Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW)

Ethics Committee Can't Sweep Turmoil Over Waters Case Under The Rug

Susan Crabtree | July 5, 2011, 5:45AM

Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA)

Ethics experts say the House still has a lot of explaining to do when it comes to its handling of the corruption case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA) last fall, which resulted in partisan backbiting, deep mistrust between Republicans and Democrats on the panel and the suspension of the lead attorney and an assistant a week before the matter was set to go to public trial.

The ethics panel has been at a virtual standstill for eight months since its internal dissension exploded onto the headlines of political publications and the Washington Post in early December. On Friday the panel announced it was extending separate investigations into Reps. Greg Meeks (D-NY), Jean Schmidt (R-OH), and two aides, but a source said the committee was forced to continue those probes because it had yet to begin looking into the matters in earnest.

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Ethics

After Four-Month Impasse, House Ethics Taps Staff Director

Susan Crabtree | May 2, 2011, 6:16PM

This story was updated at 9:43 a.m.

The House Ethics Committee selected a staff director and chief counsel Monday evening, ending a four-month impasse that had the panel's investigative functions at a standstill, the House Ethics Committee said in a statement.

The panel unanimously chose Daniel Schwager, who currently serves as a counsel for the Senate Ethics Committee and previously worked in the public-integrity section of the Justice Department, the two House sources indicated. The vote on the evenly divided panel was 9-0 with Rep. Mike Conaway (R-TX) absent.

Both Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL), who chairs the panel, and its ranking member, Rep. Linda Sanchez (D-CA), strongly recommended Schwager, the sources told TPM.

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John Ensign

Why Can't Congress Police Itself? Ensign Case is Exhibit A

Susan Crabtree | February 3, 2011, 8:30AM

The Senate Ethics Committee's decision to appoint a special counsel to lead the investigation into activities surrounding Sen. John Ensign's (R-NV) affair with a political staffer is raising age-old questions about the panel's relevancy.

Members of Congress are the first to admit that they hate serving on the Ethics Committee, and policing their peers puts them in an unusually awkward position. If that's the case and the panel has to farm out its work to true professional investigators, then why have lawmakers investigating their colleagues misbehavior in the first place?

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House Ethics Committee

Direction Of Ethics Committee Unclear As GOP Takes Over House

Ryan J. Reilly | January 21, 2011, 2:50PM

Rep Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

Two months after House Ethics Committee lawyers Morgan Kim and Stacey Sovereign were suspended by former Chief Counsel Blake Chisam, their future in the office is still unclear.

It's also uncertain if newly appointed Ethics Committee Chairman Jo Bonner (R-AL) will be successful in his push to relaunch the investigation into alleged ethics violations by Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

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House Ethics Committee

Lofgren To Stay On At Ethics Committee For Now, But Wants Out

Rachel Slajda | January 7, 2011, 4:49PM

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

The Hill reports today that Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) will stay on as ranking member of the House ethics committee, but has made clear to Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi that she wants the position to be temporary.

Lofgren reportedly told Pelosi in no uncertain terms that she wants wants to be out by February. In the meantime, leadership must find someone else to be the panel's top Democrat.

Pelosi's office confirms that Lofgren's position on the committee is temporary.

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Ethics

Ethics Committee Ends 'Per Diem' Investigation Into Six Members

Ryan J. Reilly | January 3, 2011, 9:15AM

Rep. Joe Wilson (R-SC)

The House ethics committee has ended an investigation into six members of Congress over allegations that they kept the remainder of per diem payments they receive when traveling overseas.

Reps. Robert Aderholt (R-AL), G.K. Butterfield (D-NC), Eliot Engel (D-NY), Alcee Hastings (D-FL), Solomon Ortiz (D-TX) and Joe Wilson (R-SC) are now no longer under investigation in the case.

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Jo Bonner

Boehner Puts Bonner In Charge Of House Ethics Committee

Ryan J. Reilly | December 29, 2010, 4:42PM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-Ala.), the ranking member of the House ethics committee who reportedly ordered the Capitol Police to block the doors of the committee's offices for a week during a dispute over the handling of the ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), will serve as chairman of the House ethics committee in the 112th Congress.

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Ethics

With Ethics Committee In Turmoil, Waters Lawyer Says Case Should Be Dropped

Ryan J. Reilly | December 21, 2010, 8:10AM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL)

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) last month ordered the Capitol Police to block the doors of the ethics committee offices for a week during a partisan dispute over the handling of the ethics case against Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), the Washington Post reported.

A Capitol Police officer guarded the door of the ethics committee offices during Thanksgiving week and about eight staffers were told not to come to work, sources told the Post last week. Reached by TPM, a spokesman in Bonner's office declined to comment. Lofgren's office referred all questions to the ethics committee, which has not offered comment.

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Blake Chisam

Report: House Ethics Committee Director Blake Chisam Leaving

Ryan J. Reilly | December 16, 2010, 8:50AM

Chief Counsel Blake Chisam

Blake Chisam, the staff director and chief counsel of the House ethics committee who was chosen by Chairwoman Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), will be departing the key position imminently, The Hill reported. Chisam tendered his resignation before the election, but his departure is fueling speculation that Lofgren wants to leave the committee as well, the newspaper reports.

Chisam oversaw the committee's case against Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) and the delay of the trial of Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).

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Threats

FBI Files Show More Threats On Members Of Congress

Justin Elliott | May 25, 2010, 8:31AM

Politico adds several more names to the growing list of members of Congress who have recently received death threats over political positions.

FBI documents from closed cases show members of both parties -- but more Dems than Republicans -- received threats in 2009.

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PMA

House Ethics Mounts Rare Defense Of Probe Into Dem Lobby Shop

Justin Elliott | April 27, 2010, 9:39AM

Rep. Jo Bonner (R-AL) and Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA)

The House Ethics Committee, typically one of the least communicative institutions in Congress, has released a three-page statement defending its investigation that found no wrongdoing in the case of now defunct lobbying firm PMA Group, which was allegedly involved in exchanging campaign contributions for defense earmarks.

"[D]isclosing specific investigative steps taken in the PMA matter could compromise any ongoing criminal investigations; harm the ability of the Committee to investigate any additional allegations of wrongdoing in this or related matters; discourage those who might bring credible allegations to the Committee in the future from doing so; and chill the voluntary cooperation of those called before the Committee in various investigations," said Reps. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) and Jo Bonner (R-AL), chair and ranking member of the ethics panel.

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House Ethics Leak

Leaked House Ethics Doc: Less Than Meets The Eye?

Justin Elliott | October 30, 2009, 1:44PM

Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-CA), October 29, 2009

The cable news networks have jumped all over the ethics document leaked to the Washington Post showing that over 30 members of Congress have been subjects of "inquiries" by the House ethics committee.

And the Post is having fun dissecting the weekly ethics summary report from July, publishing a new round of stories this morning looking at specific cases highlighted in the document.

But nearly all of the new stories show that the members in question were cleared of wrongdoing, and it's worth asking how much new information has really come to light.

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House Ethics Committee

Leaked House Ethics Doc: Dozens Of Members Being Probed

Justin Elliott | October 30, 2009, 8:51AM

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) and Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV)

A July House ethics committee report leaked to the Washington Post shows that over 30 members of Congress have caught the interest of the panel, including several top Democrats.

The 22-page weekly summary report, which the Post has not put online, was mistakenly put on a public computer network because a junior staffer was using software from home, the committee said in a statement (pdf).

Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY), an aide, and his son were interviewed by the committee as part of the investigation into his alleged financial misconduct, according to the document.

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