Remember how Swift Boat Veterans for Truth has no connection to the Bush/Cheney campaign or the White House? At least, that's what SBVT, the White House, and the campaign say.

Except for this guy, who got busted.

And except for the fact that the campaign was handing out flyers to a SBVT rally.

And except for the fact that the administration was implying that they can control them.

And (this is the new part here) except for this:

A top lawyer in President Bush's reelection campaign acknowledged Tuesday that he has been advising the veterans group seeking to discredit Democratic presidential nominee John F. Kerry's military record, an admission the Kerry campaign said is evidence the president's campaign is orchestrating a "smear" by the private group.

To be fair, the article notes that the lawyer said he's not alone in this:

He said two prominent Democratic lawyers are doing the same thing. He said Robert Bauer, the top legal counsel for the Kerry campaign, also is the attorney for an independent group, America Coming Together, that has been mobilizing voters in support of Kerry. In addition, Ginsberg said, Joseph Sandler is a lawyer for both the Democratic National Committee and for the independent group MoveOn.org, which has run advertisements attacking Bush.

But isn't it Bush who is denouncing 527s? (And, as I observed before, Bush made 527s possible...shouldn't he know what's in a bill before he signs it?)

And, as Political Animal guestblogger Amy Sullivan points out,

Ginsberg himself has attacked what he characterizes as the impropriety of individuals holding dual roles with campaigns and 527s.

An article that appeared in the Philadelphia Inquirer just two weeks ago included this bit about Ginsberg: "Ben Ginsberg, a legal adviser to the Bush campaign, specifically condemned the dual roles played by Democrats Harold Ickes and Bill Richardson, who had official roles at the convention and also within prominent friendly 527s. 'They're over the coordination line,' Ginsberg said of Ickes and Richardson. 'The whole notion of cutting off links between public officeholders and soft-money groups just got exploded.'"

To make things even better, Ginsberg doesn't just advise the Swift Boat Guys -- a role he will no doubt seriously downplay over the next few days. He serves as the official chief counsel to Progress for America, another 527 that, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, exists to "form 'issue truth squads' that respond to Democratic attacks on President Bush."

I know these guys are shameless, but still.

Indeed. Can you say dis-en-gen-u-ous?

I knew you could.