CREW In The News

Inspector Clouseau Squared

SOURCE: William Fisher // Huffington Post

13 May 2008 // In one of the more ironic episodes of the Bush Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation last week raided the office and home of the senior official in charge of protecting Federal whistleblowers on suspicion of whistleblower retaliation within his own agency - while he was investigating possible criminal acts within the White House.

CREW Raps Hastert On Fossella

SOURCE: Elizabeth Benjamin // New York Daily News Blog

12 May 2008 // The Citizens For Responsibility and Ethics in Washington became the latest today to call for Rep. Vito Fossella's immediate resignation and is also seeking an investigation into his potential use of public funds to conduct his extramarital affair.

Viva la Vito: Fossella's Backers and Detractors

SOURCE: Mary Ann Akers // The Washington Post Blog

12 May 2008 // Lucky for Rep. Vito Fossella (R-N.Y.), he has New York nightclub impresario John Englebert on his side.

Englebert, a.k.a. "JE," who you can see here partying at the Playboy Mansion, is offering to donate space at his nightclubs to organize "rallys [sic] and petition drives in Manhattan to keep NYC Lone Republican Congressman Vito Fossella in office."

GROUP CALLS FOR VITO'S OUSTER

SOURCE: Ken Bazinet // New York Daily News Blog

12 May 2008 // Amid a sympathetic backlash in favor of disgraced Rep. Vito Fossella, legal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington is calling for the Staten Island congressman to step down over the alleged use of taxpayer funds to pay for trips that he and his admitted mistress took while on official business.

Editorial: Probe of Congress smells of politics

SOURCE: Editorial Staff // Honolulu Star-Bulletin

11 May 2008 // THE ISSUE: A woman who embezzled money from Rep. Neil Abercrombie has agreed to aid an investigation of alleged misuse of tax dollars.

CREW's Naomi Seligman Discusses Cindy McCain's Refusal to Release Her Tax Returns

8 May 2008 // Source: Carol Costello // CNN's Situation Room

TRANSCRIPT:

BLITZER:John McCain's campaign is facing a growing controversy over his wife's tax returns and her adamant refusal to release them.

CNN's Carol Costello is here in THE SITUATION ROOM watching this story.

Why is this a potential issue, a potential problem out there?

COSTELLO: You know what they say. Perception is reality sometimes. It could be called perception problem for John McCain. Every other candidate and their spouses have released their tax returns. It just makes you wonder why Cindy McCain won't. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Cindy McCain made it clear again she will never, ever release her tax returns.

CINDY MCCAIN, WIFE OF SEN. JOHN MCCAIN: My husband and I have been married 28 years and we have filed separate tax returns for 28 years. This is a privacy issue. My husband is the candidate.

COSTELLO: She won't even release them if her husband is elected president.

NAOMI SELIGMAN, CITIZENS FOR RESP. & ETHICS IN WASH.: I've heard her say it's about privacy. This is about transparency. Her husband has made himself a paradigm for integrity and you can't be a paradigm for integrity if you're hiding behind privacy issues.

COSTELLO: McCain has released his tax return. He made $405,409 last year. Tax attorneys tell me he and other presidential candidates or their spouses are under no legal obligation to release any financial information.

PROF. DENNIS VENTRY, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: The argument for the McCains is, you know, until the American people really want this information to be made public or think that it's pertinent, there's -- there's not a whole lot they can do except for ask their Congress to enact laws that would require such information.

COSTELLO: But critics say law aside, we already know Mrs. McCain is loaded. She's an heiress to her father's beer distribution empire, chairman of her family's company. Some estimate she's worth $100 million. What's the big deal? Unless, they say, she has something to hide.

SELIGMAN: Trust but verify. That's why Mrs. McCain must release her tax returns.

COSTELLO: Senator McCain doesn't buy that argument. He's not the only presidential candidate whose wife refused to release her tax returns. In 2004, John Kerry's wealthy wife wouldn't pony up either. But Teresa Heinz Kerry did eventually partially relent releasing the first two pages of her tax return after intense pressure from Republicans.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

COSTELLO: Others say given McCain's role of the leader of the campaign's finance management, it's hypocritical of McCain to refuse to give voters a more complete picture of how his wife's financial resources may have supported his political campaign.

Senate Ethics Committee Dismisses Vitter Complaint

SOURCE: Jennifer Yachnin // Roll Call

9 May 2008 // The Senate Ethics Committee dismissed a complaint Thursday over charges that Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) had violated the chamber’s rules when he allegedly solicited a prostitute, but the panel did not refrain from scolding the Senator for his errant behavior.

Ethics Panel Dismisses Complaint Against Sen. Vitter

SOURCE: Kathleen Hunter // Congressional Quarterly Today

9 May 2008 // The Senate Ethics Committee has closed its probe of Sen. David Vitter's ties to a Washington prostitution ring.

A watchdog group had filed a complaint alleging that Vitter's actions violated rules requiring conduct that reflects well upon the Senate.

Alleged conduct was before run for office

SOURCE: Bruce Alpert // New Orleans Times-Picayune

9 May 2008 // The Senate Ethics Committee on Thursday decided not to pursue an investigation into a watchdog group's complaint that Sen. David Vitter's connection to a Washington escort service may have violated Senate rules.

But the panel said it would be "reprehensible" if he, in fact, had solicited prostitutes.

Congressman says he's unaware of illegal use of staff for campaigns

SOURCE: Dennis Camire // Honolulu Advertiser

9 May 2008 // U.S. Rep. Neil Abercrombie, D-Hawai'i, said if there is a problem with members of Congress illegally using official resources and staff for political campaigns, then it should be investigated.

But Abercrombie said he knew of no ongoing Justice Department investigation into the illegal use of staff and resources of his or anyone else's offices.