Al Franken is laughing it off and the elite media is still blowing it off, but the Air America/Air Enron financial fiasco continues to unfold. Ed Morrissey and his legal consultant/reader Eric Costello shine renewed light on the Piquant buyout shell game here and here, previously explored by Leon H. at Macho Nachos.

The Washington Times pounds the MSM and race hustlers’ blackout in a new editorial today, “Air Scamerica.”

And in a fascinating little side development, a former Clear Channel official has been hired by Air America Radio:

Russ Gilbert has been named vice president of Interactive for Air America Radio, including the network and its flagship station WLIB AM New York. The announcement was made by Air America President Gary Krantz.

Gilbert will oversee all Web initiatives for the company, including multiple revenue streams, premium services, content administration, alliances with other progressive Web sites and integration of Air America’s Web presence with its affiliate radio stations. In addition, his team will create a Web site for AM 1190 Air America New York to support local sales, programming and marketing initiatives.

“We are extremely happy that Russ is helping to grow our team at Air America Radio,” said Krantz. “Russ is an ‘impact player’ who knows the intricacies of the Interactive space, as well as the constantly evolving area of integrating audio content with our core constituency of radio and other audio and video partners. He represents a significant asset to our team who will implement a strong and creative Internet presence in the industry.”

“I’m looking forward to working with the incredible talent at Air America to take www.airamericaradio.com to the next level,” said Gilbert.

Is he working for free?

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More blog coverage:

Laer at Cheat-Seeking Missiles keeps tabs on the NYTimes.

John in North Carolina assists a befuddled Raleigh News & Observer news editor who can’t find the story.

Say Anything joins in Air America Radio’s bumper sticker contest.

Update: Columbia Journalism Review Daily covers the case. Paul McCleary writes…

The whole story began to come to light in June, when New York State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer began investigating questionable loans and falsified government filings made by Gloria Wise to a number of agencies — even as the New York City Department of Investigation (DOI) is also looking into the matter.

In the meantime, the DOI has recommended that Piquant place the disputed $875,000 in an escrow account, pending the outcome of the investigation. The first payment into escrow — of $50,000 — was made on August 5, which caused city investigators to complain that they had recommended that the entire $875,000 be placed into the account, which no one could touch without their approval.

“Air America has not followed that recommendation,” Keith Schwam, a spokesman for the Department of Investigation, told the New York Post.

This is a complicated case, and the Sun, the Post and some of the blogs have done a good job of exposing it. Some questions remain however, two of the most important being: when did Piquant find out about the shady loans, and what did they do about it; and how much of this $875,000 actually made it to Air America? No one knows at this point what the outcome of the investigations will be, but one thing is for sure: some very big and conspicuous names on the media beat are missing the boat on what may well be a juicy story.

Hat tip: Reader Michael V., who kept on CJR to cover the story.

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