GOP unfazed by Dem ethics threats

[NewJerseyDem]

http://www.thehill.com/news/020404/ethics.aspx

House Republican leaders expressed both confusion and anger yesterday over the Democrats’ public efforts to pressure the ethics committee to investigate a bribery charge that is now 10 weeks old.

House Minority Whip Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) told reporters that he would prefer that the ethics committee open an investigation without being prompted by outside pressure. However, if the committee doesn’t take any action, Hoyer did not foreclose the possibility that a rank-and-file lawmaker would file a formal complaint. Doing so would trigger the first ethics battle since a truce was declared in 1996 after then-Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) agreed to pay a $300,000 fine.

House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) scoffed at Hoyer’s push for an investigation. He told reporters: “I think the Democrats in the House ought to leave their campaign plan outside the chamber. They are trying to politicize the ethics committee, and I think that is wrong. They are starting to throw mud and try to burn down the House.”

“I think this does nothing but try to cast aspersions on the House, and that mud will get all over all of us, Democrat and Republican. I think what they are doing is very, very dangerous, and they shouldn’t be able to,” DeLay added.

[rumguy]

1. Delay needs to be taken down a peg or two

That little fruitcake things he runs things.

[Stephanie]

2. "Ethics" - Such a QUAINT word...

That word is so 20th Century.

[SalParadise]

3. Another story I thought was dead...

I've hoped someone would bring this back up - it seems pretty clear that someone tried bribing Nick Smith by threatening to hold out money for his son's campaign - I seem to remember a story about other House members taunting him on the matter as well.

It seems (by this story) that the Dems tried to go at this privately, but the Republicans would have nothing of it.

Slate.com did a fantastic job of covering the story ignored by everyone else - this link goes to a search on Nick Smith on their site: clicky - check out all of Timothy Noah's stories on the matter.

(p.s. - delay, what a crook!)