Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Melanie makes the point that, after the FBI raid on his home, Senator Stevens should step down from his post on the Appropriations Committee where he oversees the budget of the Department of Justice:

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Dump Doolittle

The New Yorker calls it:

California Initiative No. 07-0032 is an audacious power play packaged as a step forward for democratic fairness. It’s the lotusland equivalent of Tom DeLay’s 2003 midterm redistricting in Texas, except with a sweeter smell, a better disguise, and larger stakes. And the only way Californians will reject it is if they have a chance to think about it first.

URL: Dump Doolittle

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Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

A central player in the U.S. Attorneys firings, David Iglesias, reports he is being interviewed by the Chair and Ranking Member of the House Ethics Committee today.  Iglesias was called by Rep. Heather Wilson last fall.  That revelation prompted CREW to ask for an ethics investigation of Wilson.  Apparently, an ethics investigation is underway based on today's The Albuquerque Tribune:

Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias of Albuquerque will be interviewed by the staff of the House Ethics Committee on July 31, the first sign that the committee might actually consider whether Rep. Heather Wilson violated House ethics rules by calling Iglesias about a pending investigation.

Wilson, an Albuquerque Republican, has not been notified of any investigation and has not hired an attorney, according to her press spokesman, Joel Hannahs. That would indicate that the Ethics Committee has not appointed a panel of members to sit as an investigating subcommittee, the first step in any formal investigation.

Iglesias said he was told he would be interviewed by the committee's chairwoman, Stephanie Tubbs Jones, an Ohio Democrat, and its ranking Republican, Doc Hastings of Washington.

Wilson and Sen. Pete Domenici, also an ...   more »

Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

From the Washington Post, news that the House passed the lobby/ethics reform bill by a very wide margin. Now, it's on to the Senate:

The House gave final and overwhelming approval today to a landmark bill that would tighten ethics and lobbying rules for Congress, passing it on to a Senate that is under a new ethics cloud after yesterday's FBI raid on Sen. Ted Stevens' (R-Alaska) house.

The 411-8 vote in the House should give the ethics overhaul the momentum it will need to hurdle Senate conservatives, who have complained bitterly that Democratic leaders weakened provisions disclosing so-called "earmarks,"--funding for lawmakers' pet projects.

Those conservatives, led by Sens. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) and Tom Coburn (R-Ok.) are expected to block immediate consideration of the bill, and force a vote to end their filibuster. But after the lopsided House vote, Jim Manley, a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), asked, "Isn't it legitimate to ask the Republicans how they really want to proceed?"

The new lobbying bill would for the first time require lawmakers to disclose small campaign contributions that are "bundled" into large packages by lobbyists, and it ...   more »

Dump Doolittle

Erik at Redstate puts the call out for a GOP presidential candidate who will openly address the ethical and legal lapses of other GOPers.

“My ideal candidate for the GOP is a "clean up our own house first" candidate. He'd support challengers to corrupt, incumbent Republicans, get involved in primaries for conservatives, and speak with the passion of Reagan.”

Erik's vision includes our congressional district:

That means the GOP candidate should be out right now finding someone to run against Don Young (R-AK), Ted Stevens (R-AK), Ken Calvert (R-CA), Jerry Lewis (R-CA), John Doolittle (R-CA), and should be in Kansas 02 saying the GOP needs to stick with Jim Ryun, not a tax and spend Democrat-Lite candidate like Lynn Jenkins.

We agree with Erik on one thing, it's highly unlikely we'll see or hear anything from the current flock of Republican presidential candidates about John Doolittle's run for a tenth term and the likely results. Well, maybe we shouldn't count Ron Paul out just yet.

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Blog | Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

Following the joint FBI/IRS raid on the home of Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK), CREW called for Stevens to step down from his seat on the powerful Appropriations subcommittee that funds the Department of Justice. The full news release can be found here:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) believes it is imperative that no member under federal investigation be involved in the oversight or appropriations of any agency involved in investigating that member. Sen. Stevens should immediately step down from his position on the Appropriations subcommittee on Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, "Senators should follow the lead of their House colleagues and require anyone whose property has been searched in connection with a criminal probe to relinquish his plum committee post. Senator Stevens, who sits on the subcommittee responsible for funding the Justice Department, which is conducting a probe into his potentially criminal activities, should immediately resign his position on the Appropriations committee."

As Melanie noted, CREW made the same demand of several members of the House Appropriations Committee who were facing DOJ investigations including Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-CA) ...   more »