It's hard to remember now, but for a brief period right after Obama won the election, Bobby Jindal was the Great Republican Hope for 2012. Now, even though he speechified himself right out of the running early on, it looks like Louisiana's governor has passed the litmus test: He is ethically shaky enough to be a Republican presidential candidate after all. The New York Times reports:

WASHINGTON — Louisiana’s biggest corporate players, many with long agendas before the state government, are restricted in making campaign contributions to Gov. Bobby Jindal. But they can give whatever they like to the foundation set up by his wife months after he took office.

AT&T, which needed Mr. Jindal, a Republican, to sign off on legislation allowing the company to sell cable television services without having to negotiate with individual parishes, has pledged at least $250,000 to the Supriya Jindal Foundation for Louisiana’s Children.

The article doesn't accuse Jindal of using the money for material gain, but it does suggest that in this kind of arrangement "officials benefit from the good will associated with charitable work financed by businesses."