Cronyism has always been a staple of progressives...they cannot compete in an open and fair market, they always have to twist the rules to favor them...and extorting and misappropriating funds is just a means to an end...and their end is justified in their power-mad minds. And these are the people the ignorant masses look to as exemplars of public fidelity, champions of the little guy...because they are told they are as scraps from their table is brushed off on them.
It's why not caring for the later is so easy and why chasing down the former is going to be so widespread.