HOUSE ETHICS COMMITTEE DEFERS RENZI INVESTIGATION: CREW IS “SHOCKED” YET AGAIN

22 May 2008 // For CREW’s reaction to today’s Ethics Committee announcement to defer the investigation into Rep. Rick Renzi (R-AZ), please see CREW’s statement regarding yesterday’s announcement by the Ethics Committee on its deferral of its investigation into Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) (below). Please substitute relevant Renzi information into statement.

We figure if the Ethics Committee continues to say the same thing over and over again, so should we.

Washington, DC – On May 19th, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent an ethics complaint against Rep. Vito Fossella (R-NY) to the House Ethics Committee, asking for an investigation into whether he violated any House rules. Today, the Ethics Committee voted to establish an investigative subcommittee to conduct an investigation on the DWI charge, but immediately recommended that the subcommittee defer action on its investigation until Fossella’s criminal proceedings are concluded.

Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW, said today, “The Ethics Committee deferred an investigation of Vito Fossella? We are shocked, shocked, shocked. The only thing more shocking would be if the committee decided to investigate anything…ever.”

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Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is a non-profit legal watchdog group dedicated to holding public officials accountable for their actions.

For more information, please visit www.citizensforethics.org or contact Naomi Seligman Steiner at 202.408.5565/nseligman@citizensforethics.org.

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