "ethical scandal" surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Romney said House Administration Committee Chairman Rep. Bob Ney, R-Ohio, should follow the lead of Rep. Tom Delay and resign his leadership post because of his links to Abramoff, who pleaded guilty last week in a burgeoning congressional corruption investigation.

Romney's comments were clearly an effort to bolster his own credentials for a potential Presidential bid, and to attempt to distance GOP Governors from the scandal which threatens to engulf a significant element portion of the GOP Caucus in Congress. 

Here's the problem with Romney's efforts to distance the GOP Governors from the scandal.

In 2002, the RGA, which Romney now chairs, accepted $500,000 from Abramoff's co-conspirator, and DeLay's former aide, Michael Scanlon.

The contributions came in two checks of $250,000 from Capitol Campaign Strategies, an entity specifically named in both Scanlon and Abramoff's plea agreements as a company that was used in their conspiracy to defraud others and to bribe public officials. 

Thus far no Governors have indicated an intention to return the tainted funds from the Scanlon/Abramoff controlled company.  Neither Governor Romney, nor the RGA has commented on the matter.  The AP reporter who wrote the story on Romney's comments did not ask him to react to this information.

So tell me again exactly what moral ground Romney has to stand on to make this call to clean up Congress?  Shouldn't he begin by cleaning up the RGA?