Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington - Top Ten Ethics Scandals

What to expect in 2008: Top ethics scandals of 2007 that will continue next year

crew — Mon, 31 Dec 2007 11:12:29 -0600

As we say good-bye to 2007, there are a number of ethics scandals that started this year -- but will continue into next. We identified the top ten a couple weeks ago. Here are five to watch:

No new enforcement mechanisms for congressional ethics

Despite the Abramoff scandal and the Democrats’ vow to end the “culture of corruption,” no new ethics enforcement mechanisms have been put into place. A House bipartisan task force that was charged with returning recommendations by May 1st still finally issued its report, and, as expected, very little has changed. The rule permitting only members to file complaints will remain intact and if there is an independent ethics oversight panel, it won’t have subpoena power. Meanwhile, the House Ethics Committee does not appear to have undertaken investigations into the myriad number of members with serious ethics issues.

Sen. Ted Stevens still sitting on Senate Appropriations

CREW called for Sen. Ted Stevens (R-AK) to step down from the Appropriations Committee after the FBI and the IRS raided Sen. Stevens’ Alaska home. Sen. Stevens is under federal investigation for his dealings with Bill Allen, founder of VECO Corp., an Alaska-based oil field services and engineering company that has been awarded tens of millions of dollars in federal contracts. Allen has admitted to paying for an addition to Sen. Stevens’ home. CREW sent a letter to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) asking that he remove Sen. Stevens from his committee assignments and asked the Senate ethics committee to investigate whether Sen. Stevens misused his position to benefit VECO.

Sen. Ethics Committee looking into Sen. Craig, but not Sen. Vitter

CREW filed a complaint with the Senate Ethics Committee against Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID)

asking for an investigation into whether the senator, who pleaded guilty to disorderly conduct after attempting to engage an undercover officer in sexual activity in a men’s restroom in the Minneapolis airport, violated the Senate rule prohibiting members from engaging in “improper conduct which reflects upon the Senate.” Months earlier, CREW filed a complaint against Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) asking for an investigation into whether he violated the Senate Rules of Conduct by soliciting for prostitution. The ethics committee is investigating Sen. Craig, but not Sen. Vitter.

Millions of missing White House emails still unaccounted for

In April 2007, CREW released a report, WITHOUT A TRACE: The Missing White House E-mails and the Violations of the Presidential Records Act, disclosing that over five million e-mails (CREW subsequently learned that the actual number is over ten million) are missing from White House servers for a two and a half year period between 2003 and 2005. The White House has known about the missing e-mail since October 2005 and was provided a plan to recover them, but to date has taken no action.

In May 2007, CREW sued the Office of Administration (OA), the component of the Executive Office of the President (EOP) responsible for maintaining the White House servers, based on the OA’s failure to provide CREW with any documents in response to its FOIA request for the analyses and assessments the OA prepared of the missing e-mail problem. On September 25, 2007, CREW filed a second lawsuit against the EOP, the OA and the National Archives and Records Administration alleging violations of the Federal Records Act for failing to recover, restore and preserve the millions of missing White House e-mail. On November 12, 2007, District Judge Henry Kennedy granted CREW’s request for a temporary restraining order to prevent the White House from destroying back-up copies of millions of deleted emails while the lawsuit is pending. The White House has refused to confirm whether any of the backup tapes for the missing email still exist.

Rep. Murtha’s abuse of the earmarking process remains unchecked

In 2007, Rep. John Murtha (D-PA) inserted into the Energy and Water Appropriations bill a $1 million earmark to establish the Center for Instrumented Critical Infrastructure - a subsidiary of Concurrent Technologies Corporation, (CTC) a non-profit technology innovation center in Rep. Murtha’s district that has received hundreds of millions of dollars in earmarks in recent years. CTC is a large non-profit that in 2005 received over $212 million in government grants. Since 2002, CTC’s employees and employees’ family members have donated over $115,000 to Rep. Murtha’s political committees and leadership PAC.

In addition, after Rep. Mike Rogers offered a motion in May of 2007 that would have stripped a $23 million earmark inserted by Rep. Murtha, an angered Rep. Murtha threatened to block any future earmark Rep. Rogers might seek in defense appropriations bills. Earlier in the month, Rep. Murtha made similar threats against Rep. Todd Tiahrt’s (R-KS) earmarks. Despite the fact that Rep. Murtha’s behavior clearly violated House rules, no member filed an ethics complaint against him and the ethics committee took no action.

Anchorage Daily News notes CREW's top ten scandals

crew — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 17:14:39 -0600

CREW's report, The Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2007, got a mention in the home state newspaper of one of the lists designees. The Anchorage Daily News, which has been very, very busy covering federal and state corruption this year, noted, of course, the placement of Ted Stevens on the list:

Ted Stevens holds spot on ethics scandal list. Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has come out with its top 10 ethics scandals of 2007 — and “Ted Stevens still sitting on Senate Appropriations” is listed No. 2. CREW urged that the Alaska senator step down from the influential committee after the FBI searched his Girdwood home last summer.

CREW's Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2007 gets prime coverage in today's Washington Post

crew — Tue, 18 Dec 2007 08:31:44 -0600

Great coverage in today's Washington Post for the Top Ten Ethics Scandals of 2007 list, which we released yesterday. The Post printed the list in its entirety and fleshed them out. Page A23. We'll all be following all of these scandals through 2008:

Tough competition for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington's inaugural list of the year's top 10 ethics scandals. The government watchdog's list, posted at http://www.citizensforethics.org, pays special attention to scandals that appear likely to blow into something bigger next year, said Melanie Sloan, CREW's executive director.

The list "seemed like a good way at the end of the year to keep track of what happened and what's on the horizon," Sloan said. "If a scandal seemed to conclude this year, it's not on the list."

The scandals, with headings taken from the CREW report, are not listed in order of magnitude. They're all pretty bad, the CREW people say.

1. No new enforcement mechanisms for congressional ethics: A House panel convened by Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has yet to come up with recommendations -- originally due in May -- on establishing an independent ethics oversight panel, amid reports of bipartisan resistance.

2. Ted Stevens still sitting on Senate Appropriations: The senator (R-Alaska) and his son Ben are embroiled in a federal corruption probe in their home state.

3. Senate Ethics Committee looking into Sen. Larry Craig, but not Sen. David Vitter: Craig (R-Idaho) is defending himself against charges that he solicited sex from an undercover male law enforcement officer in an airport restroom. Vitter (R-La.) was outed as a client of an alleged prostitution ring run by Deborah Jeane Palfrey, the "D.C. madam," after his phone number appeared in her records.

4. Millions of missing White House e-mails still unaccounted for: CREW and the National Security Archive are seeking information and backup copies of more than 5 million e-mails deleted from White House computer servers between 2003 and 2005.

5. Rep. Murtha's abuse of the earmarking process remains unchecked: Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) has drawn scrutiny for channeling millions of federal dollars, much of it in defense contracts, to his (formerly) hard-luck district.

6. Lurita Doan remains chief of GSA despite illegal conduct: Lurita Alexis Doan denies allegations that she gave a contract to a longtime friend and was involved in illegal Republican politicking inside the General Services Administration.

7. White House possibly covering up its role in the firings of the U.S. attorneys: Congressional investigations of the firing of nine U.S. attorneys have been stymied as the White House keeps key players, including former White House counsel Harriet Miers and Chief of Staff Josh Bolten, from testifying.

8. No Child Left Behind funds directed to Bush fundraisers who provide inadequate reading materials for kids: A Department of Education inspector general's probe found that Bush-connected companies and donors got contracts for providing reading materials found to be of questionable value.

9. Court decision regarding search of Jefferson's office limits ability of Justice Department to investigate corrupt lawmakers: The federal corruption probe of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) experienced a setback this year when an appellate judge ruled that "legislative material" seized in a search of his office cannot be used to prosecute members of Congress.

10. FEMA knowingly let Katrina victims live in hazardous trailers: Records indicate that the Federal Emergency Management Agency had cautioned its workers about trailers contaminated with formaldehyde. But the agency has been accused of delaying testing for the substance in trailers occupied by people left homeless by the hurricane.