The Public and Congress Still Tolerate Washington Scandals

The Capital is the gift that keeps on giving. Federal prosecutors say they found a $90,000 payoff in the freezer of Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.). For Democrats working to saddle Republicans with the "Culture of Corruption" label, Jefferson has been their kryptonite.

In January, powerful lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to conspiracy to bribe public officials, last I heard a rather serious infraction. Late last year, Randy "Duke" Cunningham, a war hero and former Republican congressman from California, resigned after confessing to taking $2.4 million in bribes, including a Rolls-Royce. Did I mention that he's a war hero?
In any case, the inattention to the topic is so pronounced that there's an outside chance that ethics legislation won't happen at all this year. How's that, you ask? Nearly six months after Abramoff's guilty plea stirred a "crisis" that made a lobbying bill a must, the House-Senate conference committee charged with drafting the final compromise has not even met. That's how little Congress cares about the issue.

The Senate passed its ethics bill March 29. The House passed its weaker version May 3. The Senate has named conferees, but the House left town for a 10-day break without appointing negotiators, which means Congress will have a hard time passing any lobbying law changes by the Fourth of July, if ever.

At the same time, the committee is proudly ignoring the Senate's biggest ethical problem: the federal probe into whether the Senate's top Republican, Doctor Bill Frist of Tennessee, sold shares in his family's hospital company after receiving an insider's tip. How can the panel stand down on that one? Conveniently, its members say it doesn't investigate accusations that federal agencies are already looking into. Right.

The committee, formally known as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, agreed two weeks ago to investigate Jefferson and Rep. Robert W. Ney (R-Ohio). Ney is implicated in the Abramoff affair.

Both lawmakers, who - brace yourself - assert their innocence, are known to be battling the Justice Department and could be indicted any time. If that happens, the chance that the ethics committee will do anything about their cases -- ranging from a warning to expulsion -- is next to nothing. The panel has already taken a pass on former House majority leader Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas). He slipped a new ethics probe because he is resigning from Congress next month, praise the Lord. If Ney and Jefferson leave the House or are not reelected, the committee will probably drop their cases, too.

• May 29, 2006

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