Second Opinion Clears Prominent Birther Rep. John Campbell, Two Others In Access Selling Charge
The House Republicans are back in charge, and that means no ethical violations will ever be found among the party faithful. As a reporter, I occasionally had to work on these ethics stories, and it’s the same as it ever was: There is literally almost nothing congress critters can’t get away wit h: The House Ethics Committee issued a report last month with evidence that campaign donors were offered one-on-one meetings with Members of Congress, that senior Congressional staff participated in nearly every fundraising activity a Member conducted, and that a lobbyist discussed both a legislative concern and a fundraising event with a Member’s chief of staff. The committee found nothing wrong with any of it. Although the House Ethics Manual forbids the use of official resources to support campaign or political activities, the case of the three lawmakers who came under scrutiny demonstrates how closely intermingled those activities can sometimes be. Last month, the Ethics Committee issued a report on the fundraising efforts of Reps. Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), Tom Price (R-Ga.) and John Campbell (R-Calif.) and concluded that, contrary to the judgment of the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, “each Member’s fundraising activities raised no appearances of impropriety. Nor did they violate any law or other applicable standards of conduct in connection with their fundraising activities.” The OCE, reviewing the same facts, had concluded that some of the fundraising activities the Members had engaged in “gave the appearance that special treatment or access was provided to donors or that contributions were linked to an official act.” For example, the committee report includes e-mails from Crowley’s fundraising consultant thanking a financial industry lobbyist “for helping out Crowley for Congress and JOE PAC” and offering times and dates when the Congressman is available for a one-on-one meeting. Similarly, a fundraiser for Campbell sent an e-mail to a corporate donor asking for a contribution and noting that “Congressman Campbell wanted me to see if you are available to do a 1-on-1 coffee or lunch with him. He prefers these to big events. Is there any way you can do $1k or even $500 to help him out?” The invitation included a broad window of times the Congressman would be available during two weeks Congress was in session. In an interview with Roll Call, Campbell spokesman Chris Bognanno defended the meetings, saying “these coffees are not just one-on-one and the vast majority are not with donors — the Congressman likes coffee. He likes to go to coffee houses and drink coffee.” The meetings “are both of an official nature and of a political nature. … They are one-on-one or two-on-one or a group will come and talk to him” about an issue, and on some occasions “there are some that are fundraising that are set up with the fundraiser.”
Second Opinion Clears Prominent Birther Rep. John Campbell, Two Others In Access Selling Charge
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on February 4, 2011. Filed under