Tag Archives: Office of Congressional Ethics

Holding our own folks accountable – and I mean you Emanuel Cleaver

04 Wednesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , , ,

As I read yesterday about the GOP’s sneaky effort to neuter the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), the most disheartening thing I encountered was an account of the reaction to the anti-ethics coup by Missouri Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-5):

The overwhelming majority of Republicans and Democrats in the House detest the Office of Congressional Ethics and want to revamp it, said Democratic Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri.

“When that happened to Sam, I thought, ‘This is horrible.’ Then it happened to (North Carolina Rep.) Mel Watt. Then it happened to (Mississippi Rep.) Bennie Thompson. And all these people were cleared,” Cleaver said in an interview Tuesday.

“Some people say, ‘Well, if they were cleared, don’t worry about it,’ ” he said. “But once it hits the newspaper it’s just like mud thrown against a wall. It can fall to the ground but the stain is still there.”

Cleaver said Democrats stood ready to work with Republicans to repair what many of them considered a very flawed ethics office. But not in secret.

Yeah, I get that it’s hard to have to be accountable for every little thing that you do – but that type of accountability goes with the type of power wielded by congressmen. You get the goods, you pay the price. And, yes, accusations can spoil a reputation. But that’s better than weak oversight by a House Committee that’s all too susceptible to partisanship and good ol’ boy pressure.

Despite Cleaver’s concern, the OCE investigation didn’t seem to do much harm to the folks cited by Cleaver as examples of its overreach. Rep. Mel Watt (D-N.C.) was indeed cleared of trying to sell his vote, but he still harbors a grudge against the OCE for even considering the charges – in spite of the fact that he was reelected subsequent to the investigation. While I don’t know the details of the improprieties alleged against Bennie Thompson (D-MS) to which Cleaver refers (here’s one such story reported by TPM), I do know that he’s still serving in the House so it looks like he survived scrutiny by the OCE. Personally, I’m relieved that we have institutions that will investigate such allegations.

As for Cleaver’s outrage about Rep. Sam Graves, it might be just a little misplaced. Graves may have been cleared by the aforesaid weak House Ethics Committee after the OCE passed its findings along, but, if his hands are not absolutely filthy, he still seems to have fairly soiled fingers. In 2010 the US News and World Report’s Paul Bedard reported allegations that Graves “has been the subject of a new scandal every few months over the past two years.”

The DailyKos account of another of the “horror” stories the GOPers mustered to motivate their action – the sad story of Duncan Hunter’s rabbit – also falls a little short when it comes to mustering the type of righteous indignation Cleaver expresses. It seems that the OCE may have taken exception to travel reimbursements for transporting Hunter’s family’s pet rabbit in-cabin on flights. Hunter alleges this charge was an oversight, an honest error. Yet as DailyKos’ Laura Clawson notes, “this was just one $600 rabbit travel oversight among $62,000 in jewelry, video games, resort stays, oral surgery oversights and mistakes under specific circumstances.” Oh my!

Just these few examples are enough to show us why the Republicans are so eager to “reform” ethics oversight. As a former OCE attorney observed about their latest attack, “it effectively allows the committee to shut down any independent investigation into member misconduct. Historically, the ethics committee has failed to investigate member misconduct.” A sweet deal indeed for members of the party of Trump.

But a sweet deal for Democrats too? I don’t get Rep. Cleaver’s tender sensibilities. What’s he got to hide? When Elizabeth Warren tweets “who, exactly, thinks that the problem with Washington is that we have too many rules requiring the gov to act ethically?,” isn’t it embarrassing to answer that it’s one of the two Democratic representatives from Missouri?

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R): absolute power – part 2

03 Tuesday Jan 2017

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , , , , ,

Really, what were they thinking?

The republican controlled House of Representatives rethought their gutting of the Office of Congressional Ethics after the overnight public outcry.

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) [2016 file photo].

Representative Vicky Hartzler (r) [2016 file photo].

I asked Representative Vicky Hartzler (r), via social media, how she voted on the issue. As of this writing I haven’t received a response.

From Talking Points Memo:

TPM news
Your Independent Office Of Congressional Ethics Vote Checklist
ByKristin Salaky and Annie ReesPublishedJanuary 3, 2017, 1:34 PM EDT

Backlash was swift after it was revealed Monday night that incoming House Republicans voted to put the Office of Congressional Ethics under the authority of the House Ethics Committee, which has a Republican chair, during a closed-door meeting.
Republicans abruptly changed course Tuesday morning after that public outcry….
….The vote on the rules change, proposed by House Judiciary Chair Bob Goodlatte (R-VA), was private, so Josh asked TPM readers to call up their representative’s office and write in with what they learned about their congressperson’s vote. A few clear categories quickly emerged: the obvious “yes” or “no” vote, as well as those members who were absent. But many readers were also told that staff had no idea how their representative voted, or refused to disclose their representative’s vote, citing the privacy of the closed-door meeting.
[….]
The “yes” votes
Rep. Sam Graves (R-MO), from a TPM reader who contacted his office
Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), from a TPM reader who contacted his office
Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY), from a TPM reader who contacted his office.
Rep. Mike Kelly (R-PA), from a TPM reader who contacted his office.
Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL) from The News-Gazette.
Rep. Chris Stewart (R-UT), from a TPM reader who contacted his office.
Rep. Steve Pearce (R-NM), from a TPM reader who contacted his office.
Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R-MO), from a TPM reader who contacted her office.
[….]

[emphasis added]

There aren’t too many representatives owning up to their vote. Well, to her partial credit, it appears Representative Hartzler’s (r) office didn’t duck the question.

Previously:

Rep. Vicky Hartzler (R): absolute power (January 2, 2016)

Lacy Clay wants to Fudge the OCE rules.

09 Wednesday Jun 2010

Posted by in Uncategorized

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

, , , ,

After the years of ethically challenged Republican ascendancy in Congress, the establishment of the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) seemed to indicate that maybe things really might change just a little. However, sad to say, the OCE’s activities seem to have struck too close to home for some Democrats.

Representative Marcia Fudge (D-OH) has introduced a resolution, cosponsored by Missouri’s Lacy Clay (D-1st) along with 18 other members of the Congressional Black Caucus, that seeks to curtail the powers of the OCE, leaving it unable to initiate investigations and to consider most complaints filed by outside groups. It is certainly an interesting fact that, as TPM notes:

… Many of the cosponsors of Fudge’s legislation have been OCE targets. And the panel once faulted one of Fudge’s top aides, Dawn Kelly Mobley, for facilitating an ethically questionable Carribean junket for CBC members several years ago, when she worked for Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones. …

Let me be clear: Lacy Clay has not been named in an ethics investigation, and is not one of the folks TPM is talking about. There may be legitimate concerns that have led Clay to cosponsor this resolution, but those concerns had better be really compelling. We have so few tools to help even the playing field in the big corporate bucks political environment we now inhabit, we can’t afford to gut the OCE because it makes some congress people nervous. Clay is not my representative, but I surely would like to know what he was thinking when he signed on to this resolution.

UPDATE:  I just noticed that TPM followed up with the nineteen co-sponsors, all of whom declined to comment on their decision to support Fudge’s resolution.