{"id":2324,"date":"2009-06-10T11:07:46","date_gmt":"2009-06-10T15:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/?p=2324"},"modified":"2009-06-10T11:07:46","modified_gmt":"2009-06-10T15:07:46","slug":"washington-times-us-house-restricts-ethics-probes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/06\/10\/washington-times-us-house-restricts-ethics-probes\/","title":{"rendered":"Washington Times: U.S. House Restricts Ethics Probes"},"content":{"rendered":"

I would love to be able to point a finger at the Democrats and say something like ‘Most ethical Congress in history??? Heh!’ But I can’t Republicans are just as culpable as Democrats in fostering the culture of corruption that pervades Washington<\/a>:<\/p>\n

When Democrats made their case during the 2006 elections about why they should control Congress, they offered up Republican lawmakers like Mark Foley and Rick Renzi as examples of the “culture of corruption” they wanted to rid from Washington.<\/p>\n

Mr. Foley of Florida resigned after being accused of sending inappropriate e-mails to a 16-year-old congressional page. Mr. Renzi of Arizona faced questions about land deals and accusations that he helped a defense contractor that employed his father.<\/p>\n

Convinced that many members of Congress had lost their moral compass, voters sided with Democrats and thrust Republicans from power.<\/p>\n

But when the limelight faded, the controversies took an unexpected twist: Democrats, now in control, sought to block or limit prosecutors from gathering certain evidence of corruption against members of Congress on constitutional grounds, complicating the criminal cases against the two Republicans.<\/p>\n

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi of California and the Democratic leadership joined with top Republicans to continue a years-long tradition authorizing the House general counsel’s office to intervene in outside investigations of its members.<\/p>\n

Through court filings, the bipartisan coalition sought the exclusion of evidence it said was obtained in violation of Article 1, Section 6, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution. The clause protects the legislative branch from meddling by the other two branches, declaring that “for any Speech or Debate in either House, [senators and representatives] shall not be questioned in any other Place.”<\/p>\n

Many see use of the clause as an effort by Congress to protect its own.<\/p>\n

“I think the House as well as the Senate tries to overexpand that right,” said Washington lawyer Robert S. Bennett, a prominent white-collar defense lawyer who has served as special counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Ethics in several major cases.<\/p>\n

Mr. Bennett said the clause should be used “narrowly” and not “to cover things up.”<\/p>\n

“Congress is largely unaccountable. … Ethics enforcement in Congress is largely a joke,” he said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The problem is not Republicans or Democrats it’s the Washington political culture… A culture that holds itself above the law and that tolerates corruption until it become an embarrassment that can’t be ignored. If we want real, lasting change in Washington we have to change the culture not simply the party that’s in charge.<\/p>\n

I’m a firm believer in Congressional term limits they may not be the best answer but they’re a start.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I would love to be able to point a finger at the Democrats and say something like ‘Most ethical Congress in history??? Heh!’ But I can’t Republicans are just as culpable as Democrats in fostering the culture of corruption that pervades Washington: When Democrats made their case during the 2006 elections about why they should […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[616,7],"tags":[59,723,720,44],"class_list":{"0":"post-2324","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-culture-of-corruption","7":"category-politics","8":"tag-democrats","9":"tag-ethics","10":"tag-house-of-representatives","11":"tag-republicans","12":"entry"},"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pfpI7-Bu","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3456,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/07\/22\/house-ethics-commitee-charges-charlie-rangel-with-violating-house-rules\/","url_meta":{"origin":2324,"position":0},"title":"House Ethics Commitee Charges Charlie Rangel With Violating House Rules","author":"Jeff","date":"July 22, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"It's taken two years of investigations, but the House Committee on Standards of Official Contact has finally charged Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) with multiple ethics violations: House ethics investigators have accused the once-powerful Rep. Charles Rangel (D., N.Y.) of breaking a series of congressional rules. Mr. Rangel will have the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture of Corruption"","block_context":{"text":"Culture of Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/culture-of-corruption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":381,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/16\/how-did-we-get-here\/","url_meta":{"origin":2324,"position":1},"title":"How Did We Get Here?","author":"Jeff","date":"September 16, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Ed Morrissey @ Hot Air asks \"Whose policies led to the credit crisis?\" The answer depends on who you ask... Democrats of course blame Republicans and Republicans of course blame Democrats. Personally, I think it's safe to point fingers at both parties and the Federal Reserve Board. The roots of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2867,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/10\/21\/democrats-lock-republicans-out-of-committee-room\/","url_meta":{"origin":2324,"position":2},"title":"Democrats Lock Republicans Out of Committee Room","author":"Jeff","date":"October 21, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"Most ethical Congress in history? Heh... From The Hill: Rep. Edolphus Towns (D-N.Y.) locked Republicans out of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee room to keep them from meeting when Democrats aren\u2019t present. Towns\u2019 action came after repeated public ridicule from the leading Republican on the committee, Rep. Darrell\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture of Corruption"","block_context":{"text":"Culture of Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/culture-of-corruption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":2573,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2009\/08\/08\/senate-ethics-committee-clears-dodd-conrand\/","url_meta":{"origin":2324,"position":3},"title":"Senate Ethics Committee Clears Dodd, Conrand","author":"Jeff","date":"August 8, 2009","format":false,"excerpt":"As predicted the Senate Ethics Committee has cleared Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd of wrong doing in his dealings with Countrywide Financial: The Senate Ethics Committee on Friday dropped yearlong investigations into two powerful Senate committee chairmen, Democrats Christopher J. Dodd and Kent Conrad . The group Citizens for Responsibility and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture of Corruption"","block_context":{"text":"Culture of Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/culture-of-corruption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":3714,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2010\/11\/16\/guilty-house-ethics-panel-finds-rangel-guilty-on-11-of-the-13-charges\/","url_meta":{"origin":2324,"position":4},"title":"Guilty: House Ethics Panel Finds Rangel Guilty on 11 of 13 Charges","author":"Jeff","date":"November 16, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Well it didn't take long for a House ethics panel to find New York Congressman Charles Rangel guilty on charges of that he violated House rules: A House ethics panel found senior Democratic lawmaker Charles Rangel guilty of 11 of the 13 counts of House ethics violations lodged against him.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Culture of Corruption"","block_context":{"text":"Culture of Corruption","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/culture-of-corruption\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":502,"url":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/2008\/09\/26\/video-burning-down-the-house-what-caused-our-economic-crisis\/","url_meta":{"origin":2324,"position":5},"title":"Video: Burning Down The House: What Caused Our Economic Crisis?","author":"Jeff","date":"September 26, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"This video has been floating around the web for a couple of days... It provides a detailed look at how the Community Reinvestment Act was used to push banks into sub-prime mortgages and how that distorted the housing market... And helped create the bubble that burst. A couple of caveats\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Economy"","block_context":{"text":"Economy","link":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/category\/economy\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2324"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2324\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2324"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2324"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jasetaro.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2324"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}