Congressman David Wu, the Democrat who represents Oregon's first district, has gone to bat this month on behalf of Andrew Wiederhorn. For those national readers unfamiliar with this former wonderboy CEO, Wiederhorn engineered an Enron-like fraud that bilked more than $150 million from pensions during the late 1990s. This is the man Rep. Wu is trying to help out. Now The Oregonian's Jeff Manning reports that Wu is sheepishly trying to back away from this position.

Northwest labor leaders remained cool Thursday to overtures from U.S. Rep. David Wu, who alienated many union members with his efforts on behalf of imprisoned Portland executive Andrew Wiederhorn.

Wu, D-Ore., backtracked this week from a letter he had written to the U.S. Bureau of Prisons, seeking to avoid Wiederhorn's pending transfer to a Minnesota prison hospital. Wu posted a statement Wednesday in an online union newsletter and apologized directly to at least one Oregon union president.

Union workers were the biggest losers in the investment fraud that led to Wiederhorn's federal prison sentence.

[...]

Wiederhorn, who reported to the minimum-security prison camp at Sheridan in August, suffers from diabetes. He has sought early release from his 18-month prison sentence on the grounds that he wasn't provided adequate health care. Diabetes can be difficult to manage and can cause devastating side effects if not kept under control.

It is simply unacceptable for a Congressman -- Republican or Democrat -- to attempt to intercede on the behalf of a man who tried to bilk investors of this much money. Wu has disgraced his position and his district, and will have to go far to win back the respect of this voter.