Richard Pombo is baacccckkkkk

Just when you think it can't get worse on Capitol Hill, you hear that ex-Rep. Richard Pombo is looking for a new office in Congress:

One-time House Resources Chairman Richard Pombo (R) will attempt a political comeback, running again for a California congressional seat, though not the one that he represented for more than a decade.

Instead, Pombo is scheduled to announce today that he will run for the seat left vacant by the retirement of Republican George Radanovich. Radanovich's San Joaquin Valley-based 19th District lies directly east of the 11th District, which Pombo represented for seven terms before losing the 2006 election to Democrat Jerry McNerney

Why is he returning? Because he "misses the policy issues." Really, such as his many attempts to kill the Endangered Species Act or his litany of other concerns such as selling off our national parks .

He misses the limelight, we get it. And the power. A lot. He tried hard to leverage his position for as much as he could in Congress. TPM has compiled a list of his ethics abuses. Just a sample of Pombo's illicit activities:

Pombo was videotaped claiming that disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff "never once lobbied me on anything." The AP promptly discovered in billing records that Abramoff had contacted Pombo personally twice, and his associates many more times.

Pombo's staff appeared frequently in Team Abramoff e-mails discussing free seats at sporting and entertainment events. For example, two tickets to WWF Backlash Live went to Pombo's press secretary in April 2000. Pombo was an important target of Abramoff because of his seat on -- and eventual chairmanship of, thanks to Tom DeLay -- the House Committee on Natural Resources.

Watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington in 2006 prepared an epic thirteen-count ethics complaint against Pombo, for among, other charges, potentially violating "federal bribery laws by providing legislative assistance to Indian tribes in exchange for contributions to his campaign and political action committee, RICH PAC."

And he was listed in CREW's Most Corrupt Report both in 2005 and 2006.

How has he filled his time in the meanwhile?

Since leaving Congress, Pombo has worked for the Oregon-based public relations firm Pac/West Communications, which has worked to ease logging restrictions and at one time backed Pombo's efforts to overhaul the Endangered Species Act.

Gotcha.

We can be sure that Defenders of Wildlife and ethics groups will continue to aggressively remind the voters who Pombo really is.