By CHARLES BABINGTON, Associated Press Writer
Wednesday May 30, 2007
WASHINGTON - A half dozen federal investigations into the
activities of Republican lawmakers are raising new worries
for GOP leaders who hope to regain the House majority they
lost last fall.
In recent weeks, two veteran Republicans surrendered prominent
committee seats after FBI agents raided the offices of family
businesses. Others have long-running investigations hanging
over them. Some conservative activists are criticizing the
party's handling of the matters.
Democrats say at least six GOP House members are under some
degree of Justice Department scrutiny, although Republicans
question whether all the inquiries are active.
In pure numbers, Republicans are approaching the magnitude
of their problem at this stage of the 2006 election cycle.
Eventually, nine House Republicans faced FBI investigations.
Four stepped down, and two Reps. Randy "Duke" Cunningham
of California and Bob Ney of Ohio are in prison. Of the five
who sought re-election, three lost and the other two remain
under ethical clouds.
Republicans call attention to the fact that Democrats have
their own ethical problems.
Two House Democrats are the focus of federal investigations.
Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La., has been under scrutiny in
a bribery investigation since at least 2005, when FBI agents
found $90,000 in his home freezer. The Justice Department also
is investigating whether Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., benefited
from steering federal funds to nonprofit groups he helped start.
Both Jefferson and Mollohan easily won re-election last year.
Republicans say Democrats will have trouble duplicating the
success of last year's "culture of corruption" campaign
theme because the current allegations against GOP members are
far less severe. There is no evidence of the type of overt
corruption that felled Cunningham and Ney, they say, and no
one under scrutiny has the national name recognition that former
Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had in 2005 and 2006.
At a minimum, however, the growing list of GOP incumbents
under scrutiny is a distraction and nuisance for a party already
struggling with an unpopular president and his handling of
an unpopular war.
"It's a question of accountability," said Jennifer
Crider, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign
Committee, which has numerous researchers digging into GOP
members' records.
Ethics cases elsewhere aren't helping Republicans. Democrats
are using subpoenas to dig into the administration's firing
of several federal prosecutors. They're also monitoring news
reports from Alaska saying that business associates, friends
and a son of veteran GOP Sen. Ted Stevens are under investigation
in a long-running corruption probe.
The situation troubles some conservative activists. Especially
under criticism is the House GOP leaders' decision to replace
one embattled member of the coveted Appropriations Committee
with another.
Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., left the committee in April
after FBI agents raided his Washington-area home. His wife,
Julie, ran a business from the home in which she received commissions
as a paid fundraiser for her husband's campaigns and her clients
included now-jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.
Doolittle's committee seat went to Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.
The FBI retrieved copies of Calvert's annual financial disclosure
statements following reports last year that Calvert steered
millions of federal dollars to projects near his private real
estate developments.
Calvert says the FBI has not contacted him and he has no reason
to believe he is a target. But that hasn't stopped the widely
read conservative blog RedState.com from repeatedly denouncing
Calvert's appointment to the Appropriations Committee.
Joining the attack recently was Family Research Council President
Tony Perkins. He said Calvert "would seem to fit in more
with the party" that keeps Jefferson and Mollohan in office "than
with a party that has made great strides in trying to clean
up its image."
Aside from Doolittle, Republican operatives are most concerned
about Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz., who gave up his House intelligence
committee seat last month after FBI agents raided his wife's
insurance business.
Renzi paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in back taxes
while settling charges that his businesses improperly paid
for his first congressional campaign. He also faces an inquiry
into whether he used his House seat to help a former business
partner make land swaps.
Other Republican House members recently under federal scrutiny
include:
Jerry Lewis of California: Prosecutors in Los Angeles are
examining how millions of dollars in federal contracts were
steered to a company whose founders were big contributors to
Lewis' campaigns while he chaired the House Appropriations
Committee.
Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania: Murphy declined comment on published
reports that authorities are investigating whether his legislative
aides performed campaign work while on government time.
Gary Miller of California: Miller says he has no reason to
believe he is under investigation, but Democrats have run Web-based
attack ads citing published reports that federal agents have
looked into some land deals involving the lawmaker.
Jessica Boulanger, spokeswoman for the National Republican
Congressional Committee, said Democratic attacks on the ethics
front will have little effect. Democrats, she said, "are
proving incapable of governing, so it's no wonder they're dusting
off their '06 playbook in an effort to hide their failed leadership."
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