Pelosi picks ethics investigators who gave money to indicted Jefferson
 Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday announced that she had picked ten colleagues to serve on subcommittees that investigate alleged Congressional ethics violations. But two of the ten Democratic Congressional members selected also donated money to Rep. William Jefferson, the Louisiana Democrat who was indicted on 16 public corruption counts on Monday and may soon be the target of a congressional ethics probe, RAW STORY has learned.
The ten Democrats will be serving in Pelosi's 'ethics pool,' a group of House members who can be appointed to investigative subcommittees by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct in order to look into ethical complaints. But two of the group, Reps. Barbara Lee (CA) and Gregory Meeks (NY) have donated money to the campaign and the legal defense funds of Rep. Jefferson, who is alleged to have received bribes related to a business venture in Nigeria, among other crimes.
The Speaker's office was confident that conflicts of interest could be avoided.
"The Speaker is confident that in making a selection, the Chair of the full Ethics Committee [Rep. Stephanie Tubbs-Jones] will choose a member where there is no conflict of interest," said Nadeam Elshami, a spokesman for Rep. Pelosi, in a statement to RAW STORY.
Investigative subcommittees include four members. Two are selected from each party's Ethics Committee members. An additional two come from the Republican and Democratic 'ethics pool' of ten members each.
With Jefferson a likely subject of an ethics panel, it would appear that the House Committee will have to steer away from two Congress members who have supported the indicted Louisiana Democrat's re-elections and legal defense.
Rep. Meeks, via his own campaign, gave $2,500 to the Committee to Elect William J. Jefferson to the US Congress in 2005, according to Federal Election Commission records. In 1999, Meeks also gave $1,000 to the Jefferson Committee (another campaign fund).
Rep. Lee, who is the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, also gave $2,000 to the Jefferson Committee in 2006. The Jefferson Committee also donated to Rep. Lee's campaign fund in 2002.
An August 2006 report in The Hill also indicated that both Meeks and Lee had donated to Jefferson's Legal Defense Fund, with Lee giving $500 of her own money.
Rep. Lee's office didn't think the possible conflict of interest on Rep. jefferson would ever become a problem.
"We'll make a decision on that question if it comes up," Nathan Britton, Communications Director for Rep. Lee, told RAW STORY Wednesday afternoon.
Contacted Tuesday afternoon, a spokeswoman for Rep. Meeks said he could not be reached for comment because he was on a trade mission in South America.
The Speaker also named 8 additional members of the so-called 'ethics pool': Reps. Tammy Baldwin (WI), Joe Crowley (NY), Keith Ellison (MN), Mike Honda (CA), Jay Inslee (WA), Grace Napolitano (CA), Steven Rothman (NJ) and Vic Snyder (AR).
Lee and Meeks may not be the only 'ethics pool' selections who have a potential conflict of interest involving a possible target of an ethics-related investigation. Rep. Crowley gave $2,000 to Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-WV) in 2006. The group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington included Mollohan on its list of the '20 most corrupt Members of Congress' for what it described as "misusing his position to benefit himself, his family and his friends and misreporting a dramatic increase in his personal assets."
The appointment of the ethics pool by the Speaker has become a political football in recent days. House Minority Leader John Boehner has pointed to Pelosi's failure to appoint Congress Members as foot-dragging on cleaning up ethics in Washington, particularly with reference to Jefferson's case, which was investigated by the House Ethics panel in the 109th Congress.
"Leader Boehner was ready in January to appoint his 10 members to the ethics pool so the Jefferson investigation could continue," a House Republican Leadership aide told RAW STORY via e-mail Tuesday. "As is generally customary, Boehner waited on Speaker Pelosi to name her members so that both pools could be announced at the same time. February, March, and April passed with no appointments from Pelosi. On May 1, after waiting some four months for Speaker Pelosi to name her ethics pool members, Boehner officially made his 10 appointments."
Reflecting on the Speaker's decision to appoint the ten Democrats on Tuesday, the aide added, "This should have been done long ago."
Boehner further pressed the matter on Tuesday night. As ten Republican presidential hopefuls debated in New Hampshire, the House Minority Leader introduced a motion to refer Jefferson's case to the Ethics Committee for investigation.
"This Ethics Committee last year, over a period of approximately 6 months, was looking into this matter, but as of today there has not been a subcommittee established to look at the facts of this case," Rep. Boehner said on the House floor. "This investigation could continue. And it is somewhat of a sad state that these members weren't announced until today and it took the indictment of Mr. Jefferson for the majority to outline to the House who the members will be that will make up their pool."
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer announced his intention to support Boehner's call for a probe of Rep. Jefferson, and countered with a measure of his own for the House Ethics Committee to probe all Members of Congress facing allegations of criminal conduct.
"I presume that the gentleman's resolution will pass unanimously," said Rep. Hoyer on Boehner's measure. "There are, of course, unfortunately, a number of allegations being made publicly about Members of this House; and irrespective of what party they may fall into or be members of, it is critically important for us to hold accountable those Members and to assure the American public that the Ethics Committee is looking at those allegations, investigating those allegations, and making reports not only to the House of Representatives but to the people."
In fact, neither Boehner nor Hoyer's bills passed unanimously. Rep. Boehner's measure on Rep. Jefferson passed on a 373-26 vote, with 13 members voting 'present.' Hoyer's more expansive measure passed 387-10, with 15 members voting 'present.'
A former Ethics Committee Member explained his vote against the bills on Tuesday night.
"These competing resolutions, in my opinion, continuing the dumbing down of the House...when you have competing investigations, you can actually impede the prosecution of someone who has committed a crime with the Department of Justice," said Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH). "Your side started this 'culture of corruption' last year; we're going to start the 'House of hypocrisy' this year. Stop dumbing down the institution."
A Democrat who voted against the Republican-sponsored measure offered a comparable argument to Rep. LaTourette's.
"Members of Congress certainly know, or should know, that...the Ethics Committee, has traditionally deferred criminal matters to the Department of Justice," said Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI). "The resolution offered by the Majority Leader allows this process to occur, and upon its conclusion, for Congress to then make a decision based on the merit of the facts. The Minority Leader's resolution reaches a conclusion before the facts have even come to court. Indeed, it reaches a conclusion before Congressman Jefferson is even formally arraigned."
Rep. Boehner could face some of the same conflict of interest dilemmas with his own ten 'ethics pool' members given some of their campaign donations to other Republican Members of Congress who are currently serving under the cloud of federal criminal investigations.
Rep. John Doolittle (R-CA) shortly before the November 2006 election received $1,500 from Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), $4,000 from Rep. Ander Crenshaw (R-FL), $2,000 from Rep. Frank Lucas (R-OK), and $2,000 from Rep. Mike Simpson (R-ID). In April, Doolittle's home was raided by the FBI, with word first emerging of an investigation being carried out of the Congressman last October before his successful re-election. Doolittle later stepped down from his Appropriations Committee seat.
Additionally, Rep. Crenshaw gave $4,000 to Rick Renzi for Congress in September 2006. Rep. Renzi (R-AZ) also received $1,000 from Rep. Phil English (R-PA) in 2003, and $1,000 each from Rep. Tom Latham (R-IA) and Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) in 2005. Rep. Renzi's business was reportedly raided by the FBI in April, and word that he was under investigation for a land deal first surfaced in October 2006. He subsequently stepped down from his seat on the House Appropriations Committee.
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