WASHINGTON, D.C. April 25 (DPI) – A former Congressman who is now Trump’s budget director told a bankers convention yesterday that while in office he met only with lobbyists who gave him money, a matter-a-fact confirmation of Washington pay-to-play that seemed to upset DC’s political and media class.

The former Republican congressman, Mick Mulvaney, represented a South Carolina district from 2011 to 2017, until Trump appointed him director of the Office of Management and Budget. Today he is also head of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Mulvaney’s remarks before bankers at an American Bankers Association conference were quickly picked up by the press:

“We had a hierarchy in my office in Congress. If you’re a lobbyist who never gave us money, I didn’t talk to you. If you’re a lobbyist who gave us money, I might talk to you.”

The Washington Post posted three articles related to the comments, including an op-ed headlined, “Mulvaney Gets Points for Honesty, I Guess.”  But the coverage focused more on the idea that Mulvaney, a Trump official, was encouraging bankers to pay politicians for access, although some took the remarks as simply a commentary on the pervasiveness of access-selling on Capitol Hill.

An editor for Politico somewhat naively declared, “I’ve never before seen a former member describe Congress so explicitly as an extortion racket.”

Most popular comment on WashingtonPost.com focused on Trump:

1) It was already obvious that this is the most corrupt administration in U.S. history (by a mile).
2) It’s still shocking to hear Mulvaney admit to being so corrupt.
3) The problem isn’t the corrosive influence of money in *politics*; it’s the corrosive influence of money in the Republican party and, specifically, the Trump administration.

And other most popular comments:

Someone print out and staple Mulvaney’s comments to George Will’s forehead so he will stop his incessant columns about how outright bribes of legislators isn’t a violation of campaign finance laws. It’s legalized bribery – and it was legalized by the very legislators taking the bribes.

How exactly are Mulvaney’s comments not an admission of pay for play? Why is he not being charged?