| Jamie Dupree |
Democratic Ethics Rumblings
The added ethics scrutiny this week for Rep. Peter Visclosky (D-Indiana) has again focused attention on ethics troubles for some Democrats that are simmering on the back burner.
Visclosky's troubles involve a federal probe of the now defunct PMA Group, a defense lobbying firm that has attracted attention for its links to Rep. John Murtha (D-Pennsylvania.)
Questions have been raised about Murtha directing earmarks to PMA clients, while at the same time getting campaign contributions from PMA officials.
Visclosky has also drawn similar scrutiny, especially after his office and campaign received subpoenas last week, and since his Chief of Staff suddenly "resigned" after getting a subpoena.
But those aren't the only cases out there for Democrats.
Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-New York) has been in the spotlight for how he used rent controlled apartments in New York, failed to report income from a Carribean vacation home and more.
Just this week, the New York Post reported that Rangel and five other House members are under investigaiton by the House Ethics Committee for attending a conference in the Carribean that may have been wrongly paid for by an outside group.
Rangel said last week he hopes the ethics probes wraps up "soon."
Another Democrat waiting for action is Rep. Alan Mollohan (D-West Virginia) who faces a federal probe over earmarks that some charge he directed to his district, which may have indirectly benefited him financially and in terms of campaign contributions.
The best irony on Mollohan, was that he used to be the top Democrat on the House Ethics Committee.
Next week, there will be news on a former Democratic Congressman, William Jefferson of Louisiana - he's the guy that had thousands of dollars in bribe money in his freezer - he finally goes on trial next week.
It's all a reminder that right now, Democrats certainly face more threats on the Congressional Ethics front than the GOP.
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