As I've continued to look at the Johnson & Johnson nepotism saga, I seem to distinctly recall that in Senator Johnson's defense, many of the Democratic commenters sputter in rebuttal "...but, but... Senator Johnson said he would have nothing to do with the process...." 

And to their credit, yes, that's what the Johnsons claimed up front.  Such as this comment from Brendan Johnson:

"I believe, and my father believes, that he needs to be walled off 100 percent in the process and that also means no letters of endorsement or calling anybody or asking for favors. I'll stand on my record and nothing else," Johnson said.

Read it here.  And this one from him:

"What needs to happen in their minds is that my father will not make the nomination for the position. Nor will he lobby or advocate on anyone's behalf. He will be taken out of the process.

"When we look at situations in the past where senators have nominated their offspring, we are not going that route. If I decide to apply, I want to stand on my record, not my last name. No preferential treatment," Johnson said.

Read that here.    And it's what we were told by Tim Johnson and his staff:

Traditionally, Sen. Johnson would nominate qualified candidates to the White House to fill the spot because Johnson and Barack Obama are Democrats. But because of the potential for a conflict of interest, Sen. Johnson is not participating, according to his spokeswoman.

"The senator has taken a very hands-off approach on this one," Julianne Fisher said. "He's just going to allow the people applying to deal directly with the White House."

Read that here. And another instance of his staff claiming it here:

A spokesman for Sen. Johnson maintains that the lawmaker and his staff have stayed out of the process, even though as the senior lawmaker from the state Johnson would, by tradition, be able to make a recommendation for the job.

Read that here.

Well, after all of that pontificating that Senator Johnson would stay out of the process, guess what he did.

At the first sign of trouble, Senator Johnson dove head first into the process for his son's nomination for US Attorney and went back on his word:

When Brendan Johnson, a 34-year-old Sioux Falls lawyer, applied for the post of U.S. attorney for South Dakota last January, he made one thing clear to a local paper: His father, Sen. Tim Johnson, would have nothing to do with his seeking the job. “My father said, ‘Don’t consult me. Don’t update me. I’m not going to be involved in the process,’” he said.

The elder Johnson made the same promise.

But last week, when Brendan Johnson’s nomination unexpectedly ran into problems, the senator and his aides began a behind-the-scenes effort to find out what happened. The South Dakota Democrat contacted both Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) and Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) to figure out what the delay was.

and...

But there’s also a potential political benefit for the White House in making Johnson happy, Republican sources note. Johnson is a potential swing vote on a number of important legislative initiatives favored by President Barack Obama, including health care reform, climate change and the Employee Free Choice Act. Johnson is also a senior member of the Senate Banking Committee, which will be taking on a major regulatory reform bill for the financial services industry this fall.

“Keeping Johnson happy is a good thing from the White House’s point of view,” said a Senate GOP aide.

and...

“After a constant barrage of Democrat attacks against the Bush administration for supposedly politicizing the U.S. attorney selection process, now Sen. Johnson and his son would like South Dakotans to believe that there aren’t any nepotism issues at play here,” said Ken Spain, spokesman for the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Spain added: “The fact that Sen. Johnson’s son — an individual who has hardly been able to keep his political ambitions to himself — is the lone candidate for the job is hardly a coincidence.”

Read it all here.

Senator Johnson was going to stay out of it?  

I think my grade school children note it properly - "Liar, liar, pants on fire."

This is nothing more than the Johnson Family building a political dynasty. His son was seeking one of the most important federal posts in the state, and at the first sign that there might be a complication, yes, dad stepped in directly and personally to intervene on his son's behalf.

If they wanted to avoid the charges of nepotism, they should not have committed it in the first place.