woopsy

[sisyphusshrugged]

Turns out the spotlight is putting pressure on the House Ethics Committee to do something about Tom "not currently under indictment" DeLay, and the Chairman doesn't think too much of DeLay's ethics

Accusations of wrongdoing by one of the nation's most powerful politicians is putting the House ethics committee in an unwelcome spotlight.

The committee, chaired by Rep. Joel Hefley, R-Colo., is expected to decide as early as this week whether to investigate charges of improper fund raising by House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas.

The high-profile case is intertwined with a criminal investigation in Texas that yielded indictments of three DeLay aides.

Rep. Joel Hefley chairs the House ethics committee.
The combination is drawing increasing scrutiny to the creaky ethics machinery of Congress, which is responsible for ensuring that Congress polices itself.

"People wonder why there's corruption in the House, and the reason is Hefley is soft on corruption," said Gary Ruskin, executive director of the nonpartisan Congressional Accountability Project. "Both political parties want a system set up so that corruption is possible in the House, and that's what they're getting."

Hefley isn't responding publicly to such criticism. House doorkeepers won't even deliver messages to him on the House floor. But he has defended the process in joint statements with co-chairman Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va.

"We seek simply to apply the rules in a fair, nonpartisan and even-handed manner, to the end of protecting the integrity and the reputation of the House of Representatives," they wrote in March.

One thing has been missed in the budding debate over whether ethics committee Republicans will be willing to brave the wrath of a powerful leader known as "the Hammer." Hefley already has Ñ many times.

Hefley publicly criticized the way DeLay picked new committee chairmen in 2003, saying candidates' fund-raising abilities played too large a role. With bluntness uncharacteristic for Capitol Hill, Hefley called it "unseemly" and likened it to "buying seats."

As ethics chairman, Hefley also blocked DeLay's proposal to loosen rules on corporate-funded trips when charities are involved. And Hefley has been a thorn in the side of leaders such as DeLay on spending issues, embarrassing Republicans for budget-busting spending bills.

In previously unpublished remarks from a June interview as the ethics issue began to heat up, Hefley made clear his distaste for DeLay.

"He's let me know repeatedly I'm not part of his team, and that's fine," Hefley said. "I don't want to be part of his team." Later in the interview, he said, "Three charges have been filed against DeLay. I'll handle those in the ethics committee like I would handle anything else. He knows I would not use this as a way to get back at him for our disagreements."

Hefley has given no indication how he might vote. But because the 10-member committee is split evenly between Republicans and Democrats, it would take at least one Republican voting against DeLay for the committee to start a formal investigation.