Alaska's only congressman, Don Young, has been facing numerous ethical scandals for which he is currently facing a federal investigation.   CREW named him one of the most corrupt members of Congress.  Not only using campaign funds to pay his own legal funds, Rep. Don Young is also paying the legal fees of a top staffer:

With an election-year corruption investigation looming, U.S. Rep. Don Young has tapped his campaign war chest to pay not only his own million-dollar legal tab but also to hire lawyers for his campaign manager, who is also under FBI scrutiny.

The Alaska Republican spent more than $35,000 between October and April on lawyers for longtime campaign manager Steven Dougherty. That's more than Dougherty made during that period and nearly as much as the campaign spent on political polling, according to campaign finance reports.

 

The payments, which are legal under federal law as long as they are associated with the candidate's official duties, are another indication of how the FBI investigation has become a drag on the congressman. Instead of coasting to a 19th term, Young is shelling out money to pay his bills and Dougherty's even as he faces a well-funded opponent in August's Republican primary.

 

"With respect to people who have served him and been loyal to him and who have served Alaska, he's been loyal back," said Young's campaign spokesman, Mike Anderson.

There haven't been many surprises when it comes to the scandal involving Senator David Vitter and his interaction with prostitutes.   There have been no legal or ethical ramifications for the Louisiana Senator.  The "toothless" Senate Ethics Committee exonerated him.  Now, he's gaming the system even more.  Vitter intends to use campaign funds to pay his legal fees:

U.S. Sen. David Vitter will ask the Federal Election Commission today whether he can use campaign funds to pay for the $137,177 in legal fees he incurred from his involvement in the case of a woman convicted of running a high-priced Washington prostitution ring.

The Louisiana Republican acknowledged in July 2007 that his phone number appeared on the client list of the woman dubbed “the D.C. Madam.” Deborah Jeane Palfrey was convicted in federal court in April of money laundering, mail fraud and conspiracy.

In a letter to the FEC, an attorney for Vitter says his client incurred the legal expenses in monitoring the Palfrey trial and quashing the subpoenas issued to him.

Vitter also had to hire attorneys to defend himself to the Senate Ethics Committee because of a complaint filed by the government watchdog group Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. The complaint was dismissed by the committee, which noted that Vitter was not charged with a crime and the incidents occurred when he was a House member.

Considering the controversy caused by Countrywide's VIP mortgage program, about which CREW has requested investigations by the House and Senate Ethics Committees, it's probably no wonder the company is shutting down its political action committee:

The political arm of embattled Countrywide Financial Corp., which has donated more than a half-million dollars to candidates and political groups since 2005, is shutting down amid a corporate buyout and ongoing inquiries into whether lawmakers got sweetheart deals from the California-based subprime lender.

Countrywide's Washington-based political action committee filed termination papers with the Federal Election Commission (FEC) on Friday. The report doesn't say why the PAC is shuttering, and its treasurer did not return telephone and e-mail messages on Tuesday seeking comment.

The firm's shareholders recently approved a deal for its takeover by Bank of America.

The company also has been hit with unwanted publicity over its lending practices and reports of a so-called "Friends of Angelo VIP" program, where prominent people got favorable loans through Countrywide's chief executive, Angelo R. Mozilo.

The response of Senator Norm Coleman to the ethics complaint filed against him by CREW yesterday doesn't address the underlying issue.  Instead, we've only seen an attack on CREW that doesn't even hold water.   Coleman apparently wants a pass on the ethics issues involved, which certainly merit the attention of the Senate Ethics Committee.  Here's more from the Star-Tribune:

A Washington-based government watchdog group is asking the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether Sen. Norm Coleman violated gift rules by renting an apartment owned by a longtime Republican associate.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) wants the committee to determine whether Coleman, R-Minn., is paying the fair market value for the Capitol Hill-area apartment, and what was behind the apparently loose rental agreement the senator had with St. Paul telemarketer Jeff Larson.

 And:

The National Journal also reported that Coleman had missed two monthly payments since taking the apartment last summer, and that he had swapped some old furniture for another month's rent.

Larson runs FLS Connect, a St. Paul telemarketing firm that has done more than $1.5 million worth of business with Coleman's political action committee and campaigns. He is CEO of the local host committee for next month's Republican National Convention and was instrumental in bringing the convention to the Twin Cities.

Senate rules strictly prohibit most gifts and make clear that discounts for lodging may constitute a gift.

Here's the predictable attack on CREW, which doesn't match the facts about our record.  We're still waiting for an explanation of the underlying issue at the center of our complaint:

Officials with the Coleman campaign and the Republican Party responded Tuesday by characterizing CREW as a "front group" for DFL Senate candidate Al Franken and Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chair of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC).

They pointed out that Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director, was the weekly ethics expert on Franken's Air America radio show and that she worked as counsel for Schumer when he was in the House. State GOP Party Chair Ron Carey said that one CREW board member has contributed to the Franken campaign and another to the DSCC.

Sloan said Tuesday that CREW is nonpartisan and that Coleman is the first Republican senator it has sought to have investigated this year. The first three -- Mary Landrieu of Louisiana, Christopher Dodd of Connecticut and Kent Conrad of North Dakota -- are all Democrats, she said.

As reported below, CREW filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics asking for an investigation into whether Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) violated the Senate gifts rule by accepting lodging from Republican operative Jeff Larson.

In response, Sen. Coleman's campaign sent the following statement:

The only surprise is that it took Al Franken’s surrogate this long to file a politically motivated attack against Senator Coleman. The Executive Director of CREW, Melanie Sloan, was a featured guest who made at least 50 appearances on Al Franken’s radio show - appearances that were marked with theme music dedicated to her and made her a reliable attack dog for the Democrat Party. We will probably see pigs flying before she gets around to filing an ethics complaint against her former boss, and current political ally, DSCC Chairman Chuck Schumer, for his own rental arrangement. The record is clear that Senator Coleman paid fair market value for a cramped basement bedroom, and attacks by Franken’s surrogates won’t change those facts.

CREW's response:

While we don’t know how many times Melanie Sloan appeared on the Franken show since we did not keep track (as did Sen. Coleman’s staff), she did appear on the show regularly to discuss government ethics issues. Although unclear on the relevance, Sloan did, in fact, have her own theme music, sung to the tune of George Thorogood’s “Bad to the Bone.” Coleman appears not to have paid as close attention to CREW’s actions as he did to Sloan’s theme music. Last month, CREW filed a Senate ethics complaint against Democratic Senators Kent Conrad and Chris Dodd, related to mortgages they accepted under Countrywide’s VIP program. Earlier this year, CREW filed a complaint against Democratic Senator Mary Landrieu over her trading earmarks for campaign contributions. Sen. Coleman’s office seems to taking the view that the best defense is a good offense. He is attacking CREW, but failing to address the substance of CREW’s complaint. CREW looks forward to hearing Sen. Coleman explain how his conduct comports with the Senate gifts rule.

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics asking for an investigation into whether Senator Norm Coleman (R-MN) violated the Senate gifts rule by accepting lodging from Republican operative Jeff Larson.  The pdf copy of the complaint can be found here.

According to National Journal, in July 2007, Sen. Coleman began paying Mr. Larson $600 per month to rent a portion of a basement apartment in a Capitol Hill townhouse owned by Mr. Larson.  After the magazine began making inquiries about the senator’s living arrangement, Sen. Coleman “discovered” that he had failed to pay rent in November 2007 and January 2008, and his wife gave Mr. Larson a personal check for the $1,200.  Last year, Sen. Coleman sold Mr. Larson some furniture -- a couch, table and chairs and a desk -- to cover one month’s rent, and Mr. Larson held onto Sen. Coleman’s March rent check for three months, until June 17, before cashing it only days after National Journal began asking questions.

Mr. Larson runs the telemarketing firm FLS Connect, which has been paid over a million dollars by Sen. Coleman’s campaign committees and leadership PAC since 2001.  Mr. Larson is also the PAC’s treasurer and FLS has been providing it with office space in St. Paul.  In addition, Mr. Larson’s wife, Dorene Kainz, has been working in Sen. Coleman’s St. Paul office, but after National Journal asked about her position, Sen. Coleman’s office announced that she would soon be leaving the office.

The Senate gifts rule generally prohibits members and staff from accepting gifts, but has two exceptions under which they may accept lodging: if based on personal friendship or, as long as the giver is not a lobbyist or foreign agent, if the gift constitutes personal hospitality.  Because the relationship between Sen. Coleman and Mr. Larson appears to be more business than personal, the gift would not be permitted under the “personal friendship” exception.  Because Mr. Larson does not live in the townhouse, but rents it out to others, he is not hosting Sen. Coleman and “the personal hospitality” exception would not apply.

CREW is asking the Senate Ethics Committee to look into whether or not Sen. Coleman is paying fair market value for the apartment, whether Sen. Coleman would have paid the November 2007 and January 2008 rent had National Journal not raised the non-payment as an issue, whether Sen. Coleman and Mr. Larson had agreed that Mr. Larson would not cash the March 2008 rent check, why Sen. Coleman suddenly made up his back rent after National Journal asked questions about it, and why Sen. Coleman’s office announced that Ms. Kainz would be leaving the senator’s employ after National Journal asked about her role.

After we filed the Ethics Complaint, CREW’s executive director Melanie Sloan issued this statement:

Few Americans have landlords who sometimes fail to cash their rent checks, ignore unpaid rent, or accept furniture in lieu of rent. That Sen. Coleman has just such a landlord, who also happens to financially benefit from his relationship with the senator creates exactly the sort of appearance of impropriety that undermines the public’s faith in government.  Senators must abide by the ethics rules at all times, not just when they get caught flouting them.

Rep. Laura Richardson (D-CA) has generated an enormous amount of (negative) media coverage of late.  This latest tidbit revealed by the Daily Breeze doesn't help her image:

When she arrived in Congress last fall, Rep. Laura Richardson sought out a vehicle that would match her newfound status.

She settled on a 2007 Lincoln Town Car - the choice of many representatives who lease their vehicles at taxpayers' expense. But hers was distinct: at $1,300 a month, it was the most expensive car in the House of Representatives.

Richardson, a Democrat who represents Carson, has since become known for defaulting on two home loans and losing a third house - in an upscale neighborhood in Sacramento - at a foreclosure auction.

Over the weekend, the Myrtle Beach Sun took a look at the earmarks:

Nonprofit agencies in South Carolina received about $4.7 million this fiscal year in federal earmarks from legislators who critics say do little to check the financial backgrounds of the agencies and nonprofit executives who are put in charge of spending tax dollars.

CREW's Melanie Sloan explained how that is allowed to happen.  There isn't a lot of oversight of earmarks anyway, but it's even less for "smaller" amounts:

Melanie Sloan, executive director of taxpayer watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, said government oversight of earmark spending is spotty at best.

"There aren't many auditors at these federal agencies, and those auditors aren't going to be looking very closely at something a member of Congress earmarks," said Sloan, whose nonpartisan group aims to promote accountability in government.

The relatively small dollar amounts given to nonprofit agencies also leads to less oversight, Sloan said.

"They [auditors] aren't going to get riled up over half a million dollars," she said. "It's unlikely anything will happen."