Something To Tell Their Constituents...
House Faux Ethics Panel, DOJ to Run Parallel Probes
The House ethics committee plans to quickly begin its probes into the activities of Reps. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and William J. Jefferson (D-La.) while working with the Justice Department to avoid interference with federal prosecutors' investigations of the same lawmakers, according to people familiar with the panel's efforts.
The committee's surprise decision Wednesday to open inquiries into allegations that the congressmen accepted bribes -- as well as a third, wider-ranging probe -- was meant to tamp down criticism that the panel is dysfunctional and that the House is not policing the ethical lapses of its members, according to the sources.
Yet it was not clear that the committee would have enough time to complete its work before the end of the legislative session this autumn, or that its efforts would not complicate the work of Justice Department prosecutors and investigators.
After 16 months of inactivity and partisan bickering, the ethics committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, this week created special investigative subcommittees to look separately into the cases of Ney and Jefferson. [continued]
Please try to stay out of my way.
The House ethics committee plans to quickly begin its probes into the activities of Reps. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio) and William J. Jefferson (D-La.) while working with the Justice Department to avoid interference with federal prosecutors' investigations of the same lawmakers, according to people familiar with the panel's efforts.
The committee's surprise decision Wednesday to open inquiries into allegations that the congressmen accepted bribes -- as well as a third, wider-ranging probe -- was meant to tamp down criticism that the panel is dysfunctional and that the House is not policing the ethical lapses of its members, according to the sources.
Yet it was not clear that the committee would have enough time to complete its work before the end of the legislative session this autumn, or that its efforts would not complicate the work of Justice Department prosecutors and investigators.
After 16 months of inactivity and partisan bickering, the ethics committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, this week created special investigative subcommittees to look separately into the cases of Ney and Jefferson. [continued]
posted by Patrick J. Fitzgerald at 5/19/2006
7 Comments:
Good Evening, no news is good news I am hoping Fitz.
Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, Haven't they been asleep for 6 years.
WMR article from October 19, 2005:
October 19, 2005 -- As of 3:45 pm, there was still no word on indictments coming out of the Grand Jury on Leakgate. But WMR can report the following: At approximately 4:45 pm, a motorcade consisting of a limousine, an SUV with well-armed security personnel, and a Washington, DC police car pulled into the annex of the E. Barrett Prettyman U.S. Courthouse on the 3rd Streetside of the courthouse complex on Constitution Avenue in Washington, DC. The occupants of the motorcade spent approximately 40 minutes inside the courthouse. There is speculation that the motorcade was that of Attorney General Alberto Gonzales. Sources familiar with the operations of special prosecutors are of the opinion that given the makeup of the motorcade, the time spent by the party in the courthouse, and the moving of the Grand Jury today to new quarters, the Grand Jury and Special Prosecutor Patrick Fitzgerald have concluded their deliberations and, as both a formality and a courtesy, Gonzales was invited to the courtroom to hear the indictments, have an opportunity to question the jurors, and be the first to convey the outcome of the secret proceedings to the White House.
Although the Grand Jury has been meeting in the older Grand Jury room in the U.S. Courthouse, today it moved to a new Grand Jury room in the new courthouse annex.
http://www.waynemadsenreport.com/
Ex Fed Attorney Melanie Sloan and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington are doing the ethics complaint job that Congress won't. Their page has the latest and most indepth reports on this topic.
It is not an exaggeration to say that both Houses are under a bi-partisan ethics complaint and investigation truce.
http://citizensforethics.org/index.php
anticipate
expect
they will attempt to foil every move from the DOJ.
the ol' hey look over 'THERE' so you are able to get real work done, should be a good enough strategy..
I think they'll be WAY too busy trying to fix the fall elections and being bought by Lobbyists ..
they'll hire some snark, slime-low-life attorney to give them tips how to stop, circumvent the DOJ efforts as well,
you'll find their darkest secrets and
then uncover their worst fears.
FABULOUS I say.
I lost hope that the ethics committee had any ethics when they allowed Sen. Chuck Hagel to walk away without any consequences other than stepping down from the committee when he lied about part ownership in ES&S
Voting Machines. I smelled rotten fish in the whole matter no-one bothered investigating and still do.
Ney and Jefferson are cooked... Jefferson only resigned his position because he knew that he was going to be indicted... Two sad cases of crooks who couldn't say 'no' to graft.
These people are so Keystone Cops.
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