Yesterday, CREW today sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee, requesting an investigation into whether Rep. Doug Lamborn (R-CO) violated House rules by improperly threatening two constituents who revealed that Rep. Lamborn had accepted campaign contributions from the gaming industry.  The letter and other documents can be found here.

On August 24, 2007, a community newspaper in Colorado printed a letter from Jonathan and Anna Bmiha that raised concerns about Rep. Lamborn's receipt of campaign contributions in the amount of $1 ,000 from International Game Technology ("IGT") PAC and $500 from Marc Murphy, an executive of Bronco Billy's Casino in Cripple Creek, Colorado. IGT makes gambling equipment. Reports filed with the Federal Election Commission confirm that Rep. Lamborn's campaign committee received the contributions.

In apparent response to the letter, Rep. Lamborn placed two separate calls to the Bartha's home telephone number and in each case left a voice message when no one answered the phone. Emery, The Denver Post, Sept. 2,2007. In his first message, Rep. Lamborn alleged that the couple's letter contained "something that is blatantly false," urged them to call him "at your earliest convenience" and stated "there are consequences to this kind of thing."

In his follow-up message, Rep. Lamborn stated, "I'd rather resolve this on a Scriptural level but if you are unwilling to do that I will be forced to take other steps ..."

Today's edition of The Hill reports that Rep. Lamborn has apologized to the couple, but that there could still be ethical implications:

Ken Gross, an ethics lawyer at Skadden Arps, Slate, Meagher, and Flom, said Lamborn’s voice mails do not appear to cross any legal lines, although it’s not something “you necessarily want repeated on the front page of the paper.”

Former ethics committee chairman Hefley, however, disagreed. While it would be unlikely for the ethics committee to launch an investigation of the matter on its own, he said, the panel would be more likely to start looking into such a matter if it received a complaint letter from the couple involved.

After reading Lamborn’s apology letter at press time, Anna Bartha said the couple’s feelings haven’t changed.