HOLLYWOOD
10-30-2009, 08:43 AM
The Corruption, Graft, Conspiracy, & Fraud of Flithy political theft continues... No Mention of US Senator Danuel Inoye D-HI and the millions funneled to his bank in Hawaii where he holds a majority of his investments/savings.
The List, so far of the USUAL SUSPECTS under Investigation:
Charlie Rangel D-NY
Maxine Waters D-CA
Laura Richardson D-CA
Jack Murtha D-PA
Peter Visclosky D-IN
James Moran Jr. D-VA
Norm Dicks D-WA
Marcy Kaptur D-OH
Bill Young R-FL
Todd Tiahrt R-KS
"...the ethics committee document said the panel had attempted to look into the case of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) but had been asked to back off by the Justice Department, the Post reported."[/URL]http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g77OhUU3Qn8z1CXaKKobq-dq2q2gD9BLE8EO1 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g77OhUU3Qn8z1CXaKKobq-dq2q2gD9BLE8EO1)
[url]http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/43163 (http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/43163)
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091028/capt.51586d8cf5dd4f039a8af6c850fca2b0.congress_hea d_injuries_dccd119.jpg?x=213&y=141&xc=2&yc=1&wc=408&hc=270&q=85&sig=_CulLsAPCkN5Xqw3g01tVQ-- (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Rep-Maxine-Waters/photo//091028/483/51586d8cf5dd4f039a8af6c850fca2b0//s:/ap/20091030/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_leaked_ethics_report)
AP – House Judiciary Committee member
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., pauses as she
questions witnesses during …
The article:
Lawmakers Targeted in Ethics Probe
John Bresnahan // Politico
30 Oct 2009 // A leaked document shows that House ethics investigators are probing the activities of nearly three dozen lawmakers — an ethical dust storm that will empower the Republicans and could imperil efforts to get health care reform through the House next week.
The House Ethics Committee said Thursday that it was opening two new investigations — one into the foreclosure scandal of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) and one involving financial questions about Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and her husband.
But shortly after the committee met, chairs Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) interrupted proceedings on the House floor to say that an internal document on secret committee proceedings had been leaked to the Washington Post — and that it would name the names of many other members who had drawn the attention of either the committee or the Office of Congressional Ethics.
According to the Post, the document identifies more than 30 House members.
Much of the investigative interest swirls around lawmakers' relationship with the PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm that pumped campaign contributions to members and obtained earmarks for its defense clients.
Democratic Reps. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) and Peter Visclosky (Ind.) had been implicated in the PMA case previously, but the leaked document showed that investigators are also interested in Reps. James Moran Jr. (D-Va.), Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Bill Young (R-Fla.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), according to the Post.
The Department of Justice is also looking into allegations that Paul Magliocchetti, a former Appropriations Committee staffer and founder of PMA, used “straw men” donors to improperly funnel campaign to Murtha and the other Appropriations Committee members.
Visclosky and his former chief of staff, Charles Brimmer, have been served with subpoenas in the FBI's criminal probe into PMA’s activities, and FBI agents raided a Pennsylvania defense contractor with close ties to Murtha earlier this year.
In addition, the ethics committee document said the panel had attempted to look into the case of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) but had been asked to back off by the Justice Department, the Post reported. Mollohan attracted DOJ attention in 2006 for steering tens of millions of dollars in earmarks to political allies and campaign contributors, including a former aide involved in the lawmaker’s lucrative real-estate investments. While Mollohan has never been charged with any wrongdoing, he stepped down from his post as ranking member of the ethics committee.
In a statement, Lofgren and Bonner said the document given to the Post was on the personal computer of a former panel aide, who placed it on a file-sharing system, when it was “exposed to unauthorized and inappropriate access by persons outside the Committee.”
The chairs also said that "no inference" should be made about the guilt of any of the lawmakers identified in the document, saying that the committee has "dozens" of matters before it any given time, and that some are simply requests for information rather than actual investigations.
Still, Republicans — who have pummeled Pelosi for not doing more to "drain the swamp," as she promised in 2006 — pounced on the suggestion that the Democrats' ethics problems may be much wider than previously reported.
"Clearly the Democrats were not serious when they said they would clean up the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.). “They promised the American people honesty, transparency, and accountability, and yet they have failed to deliver by adequately addressing [ethics] issues.”
Pelosi and the Democrats have already been forced to deal with a yearlong investigation of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) over his personal finances, a probe that has dragged on far longer than originally expected. Led by Pelosi, Democrats have rebuffed several GOP attempts to force Rangel to give up the Ways and Means gavel.
Republicans are not without their own serious ethics and legal problems, which could complicate their political attacks on Democrats over the issue.
Bill Allen, the key government witness against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), told FBI agents that he had allegedly funneled nearly $200,000 in improper gifts to longtime GOP Rep. Don Young (Alaska) over a 13-year period. Young, who was forced by Republicans to give up his ranking member post on the Natural Resources Committee at the start of the 111th Congress, has denied any wrongdoing, but he has shelled out well over $1 million in campaign funds to criminal-defense attorneys over the last two years.
And Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), ranking member on Appropriations, came under investigation by DOJ over his ties to a former lawmaker turned lobbyist. Lewis was never charged with any improper or illegal actions.
With Appropriations Committee members like Bill Young and Tiahrt under scrutiny by the ethics committee as part of its PMA probe, it could make it tough for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders to mount a full-fledged offensive against Democrats on the issue.
But Democrats are clearly nervous over the growing ethics drumbeat.
“After having made ethics an issue against House Republicans, Democrats know they need to do to handle this,” said a Democratic official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Democrats note that it was Pelosi who pushed through the 2008 resolution to create the OCE, and that independent watchdog group is pushing the ethics committee to be more aggressive in policing members and staffers.
But the OCE and the ethics committee are feuding among themselves, further complicating efforts to move cases to resolution.
The List, so far of the USUAL SUSPECTS under Investigation:
Charlie Rangel D-NY
Maxine Waters D-CA
Laura Richardson D-CA
Jack Murtha D-PA
Peter Visclosky D-IN
James Moran Jr. D-VA
Norm Dicks D-WA
Marcy Kaptur D-OH
Bill Young R-FL
Todd Tiahrt R-KS
"...the ethics committee document said the panel had attempted to look into the case of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) but had been asked to back off by the Justice Department, the Post reported."[/URL]http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g77OhUU3Qn8z1CXaKKobq-dq2q2gD9BLE8EO1 (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5g77OhUU3Qn8z1CXaKKobq-dq2q2gD9BLE8EO1)
[url]http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/43163 (http://www.citizensforethics.org/node/43163)
http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20091028/capt.51586d8cf5dd4f039a8af6c850fca2b0.congress_hea d_injuries_dccd119.jpg?x=213&y=141&xc=2&yc=1&wc=408&hc=270&q=85&sig=_CulLsAPCkN5Xqw3g01tVQ-- (http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Rep-Maxine-Waters/photo//091028/483/51586d8cf5dd4f039a8af6c850fca2b0//s:/ap/20091030/ap_on_bi_ge/us_congress_leaked_ethics_report)
AP – House Judiciary Committee member
Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., pauses as she
questions witnesses during …
The article:
Lawmakers Targeted in Ethics Probe
John Bresnahan // Politico
30 Oct 2009 // A leaked document shows that House ethics investigators are probing the activities of nearly three dozen lawmakers — an ethical dust storm that will empower the Republicans and could imperil efforts to get health care reform through the House next week.
The House Ethics Committee said Thursday that it was opening two new investigations — one into the foreclosure scandal of Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) and one involving financial questions about Rep. Maxine Waters (D-Calif.) and her husband.
But shortly after the committee met, chairs Zoe Lofgren (D-Calif.) and Jo Bonner (R-Ala.) interrupted proceedings on the House floor to say that an internal document on secret committee proceedings had been leaked to the Washington Post — and that it would name the names of many other members who had drawn the attention of either the committee or the Office of Congressional Ethics.
According to the Post, the document identifies more than 30 House members.
Much of the investigative interest swirls around lawmakers' relationship with the PMA Group, a now-defunct lobbying firm that pumped campaign contributions to members and obtained earmarks for its defense clients.
Democratic Reps. Jack Murtha (D-Pa.) and Peter Visclosky (Ind.) had been implicated in the PMA case previously, but the leaked document showed that investigators are also interested in Reps. James Moran Jr. (D-Va.), Norm Dicks (D-Wash.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Bill Young (R-Fla.) and Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.), according to the Post.
The Department of Justice is also looking into allegations that Paul Magliocchetti, a former Appropriations Committee staffer and founder of PMA, used “straw men” donors to improperly funnel campaign to Murtha and the other Appropriations Committee members.
Visclosky and his former chief of staff, Charles Brimmer, have been served with subpoenas in the FBI's criminal probe into PMA’s activities, and FBI agents raided a Pennsylvania defense contractor with close ties to Murtha earlier this year.
In addition, the ethics committee document said the panel had attempted to look into the case of Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) but had been asked to back off by the Justice Department, the Post reported. Mollohan attracted DOJ attention in 2006 for steering tens of millions of dollars in earmarks to political allies and campaign contributors, including a former aide involved in the lawmaker’s lucrative real-estate investments. While Mollohan has never been charged with any wrongdoing, he stepped down from his post as ranking member of the ethics committee.
In a statement, Lofgren and Bonner said the document given to the Post was on the personal computer of a former panel aide, who placed it on a file-sharing system, when it was “exposed to unauthorized and inappropriate access by persons outside the Committee.”
The chairs also said that "no inference" should be made about the guilt of any of the lawmakers identified in the document, saying that the committee has "dozens" of matters before it any given time, and that some are simply requests for information rather than actual investigations.
Still, Republicans — who have pummeled Pelosi for not doing more to "drain the swamp," as she promised in 2006 — pounced on the suggestion that the Democrats' ethics problems may be much wider than previously reported.
"Clearly the Democrats were not serious when they said they would clean up the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Scott Garrett (R-N.J.). “They promised the American people honesty, transparency, and accountability, and yet they have failed to deliver by adequately addressing [ethics] issues.”
Pelosi and the Democrats have already been forced to deal with a yearlong investigation of Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) over his personal finances, a probe that has dragged on far longer than originally expected. Led by Pelosi, Democrats have rebuffed several GOP attempts to force Rangel to give up the Ways and Means gavel.
Republicans are not without their own serious ethics and legal problems, which could complicate their political attacks on Democrats over the issue.
Bill Allen, the key government witness against former Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), told FBI agents that he had allegedly funneled nearly $200,000 in improper gifts to longtime GOP Rep. Don Young (Alaska) over a 13-year period. Young, who was forced by Republicans to give up his ranking member post on the Natural Resources Committee at the start of the 111th Congress, has denied any wrongdoing, but he has shelled out well over $1 million in campaign funds to criminal-defense attorneys over the last two years.
And Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), ranking member on Appropriations, came under investigation by DOJ over his ties to a former lawmaker turned lobbyist. Lewis was never charged with any improper or illegal actions.
With Appropriations Committee members like Bill Young and Tiahrt under scrutiny by the ethics committee as part of its PMA probe, it could make it tough for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and other GOP leaders to mount a full-fledged offensive against Democrats on the issue.
But Democrats are clearly nervous over the growing ethics drumbeat.
“After having made ethics an issue against House Republicans, Democrats know they need to do to handle this,” said a Democratic official, speaking on the condition of anonymity.
Democrats note that it was Pelosi who pushed through the 2008 resolution to create the OCE, and that independent watchdog group is pushing the ethics committee to be more aggressive in policing members and staffers.
But the OCE and the ethics committee are feuding among themselves, further complicating efforts to move cases to resolution.