Yesterday, after the House voted to restore the chamber’s ethics rules — the same rules that Tom DeLay has been caught breaking on five separate occasions — the beleaguered House Majority Leader put on a brave face. “I look forward to providing the facts to the committee, once it’s up and running,” DeLay told reporters.
Given the evidence against him, DeLay shouldn’t be quite so enthusiastic.
Now that it’s clear that his controversial private-paid trips abroad will be put under a microscope in Congress, Tom DeLay is in serious danger of being declared in violation of House ethics rules, legal experts say.
Lawyers who specialize in ethics cases believe that the Republican House majority leader from Texas might be in technical breach of at least a few congressional regulations. According to published reports, a registered foreign agent paid for one of DeLay’s overseas trips and a registered lobbyist used his credit card to pay for another foreign airfare — actions the rules prohibit. DeLay may also have accepted gifts that exceeded congressional limits, taken an expense-paid trip overseas for longer than the rules allow and not disclosed all of the benefits he received.
“It appears from news reports that there were aspects of his trips that did not comply with the ethics rules,” said Jan W. Baran, a lawyer and ethics expert.
For me, that’s the amusing part about the ongoing back-and-forth over DeLay and the Ethics Committee — DeLay’s been caught dead to rights. The guy broke the rules (again). There’s no real gray area here; it’s a demonstrable fact. As I mentioned the other day, even his defenses include admissions of guilt.
DeLay’s only shot at less-severe punishment is to claim complete and total ignorance about the corruption going on around him. Even this defense is not without flaw — in some cases, DeLay should have known but didn’t.
The broader issue involved in the controversy is whether DeLay or his staff should have worked harder to determine who was behind the trips. [Bobby R. Burchfield, an attorney for DeLay] said there was no reason for him to do so given the reputations of the groups involved. But the ethics rules recommend that lawmakers take time to check the organizations that pay for their travel.
“It is advisable for a Member or staff person who is invited on a trip to make inquiry on the source of the funds that will be used to pay for the trip,” the House ethics manual states.
Baran said: “The committee is going to look at how much knowledge DeLay and his staff had about the groups and what actions they took to divine the circumstances involved in those trips.
“DeLay’s gotten himself in a terrible predicament,” he added. “At the very least, he’s been taken advantage of by lobbyists. He has a lot of explaining to do.”
Exactly. It’s not enough to merely throw one’s arms up in the air and announce, “Oops, I had no idea lobbyists and foreign agents were financing my travel.” Lawmakers, especially experienced ones in leadership positions, are obligated to actually look into their arrangements to ensure propriety. Even if you accept DeLay’s ignorance defense — which I don’t — it’s plainly obvious he didn’t do his due diligence to ensure compliance with the rules.
The Ethics Committee, once it formally agrees to deal with the DeLay accusations, will empanel a four-member subcommittee to begin an investigation. It could take six months to a year.
Pass the popcorn.