CREW wants an ethics investigation of Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) and his former Chief of Staff, Ed Cassidy, for their role in contacting the U.S Attorney in Seattle about a pending case. Hastings is the ranking member on the House Ethics Committee. In the last session of Congress, he served as chair of that committee.  His former chief of staff, Ed Cassidy, now works for House Minority Leader John Boehner.  Our news release and the key documents can be found here:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) asked the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct to investigate whether Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA) and his former chief of staff, Ed Cassidy, violated House rules by improperly contacting a sitting U.S. Attorney.

The U.S. Attorney in Seattle, Washington, John McKay, testified before the Senate that, in 2004, during a series of vote recounts in which a Democrat was narrowly elected governor of Washington, Rep. Hasting’s then-Chief of Staff Ed Cassidy called, informing him that “the purpose of the call was to inquire on behalf of Congressman Hastings” about the status of the ongoing investigation to inquire about the status of a federal investigation into voter fraud. Mr. McKay was “concerned and dismayed by the call,” believing the conversation might constitute obstruction of justice.

When asked about the call, Rep. Hastings claimed that Mr. Cassidy’s call to Mr. McKay was “entirely appropriate,” and that the call was “a simple inquiry and nothing more.” Mr. Cassidy claimed that his conversation with Mr. McKay “was a routine effort to determine whether allegations of voter fraud in the 2004 gubernatorial election were, or were not, being investigated by federal authorities.”

Mr. Cassidy’s call to Mr. McKay -- at Rep. Hastings’ behest -- violates chapter 7 of the House ethics manual, which prohibits members from contacting executive or agency officials regarding the merits of matters under their formal consideration. House rules also state that if a member wants to affect the outcome of a matter in litigation, the member can file a brief with the court, make a floor statement, or insert a statement into the Congressional Record. Directly calling officials to influence an on-going enforcement matter is not an option.

Moreover, the rules state that a member may not claim he or she was merely requesting “background information” or a “status report” because the House has recognized that such requests “may in effect be an indirect or subtle effort to influence the substantive outcome of the proceedings.”

The conduct of Rep. Hastings and Mr. Cassidy may also violate the requirement that members conduct themselves in a manner that “reflects creditably on the House.” In a precedent cited by the House ethics committee when it admonished former Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-TX), the House has held that members are prohibited from asking an executive branch employee to engage in an activity having an impermissible political purpose.

CREW’s complaint alleges that Mr. Cassidy contacted Mr. McKay to discuss an ongoing investigative matter for the impermissible political purpose of impacting the Washington gubernatorial election.

Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, stated, “It is outrageous that Rep. Hastings who, ironically enough, is the ranking member of the House ethics committee, attempted to use the criminal justice system to interfere with a gubernatorial election. Rep. Hastings should step down from his position on the committee pending an investigation into his conduct.” Sloan continued, “Now that we have learned that three members of Congress violated House and Senate rules by improperly contacting U.S. Attorneys about ongoing investigative matters, the question is how many other U.S. Attorneys have been similarly pressured. The Senate Judiciary Committee would be prudent to contact all sitting U.S. Attorneys and ask them whether they too have received such calls.”

This situation begs the question of whether the House Ethics Committee can police itself. There isn't a great track record.

For the House to proceed with an ethics investigation, a sitting member will have to file a complaint with the ethics committee. We'll see just how seriously this new Congress takes ethics reform.