"It Looks Bad, It Just Smells"

From Senator’s Ties to Real Estate Draw Criticism by Eric Lipton and Eric Lichtblau:

He has made millions as a title insurance executive, landlord and real estate developer in this college town, where the economy, despite trouble nationwide, is still growing nicely. Now, as a United States senator, with the mortgage mess fueling a national economic slowdown, Richard C. Shelby has more say over the revamping of housing finance laws than almost anyone else in Congress.

A tall, imposing man, Mr. Shelby has adopted a much lower profile in the last few years after he and his office were the targets of an F.B.I. criminal investigation into the possible leak of classified information concerning a National Security Agency intercept on Sept. 10, 2001, indicating possible terror attacks in the works. No one was charged in the case, but the leak provoked tensions with the White House.