"Speaker Hastert and his Republican cohorts are responsible for the most corrupt Congress in history, and the American people are paying the price at the gas pump, at the pharmacy and with record-high deficits," Pelosi countered. "The speaker should join me in directing the ethics committee to get to work, and not cast aspersions on the independent and distinguished ranking member."
In addition to the Wall Street Journal article, the conservative National Legal and Policy Center announced it filed a complaint against Mollohan on Feb. 28 with the U.S. attorney in Washington.
The center began investigating Mollohan's assets after his financial disclosure reports showed a significant jump in his net worth between 2000 and 2004. In a news release, the NLPC said:
"Mollohan's 2000 Financial Disclosure Report listed his income-producing assets as being worth from $179,012 to $562,000 with liabilities of $170,000 to $465,000. . . . Just four years later, Mollohan's 2004 Financial Disclosure Report showed him with assets worth $6,313,025 to $24,947,000 offset by liabilities in the $3,665,011 to $13,500,000 range. It also showed him owning an oceanfront beach house on Bald Head Island, NC which was valued at $1,000,000 to $5,000,000."
Mollohan said he made the investments with Laura and Don Kuhns. She runs the Vandalia Heritage Foundation, a historic preservation group financed almost entirely by federal earmarks, according to the Journal. Mollohan said he and his wife are close friends of the Kuhns.