House Ethics Panel Says DeLay Tried to Trade Favor for a Vote

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http://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/01/po...ethics.html?th

WASHINGTON, Sept. 30 - Representative Tom DeLay of Texas, the House majority leader, was admonished by the House ethics committee on Thursday night for improperly trying to win the vote of a Michigan lawmaker during a heated floor fight over a health care bill last year.

In a lengthy report, the panel said it had determined in its investigation of allegations first raised by the lawmaker, Representative Nick Smith, a Republican, that Mr. DeLay offered to endorse Mr. Smith's son in a Congressional primary if he would support a measure then teetering on the edge of defeat.

The special four-person subcommittee that conducted the inquiry said it had "deliberated extensively" over the actions of Mr. DeLay, who is one of the most powerful members of Congress, and weighed his actions against the leadership's traditional role of trying to round up votes. The report concluded that Mr. DeLay went too far in trying to secure a victory.

"The promise of political support for a relative of a member goes beyond the boundaries of maintaining party discipline, and should not be used as the basis of a bargain for members to achieve their respective goals," the committee said, saying there was evidence to find Mr. DeLay in violation of House rules.

The panel recommended no further action against Mr. DeLay or two others it also admonished - Mr. Smith and another Michigan Republican, Candice S. Miller. The committee is considering a separate complaint against Mr. DeLay on a series of allegations made by a Texas Democrat, but it made no disclosure of its intentions on those accusations.

In a statement, Mr. DeLay said that he had not meant to violate House rules and that the panel had never ruled on this type of activity before.

"In this report the committee has provided guidance regarding a novel and very specific subject matter,'' he said. "I accept their guidance."

Mr. Smith, who is retiring, first brought the episode to public attention after the Nov. 22 vote when he charged in a personal column and in interviews that Republican leaders offered him "bribes" in the form of campaign help for his son, who was running to replace him. Interest groups and Democrats began clamoring for an investigation.

Mr. Smith later said that there was no specific mention of money and that the arm-twisting did not meet the legal definition of bribery.

Mr. Smith, who could not be reached for a response on Thursday night, was also admonished by the committee for "speculation and exaggeration" and for "making public statements that risked impugning the reputation of the House." The report said that contrary to his claims, he was never offered $100,000 or any other sum for his son's campaign.

Ms. Miller was also rebuked for promising not to support Mr. Smith's son because of the vote, an action that the panel called an "unprovoked threat of retaliation." The ethics panel said her action was significant since she is an influential figure in Michigan politics.

In a statement, Ms. Miller said she accepted the panel's "findings that I may have committed a 'discreet violation of the rules.' I also agree with the committee's finding that there was no evidence adduced of a pattern of misconduct."

The middle-of-the-night Medicare vote was memorable. The Republican leadership held the vote open for almost three hours to force the measure through, over the objections of Democrats who claimed it was not expansive enough and conservative Republicans like Mr. Smith who argued it cost too much.

Mr. Smith, who like other Republican opponents of the bill was under pressure from his colleagues on the floor, voted against the bill. His son later lost his Congressional primary.

The ethics committee, known formally as the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, said it took sworn testimony from 17 House members, including Mr. DeLay and Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, who also talked with Mr. Smith on the floor.

This is not Mr. DeLay's first brush with the ethics committee; he has been previously chastised for pushing too hard for trade groups to hire Republican officials. The panel is now weighing whether to pursue an inquiry into another complaint against him.

Representative Chris Bell, a Texas Democrat who lost his seat in a primary this year under a redistricting plan that had been aided by Mr. DeLay, lodged a complaint accusing Mr. DeLay of illegally soliciting campaign contributions, laundering campaign contributions to influence state legislative races and improperly using his office to influence federal agencies.

Those charges are intertwined with charges a grand jury in Texas is investigating. Earlier this month the grand jury returned indictments against three aides of Mr. DeLay who helped run a political action committee he created. Mr. DeLay has denied wrongdoing in the case.

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It's about time!

Isn't DeLay under investigation for a few other things as well, at least implicated in other things since there have been no formal charges.