Republicans on panel have ties to Hastert
Posted 10/5/2006 10:57 PM ET USA TODAY
By David Jackson and Matt Kelley, USA TODAY WASHINGTON - Both
Republicans on the House ethics subcommittee investigating the Mark Foley
scandal have financial ties to Speaker Dennis Hastert, whose handling of the
former congressman's lurid Internet messages to House pages is under
scrutiny.
Ethics Chairman Doc Hastings received $2,500 during the 2000 campaign
from Hastert's political action committee, Keep Our Majority, according to
PoliticalMoneyLine, which tracks money in politics. The six-term Washington
Republican, who became ethics chairman last year, will lead the Foley
investigation.
Rep. Judy Biggert of Illinois, received $6,000 from Hastert's PAC and
$2,000 from Hastert's own re-election fund during the 2002 campaign,
according to PoliticalMoneyLine.
Biggert, whose district neighbors Hastert's, said personal
relationships and financial ties will not affect the investigation: "I think
that all of us on this committee were chosen because we are thought to be
fair."
Fred Wertheimer, president of the watchdog group Democracy 21, said
the Hastert contributions undermine the subcommittee's credibility. "They
should have brought in an outside counsel," he said.
Two Democrats, Howard Berman of California and Stephanie Tubbs Jones
of Ohio, round out the Foley investigative panel.
Berman, who is in his 12th term, is the top Democrat on the full
ethics committee. Berman recently replaced Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., on
the ethics panel. Mollohan stepped down amid charges that he funneled
federal money to home-state foundations and increased his own wealth. He has
denied wrongdoing.
Tubbs Jones is a former municipal and county judge in Cleveland and
served as the elected Cuyahoga County prosecutor.
Ethics members have a job to do "regardless of relationships," she
said. "My reputation is too important to put it aside for purposes of some
friendship."
The panel will be aided by William O'Reilly, the committee's staff
director and counsel.
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