Common Cause Blog

Ethics Changes Remain Stuck - For Now

People often say that Congress only makes big changes when faced with consensus or crisis. This must be the reason why we have no progress to report today on ethics reforms.

Apparently, there's no consensus to produce an ethics and lobbying reform bill or a revamped House ethics process. And there must not be a crisis -- notwithstanding the recent indictment of Rep. William Jefferson (D-LA) ongoing federal investigations involving Reps. Rick Renzi (R-AZ) and John Doolittle (R-CA) and the recent news that Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) had been hanging out with alleged prostitutes. Nah, just business as usual on the Hill.

But as members have the aroma of jet fumes dancing in their heads -- the month-long August recess is approaching -- there may be a new ethics and lobbying reform bill in the next two weeks.

Doolittle having a tough time fundraising

If you're contemplating donating to a political campaign, you'd probably be more comfortable giving to a candidate who wasn't under investigation by the FBI, right?

Then these numbers probably aren't a big surprise.

Doolittle reported raising $100,183 from April 1 through June 30, according to his quarterly Federal Election Commission report. The three-month period encompassed an FBI raid on his home in early April in the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal, which forced Doolittle to step down from the House Appropriations Committee.

By contrast, the conservative nine-term congressman raised nearly $130,000 during the first three months of this year.

Meanwhile, his Democratic challenger raised $193,238 this quarter. Doolittle may also face a primary challenger, which will mean he'll need even more money.

So what do you think? Even if Doolittle isn't prosecuted before the next election, will his legal problems keep him from fundraising enough to stay competitive?

John Doolittle - now with twice the scandal!

Here's an interesting AP article I almost missed, laying out the strange position Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) finds himself in.

You know about the one the FBI is actively investigating him for - $5000/month from Jack Abramoff to Julie Doolittle for questionable consulting work while the gentleman from California was ushering Abramoff's pet issues and projects through Congress.

And then there's the other scandal, the bribery case that's already landed ex-Rep. Duke Cunningham (R-CA) in prison:

Newsflash: corruption scandals still a threat to GOP

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!

Abramoff buys himself more time by cooperating

Good news for Abramoff, bad news for Tom DeLay and John Doolittle? From The Hill:

On Monday, the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia postponed the sentencing dates for Abramoff and [Michael] Scanlon yet again. Abramoff and Scanlon were convicted of conspiring to bribe public officials more than a year ago, but the court has postponed the sentencing of each several times....

..."Mr. Abramoff has been cooperating with government agents and prosecutors," Justice Department prosecutors wrote. "The government anticipates that Mr. Abramoff's cooperation will continue for the foreseeable future."

In addition to Abramoff and close friend Michael Scanlon, the court has also delayed sentencing hearings for Tony Rudy and Neil Volz. What might this mean? Well, if prosecutors are continuing to gather information from the key players in the Abramoff scandal, it may strengthen their investigations and potential charges of players not yet under indictment, such as DeLay and Rep. Doolittle. And the willingness of the court to continue to postpone sentencing indicates that the information they are receiving from these men is valuable. DeLay and Doolittle can't be feeling very safe right now.

Doolittle's latest offensive/defensive

Okay, I find this a little funny:

In case you might have missed what Rep. John Doolittle has had to say about his run-ins with the Justice Department recently, his office has reduced it to a "talking points" memo.

The four-page memo summarizes as "background" the Roseville Republican's views on the FBI's search of his Oakton, Va., home on April 13. It stresses his belief that the search will bring quicker "resolve" of the investigation into his and his wife's connections to disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff that began almost three years ago.

Yeah, but I'm thinking that it won't necessarily be the "resolve" Doolittle is hoping for.

Essentially, it seems, the memo is simply a rehashing of 14 points Doolittle has been making about his situation, mainly in last week's editorial..."don't judge before all the facts are in," and things like that. Oh, and this gem:

Another cites "evidence from others that the Justice Department is out of control" by quoting former House Republican leader Tom DeLay of Texas to the effect that the Justice Department "is running amok."

Oh man, the hilarity! Yes, the DoJ certainly is running amok, what with all the illegal firings and cover-ups - and a real stroke of brilliance to quote TOM DELAY in your defense! No one, after all, can speak to integrity like Tom DeLay can.

Have they no shame?

It's hard to believe, but the Congressional Corruption Caucus can't seem to get enough of themselves.

Follow me as we wade through this unbelievable mess:

1) Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) steps down from his position on the powerful House Appropriations Committee after the FBI raided his wife's office.

2) The Republican Steering Committee needs someone to fill his post on Appropriations. Of all the choices, who do they pick? This guy - Rep. Ken Calvert (R-CA), who is under suspicion of using earmarks for personal gain. Way to go - put someone who may have used federal funding to increase the value of his own land on the committee that oversees where federal funding goes. Genius.

3) But wait! It gets so much better! In order to take the Appropriations gig, Calvert left his position as the leader of the Subcommittee on Space and Aeronautics of the House Committee on Science and Technnology. Who announced today that he was taking Calvert's place? None other than Rep. Tom Feeney (R-FL), of course. Feeney, you'll remember, took an Abramoff-paid golf trip to Scotland in 2003; former Congressional aide Mark Zachares recently pleaded guilty to charges related to that trip.

What a nice set-up they have here, right? One lawmaker gives up his position because he's under investigation for corruption, and they give it to another lawmaker who's under suspicion for corruption...and then they give that lawmaker's committee seat to yet another lawmaker under investigation. I'm almost dizzy trying to keep up with the sheer ridiculousness of it all. Talk about nerve...