Shocker, Politico writes article about it and Congressional Black Caucus gets behind it. It couldnt possibly be that the people under investigation are unethical does it? What the article fails to mention is that if a complaint is filed, an investigation goes forward and no charges are brought unless ethical violations are found. These investigations, for instance over rangel and waters, took years.
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The politically charged decisions by veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California to force public trials by the House ethics committee are raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny over allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing than their white colleagues.
The question of whether black lawmakers are now being singled out for scrutiny has been simmering throughout the 111th Congress, with the Office of Congressional Ethics a focal point of the concerns. At one point earlier this year, all eight lawmakers under formal investigation by the House ethics committee, including Rangel and Waters, were black Democrats. All those investigations originated with the OCE, which can make recommendations — but take no final actions — on such cases.
There’s a “dual standard, one for most members and one for African-Americans,” said one member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another black lawmaker, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) — a close Rangel confidant — has been caught up in an ongoing Justice Department criminal probe involving some of Queens’s most powerful politicians. Meeks has denied any wrongdoing, and, like Rangel, blamed his problems on the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group.
And Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has come under Justice Department investigation over his role in the Rod Blagojevich scandal. Blagojevich, the impeached Illinois governor, is awaiting a verdict in his trial on a host of federal corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to “sell” the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after he was elected president. The then-governor was taped shortly before his arrest telling his chief of staff that a Jackson fundraiser had offered to raise $1.5 million for Blagojevich’s reelection campaign if the congressman were appointed to the Senate seat. Jackson has vehemently denied any impropriety.
Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), the only African-American in the Senate, was admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee last Nov. for making "incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information" over his appointment by Blagojevich to Obama's seat."
Other black Democrats who have found themselves in ethics or legal trouble in recent years include: former Rep. Frank Ballance (N.C.), who went to federal prison in 2005 after being convicted on federal fraud and money laundering charges; former Rep. Earl Hilliard (Ala.), who was found by the ethics committee in 2002 to have improper used campaign funds; and Rep. Corrine Brown (Fla.), who was investigated but cleared in 2000 over the gift of a car to her daughter and other allegations.
The Link
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The politically charged decisions by veteran Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California to force public trials by the House ethics committee are raising questions about race and whether black lawmakers face more scrutiny over allegations of ethical or criminal wrongdoing than their white colleagues.
The question of whether black lawmakers are now being singled out for scrutiny has been simmering throughout the 111th Congress, with the Office of Congressional Ethics a focal point of the concerns. At one point earlier this year, all eight lawmakers under formal investigation by the House ethics committee, including Rangel and Waters, were black Democrats. All those investigations originated with the OCE, which can make recommendations — but take no final actions — on such cases.
There’s a “dual standard, one for most members and one for African-Americans,” said one member of the Congressional Black Caucus, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Another black lawmaker, Rep. Gregory Meeks (D-N.Y.) — a close Rangel confidant — has been caught up in an ongoing Justice Department criminal probe involving some of Queens’s most powerful politicians. Meeks has denied any wrongdoing, and, like Rangel, blamed his problems on the National Legal and Policy Center, a conservative watchdog group.
And Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) has come under Justice Department investigation over his role in the Rod Blagojevich scandal. Blagojevich, the impeached Illinois governor, is awaiting a verdict in his trial on a host of federal corruption charges, including allegations that he tried to “sell” the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama after he was elected president. The then-governor was taped shortly before his arrest telling his chief of staff that a Jackson fundraiser had offered to raise $1.5 million for Blagojevich’s reelection campaign if the congressman were appointed to the Senate seat. Jackson has vehemently denied any impropriety.
Sen. Roland Burris (D-Ill.), the only African-American in the Senate, was admonished by the Senate Ethics Committee last Nov. for making "incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information" over his appointment by Blagojevich to Obama's seat."
Other black Democrats who have found themselves in ethics or legal trouble in recent years include: former Rep. Frank Ballance (N.C.), who went to federal prison in 2005 after being convicted on federal fraud and money laundering charges; former Rep. Earl Hilliard (Ala.), who was found by the ethics committee in 2002 to have improper used campaign funds; and Rep. Corrine Brown (Fla.), who was investigated but cleared in 2000 over the gift of a car to her daughter and other allegations.
The Link
