Speaker Boehner faces ethics dilemma over investigation of Rep. Bachus
By Jordy Yager and Peter Schroeder - 02/11/12 07:15 AM ET
An ethics investigation of Financial Services Committee Chairman
Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.) has put Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) in a
politically tricky spot.
Years ago as minority leader, Boehner called on Rep. Charles Rangel
(D-N.Y.) to relinquish his Ways and Means Committee chairmanship
during a high-profile ethics investigation.
Now, new allegations of insider trading against Bachus present Boehner
with a tough choice: Call for Bachus to step down as chairman of the
Financial Services Committee as an ethics panel investigates him,
stand by him, or wait until the probe is completed.
Bachus has denied he violated insider-trading laws, an allegation
which is being investigated by the House's Office of Congressional
Ethics (OCE).
Boehner's office gave no indication on Friday that the Speaker is
planning to ask Bachus to step down from his chairmanship. The
Speaker's spokesman balked at the comparison to Rangel.
"The situations are not remotely comparable," said Michael Steel.
Boehner pledged to run an ethically clean chamber after the GOP
reclaimed the House majority in January of 2011. Majority Leader Eric
Cantor (R-Va.), meanwhile, has touted the House GOP's "zero-level
tolerance" policy on ethics.
Asked about the Bachus probe, Cantor spokeswoman Laena Fallon said,
"Leader Cantor isn't aware of any investigation and we have no
information on the reports you reference, but if we are made aware of
an investigation or the Committee notifies us of violations, of course
there will be a response."
Democrats are likely to pounce on the Bachus allegations while noting
that there have been other Republican controversies brewing over the
past year.
Rangel was at the center of Democrats' ethics troubles while they last
held the House majority in 2009 and 2010. The veteran New York
lawmaker was under investigation by the Ethics Committee, which
eventually found him guilty of 11 counts of violating House rules.
Bachus, on the other hand, is being investigated by the OCE, which can
only make recommendations to the House Ethics Committee.
Amid Rangel's ethics woes, Boehner called on then-Speaker Nancy Pelosi
(D-Calif.) to ask him to step down as chairman of the House Ways and
Means Committee.
"During this time of economic crisis, it is not in our nation's best
interest to have the chairman of the House's powerful tax-writing
committee under investigation for unethical conduct related to his
failure to comply with tax laws," said Boehner in a statement in 2008
following the launch of the ethics panel's investigation.
"The American people deserve better than that, and I renew my call for
Speaker Pelosi to ask Chairman Rangel to step aside from his post
while the investigation proceeds."
Boehner later put forward a privileged resolution calling on Rangel to
step down and again made the push in 2009. Ultimately, in early 2010,
Rangel stepped down from the chairmanship.
Bachus was one of several lawmakers at the center of a CBS "60
Minutes" report in November that accused top lawmakers — including
Boehner and Pelosi — of using information from their dealings on
Capitol Hill to shape their stock portfolios. All have denied
wrongdoing.
On Thursday night, The Washington Post reported that the OCE has been
looking into whether Bachus violated Securities and Exchange
Commission rules that prohibit lawmakers from buying or trading stock
based on information they glean from their jobs, as well as whether he
broke any House rules that bar members from using their office for
private gain.
While no lawmakers have called on Bachus to step down from his
chairmanship or office, conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart has
previously called on Bachus to resign from Congress.
Spokespeople for Pelosi and Rangel declined to comment and a spokesman
for Bachus did not return a request for comment.
Under the House GOP's term-limit rule, Bachus is in his last year as
the top-ranking Republican on the Financial Services Committee.
The allegations against Bachus come just after the House and Senate,
spurred by the "60 Minutes" report, approved legislation — the Stop
Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act — intended to tighten
rules on insider trading by lawmakers.
Bachus last year had planned to mark up a House Democratic version of
the STOCK Act, but that effort was thwarted by Cantor. The majority
leader subsequently offered a bill that was criticized by some House
Democrats and Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa.). However, only two House
members opposed it this week. House and Senate lawmakers are expected
to meet soon to iron out a final bill.
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
Together, we can change the world, one mind at a time.
Have a great day,
Tommy
--
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