6.09.07
UNDER SCRUTINY
Incumbent California GOP lawmakers facing ethics questions:
Rep. John Doolittle. The nine-term conservative from far Northern California is under investigation in the Jack Abramoff influence-peddling scandal that's already resulted in 12 convictions of congressional aides, Bush administration officials and others, including a guilty plea from one former Republican member of Congress, Bob Ney of Ohio.
Doolittle, whose ties to Abramoff include accepting his campaign money and helping his clients, relinquished his seat on the Appropriations Committee in April after FBI agents raided his home in Virginia with a search warrant for a fundraising and event-planning business run there by his wife, Julie, that had done work for Abramoff and drawn commissions from Doolittle's campaigns.
Doolittle denies wrongdoing.
Rep. Jerry Lewis. In his 15th term representing inland Southern California, Lewis was chairman of the Appropriations Committee last year when federal prosecutors in Los Angeles began investigating his ties to a lobbyist who represented a number of towns and businesses in Lewis' district. Clients of lobbyist Bill Lowery received valuable federal spending approved by Lewis' committee, and the firm and its clients have been generous donors to Lewis and his campaign committees.
Lewis remains top Republican on the Appropriations Committee and denies wrongdoing.
Rep. Gary Miller. A real estate developer serving his fifth term representing inland Southern California, Miller drew scrutiny after the Los Angeles Times published stories highlighting a tax deferral strategy he used in connection with profitable real estate sales to two Southern California towns outside his district. Officials in both towns say they've been interviewed by FBI agents, but Miller says he's done nothing wrong.
Rep. Ken Calvert. A year ago the FBI obtained copies of Calvert's annual financial disclosure forms after the Los Angeles Times reported on federal funding Calvert pushed for a planned freeway interchange 16 miles from property he sold for a large profit. Calvert denied any connection or any profit to himself and said he'd done nothing wrong; there's no public evidence that he's under active investigation. Still, conservative bloggers protested after House GOP leaders tapped Calvert to replace Doolittle on the Appropriations Committee.
California GOP lawmakers who left Congress last session under an ethics cloud:
Randy "Duke" Cunningham. The former GOP House member from the San Diego area pleaded guilty in November 2005 to taking $2.4 million in bribes from defense contractors and was sentenced to more than eight years in prison.
Richard Pombo. Pombo was chairman of the House Resources Committee when he lost re-election last November amid questions about his environmental policies and his ties to Abramoff. There was never public evidence that Pombo was under federal investigation. He lost to Democrat Jerry McNerney, a political neophyte, in a GOP-leaning Central California district.
Source: AP research
AP writer Erica Werner, "Ethics Issues Confront Calif. Politicians" and "California produces big crop of ethically challenged congressmen"
JohnsonClarke Associates - political consultants for both Doolittle & Pombo.
No comments:
Post a Comment