Congressional Corruption Caucus (AP Photo)
If the House GOP was hoping that headlines and gossip linking their ranks with corruption and scandal would fade away after last November's massacre, they were definitely being overly optimistic. In fact, even though last November saw a House-cleaning of sorts, the worrisome numbers are building again.
In pure numbers, Republicans are approaching the magnitude of their problem at this stage of the 2006 election cycle. Eventually, nine House Republicans faced FBI investigations. Four stepped down, and two -- Reps. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California and Bob Ney of Ohio -- are in prison. Of the five who sought re-election, three lost and the other two remain under ethical clouds.
Let's see...so far I can count one...two...three...SIX current Republican Members of Congress under investigation/suspicion of corruption. Let's review!
I can't hardly keep up with all the recent news of unethical behavior...
Rep. Gary Miller (R-CA) is the latest name to surface in Beltway headlines. According to The Hill newspaper, Miller secured a number of earmarks in the 2005 transportation bill that benefitted his business partner, Lewis Operating Corporation. Miller has long-standing business ties to Lewis Operating, and enjoys their money, too - since he joined Congress in 1998, Lewis employees have donated $22,150 to his campaign committee.
Miller also has partnered or been involved with a number of real-estate transactions with the company in the past five years, making $1.1 million to $6 million in profits from deals involving Lewis Operating in some part of the transaction, according to the lawmaker's financial disclosure reports.
The FBI has been investigating several of Miller's land deals, particularly the sale of 165 acres to the city of Monrovia in 2002. Miller made at least $10 million on the deal, but has faced scrutiny for avoiding paying capital gains taxes on the land by telling the IRS that the city had threatened to seize the land through eminent domain, and subsequently reinvesting the profit into land purchased from Lewis Operating.
There's much, much more in the article, including specifics of multi-million dollar earmarks for projects that would directly benefit Lewis Operating's real estate developments.
Roll Call asks an excellent question: when it comes to Members of Congress who come under criminal investigation, what is the rule for stepping down from important committee posts? The answer, simply put, is that there isn't one.
House rules provide only that when a Member is convicted of a crime carrying a sentence of more than two years, he or she "should not" engage in committee business or vote on the floor. Further action is up to the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct and the House membership.
Both parties have formal rules that a leader or committee chairman who's indicted automatically steps down from those posts, but there is no formal rule applying to rank-and-file Members.
Well, uh...that just sounds like an invitation to do nothing...
Oh, and what do you know?!
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