California Conservative

The Hill, self-titled as “The Newspaper for and about the U.S. Congress”, is reporting that one of the most bitter partisans in the House, John Conyers, (D-MI), might be the target of an investigation for unethical practices. Here’s the ethical lapses he’d be investigated for:

Deanna Maher, a former deputy chief of staff in Conyers’ Detroit office, and Sydney Rooks, a former legal counsel in the district office, provided evidence for the allegations by sharing numerous letters, memorandums and copies of e-mails, handwritten notes and expense reports with The Hill.

In letters sent separately by each woman to the House ethics committee, the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office, they allege that Conyers demanded that aides work on several local and state campaigns and forced them to baby-sit and chauffeur his children. They also charge that some aides illegally used Conyers’ congressional offices to enrich themselves. Maher decided she could no longer work for Conyers in such an unethical environment and quit in May 2005. Rooks had left Conyers years earlier; she was a full-time staffer working in the office for him from 1997 to 1999. Before leaving, Conyers placed her on paid administrative leave for several months and stopped paying her in April 2000.

“I could not tolerate any longer being involved with continual unethical, if not criminal, practices which were accepted as ‘business as usual,’” Maher wrote in a letter to the ethics panel dated Jan. 13, 2006.

These aren’t small issues. Getting investigated for these activities isn’t something to be taken lightly. But the Agenda Media won’t report a peep about this because it doesn’t fit the “Culture of Corruption Republicans” meme. If anyone sees something about this issue in the Washington Post, NY or LA Times or on CBS, drop me a note here.

The truth is that Conyers isn’t the least bit concerned about ethics unless it involves a Republican. He’s among the most bitter, hateful partisans in House history, along with Maxine Waters, David Bonior and Nancy Pelosi. He’s been in power forever. He’s one of the few still sticking around that remembers what it’s like to be in the majority.

Until the Republican Revolution in 1994, he was part of the majority that exempted themselves from the laws they passed (with the exception of taxes). They couldn’t be sued in civil courts for their misbehavior. That’s the mindset that he operates with. In his mind, ethics don’t apply to him.

I want there to be a fair, evidence-based investigation. If that investigation finds wrong-doing, then Rep. Conyers needs to be ousted from the House. PERIOD.

A partisan dispute over staffing issues shut down the ethics committee in 2005, but GOP sources said the panel, known formally as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, has since hired a staff director and a team of investigators. The committee is evaluating which investigations to pursue, including the Conyers matter. Rooks said that she spoke to Ken Kellner, a lawyer on the committee, last year but that he dismissed her complaints “as old news.” While the ethics committee has been aware of the allegations against Conyers for at least two years, Maher’s allegations date back to 1998, a year after Conyers hired her.

Typical. And disgusting.

Cross-post at LetFreedomRing

This entry was posted on Wednesday, March 1st, 2006 at 11:02 am and is filed under Author: Gary Gross, Crime, Liberals. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.