(As if to remind you that ethics is bicameral, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid got into the act this past week with stories about how he forgot to fully report his ownership of land near Las Vegas, where he turned a $700,000 profit on its sale three years after he transferred it to a business.  He also is repaying his campaign fund $3,300 for Christmas bonuses it gave to support staff at the Ritz-Carlton in Washington, where he lives.)

The FBI is investigating whether Weldon, a 10-term incumbent who sits on the Armed Services Committee, misused his position by steering contracts to favored firms and helping his daughter's firm get lobbying contracts from foreign clients.

In 2002, Karen Weldon and Sexton started Solutions North America, a public relations firm.  Despite having very little lobbying experience, the company quickly lined up contracts worth nearly $1 million annually for services that included joining her father on congressional trips and in client meetings.

One of the three contracts the business, now known as Solutions Worldwide, received was a $500,000 contract in 2002 from the Itera Group, as Rep. Weldon lobbied the federal government on Itera's behalf.  Another was for services on behalf of two alleged political allies of Slobodan Milosevic, the former Serbian leader who died while facing trial for war crimes.

When the story of Karen Weldon's work and ties to Rep. Weldon broke in the Los Angeles Times in February 2004, Rep. Weldon denied giving his daughter any special assistance, a point he's maintained all along.  He also said he cooperated with the House Ethics Committee, turning over 150 pages of documents and answering their questions.

Now Rep. Weldon says he didn't know the FBI was investigating him until a story broke last weekend by McClatchy Newspapers.  Yesterday, Rep. Weldon told the Philadelphia Inquirer the ethics committee "sent me a letter saying basically that they closed the case"  -- but neither he nor the ethics committee would produce the letter. (Hmmmm.)

He's also claiming that the FBI raid will hurt his re-election chances in the tightest race he's faced since coming to Congress. And he believes it to be "politically motivated" -- although Republicans in giddier times seemed to claim control of just about everything from Washington to Albuquerque. "I'm not stupid. I may have offended some people," he said.  "I've been know to do that from time to time in Washington, in both parties."

Will we know the results of the investigation soon?  Probably not, so stay tuned -- it's been nearly three years in the making.

So here's the House ethics rundown, because you really need a scorecard to keep track:

Resigned:  Reps. Tom DeLay, R-TX; Duke Cunningham, R-CA; Mark Foley, R-FL
Under investigation: Reps. Alan Mollohan, D-WV; William Jefferson, D-LA; Curt Weldon, R-PA;
Headed for Jail: Rep. Bob Ney, R-OH
In Jail: Rep. Duke Cunningham, R-CA

I hate to say it, but who knows what's next with this crowd?  When it comes to ethics, this Congress is now The Gang That Couldn't Shoot Straight.