Update (5:52 pm EST): According to a source our email on this issue has already generated 147 phone calls to Rep. Lamar Smith's office as of 4 pm EST. This is particularly important as he is on the Ethics Committee and has donated money to Tom DeLay's legal defense. Keep up the calls.

By now lot of you have probably read or heard that House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX) is embroiled in a new ethics scandal. We think that these new allegations demand the immediate attention of the House Ethics Committee. We need you to contact the committee members today and urge them to investigate the new allegation that DeLay illegally accepted thousands of dollars worth of travel paid for by a lobbyist now facing criminal and congressional investigations for allegedly bilking millions of dollars from casino-operating Indian tribes.

The details of the allegations implicating DeLay emerged in the National Journal report last week that revealed evidence suggesting that DeLay illegally accepted money for lodging expenses from Jack Abramoff, his long time ally and a once-powerful GOP registered lobbyist now embroiled in what could become one of the biggest lobbying scandals in U.S. history.

The National Journal obtained a copy of an expense voucher that Abramoff filed at his law firm requesting reimbursement for expenses for DeLay and his wife and other top staffers for a stay at the Four Seasons Hotel in London in the amount of $4,285.35. The voucher also showed other related expenses of $13,318.50. Abramoff billed the DeLay trip to one of the Native American tribes.

If true, this is a serious violation because house gift rules prohibit a Member, officer or employee of the House from having their travel expenses, including lodging expenses, paid for by a registered lobbyist. If the ethics committee is aware there is documented evidence of wrongdoing, they have the power and the obligation to investigate.

Here are the 10 ethics committee members you need to call:

• Chairman Doc Hastings (R-WA): 202-225-5816
• Rep. Judy Biggert (R-IL): 202-225-3515
• Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX): 202-225-4236
• Rep. Melissa Hart (R-PA): 202-225-2565
• Rep. Tom Cole (R-OK): 202-225-6165
• Rep. Alan B. Mollohan (D-WV): 202-225-4172 (Ranking Minority Member)
• Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH): 202-225-7032
• Rep. Gene Green (D-TX): 202-225-1688
• Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA): 202-225-1766
• Rep. Michael F. Doyle (D-PA): 202-225-2135

The spotlight now is squarely on these 10 members mentioned above to investigate these latest allegations concerning DeLay. As you know, the bipartisan Ethics Committee admonished DeLay three times last year for improper conduct. In retaliation, DeLay and other leaders in the majority crippled the panel's ability to launch new investigations by giving veto power to either party, and removed the Republican members of the Ethics Committee who had voted to admonish DeLay, including Chairman Joel Hefley (R-CO). The "renegade" Republicans who put duty over party were replaced members many observers believe are loyal to DeLay, including two members who donated money to his legal defense fund.

The newly appointed Republican members of the House Ethics Committee have promised they will do their jobs. Now is the time for them to prove it. Call them today and ask them to launch a full-scale investigation into the new DeLay scandal.

Also please make sure to forward this email to all your friends and family members who are concerned about accountability in Congress, and urge them to call members of the Ethics Committee in support of a full-scale investigation into the latest ethics scandal implicating DeLay.

http://www.commoncause.org/InvestigateNewDeLayScandal

Thank you.