Ethics Issues Remain Focus of Washington News
Mar 26th, 2007 • Posted in: NewsWASHINGTON
Three ethics stories topped U.S. political news last week:
- In what may amount to the opening salvo of the 2008 election cycle, Democrats last week unveiled a commercial related to the ethics controversy surrounding the firings of eight U.S. attorneys, according to reports from the Washington Post and the New York Times. The radio ad alleges that Rep. Heather Wilson (R-N.M.) pressured her state’s U.S. attorney for information that could embarrass her political rivals in the run-up to last fall’s elections. The Democrats are attempting to show that the firings were politically motivated and are leading a move in Congress to compel senior White House aides to testify about the dismissals.
- Former Interior Department deputy secretary J. Steven Griles last week pleaded guilty to obstructing justice, becoming the highest-ranking Bush administration official to be convicted in the cases surrounding lobbyist Jack Abramoff. The Reuters news agency reports that Griles admitted lying to a Senate committee when asked about his relationship with Abramoff, who had sought Griles’s intervention in a deal that would benefit Abramoff’s clients. Griles is the ninth person convicted in federal probes linked to Abramoff. National Public Radio reports that the plea deal limits Griles’s jail time to a maximum of 10 months.
- Federal judges are slow to report expense-paid trips under a new requirement that took effect on January 1, according to a judicial ethics watchdog group. The Associated Press reports that Doug Kendall, the executive director of Community Rights Counsel, claims he searched nearly 200 federal court websites but found no reports on travel. Kendall tells the AP that every year since 1992, judges have attended private seminars during the first two months of the year, a period that would be expected to show up in current reports. A spokesman for the courts says the lack of disclosure may be due to the courts’ assumption that travel for which invitations were issued prior to January 1 would be exempt from the reporting requirement.
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