[Mb-civic] A washingtonpost.com article from: swiggard@comcast.net

[swiggard at comcast.net]

You have been sent this message from swiggard at comcast.net as a courtesy of washingtonpost.com 
 
 DeLay Is Likely to Be Found Culpable
 
 By Jeffrey H. Birnbaum
 
  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.
 
 These experts say the best chance for DeLay to be vindicated -- or to get little more than a slap on the wrist in an ethics inquiry -- is if he's able to convince a congressional committee that he was unaware of what the lobbyists did.
 
 "The rules are written in a way that indicate that if a member of Congress is misled about who's paying for things, that is a credible defense," said Kenneth A. Gross, a lawyer who deals with congressional ethics. The House will have to wrestle with whether DeLay, the chamber's second-ranking Republican, knew or should have known that he might be violating House rules.
 
 History shows, however, that once an ethics investigation is started against congressional leaders such as DeLay, they usually don't get away unscathed. The ethics committee already admonished DeLay three times last year for a variety of lapses. The panel can also look into other issues that come up during its investigation.
 
 Leaders "generally get nicked a little bit," said Baran, who represents Republicans.
 
 This time DeLay could be admonished, censured or, at worst, expelled by a House vote -- if the chamber takes any action at all. Initially, DeLay's fate will be in the hands of the soon-to-be-empaneled 10-member ethics committee, which is divided equally between Republicans and Democrats. The panel has been in limbo for the past four months because of a partisan feud over rules changes Republicans imposed in January. Yesterday, House Republicans agreed to rescind those rules changes to try to end the stalemate.
 
 The allegations against DeLay that have been published in recent weeks are a blur of charge and countercharge. Two things are clear. First, the most serious allegations generally involve overseas trips that were organized by nongovernment groups. Second, unless a link is established between the journeys and his official actions, it doesn't appear that DeLay will face any civil or criminal worries. For now, the issues involve House ethics rules, which are overseen by the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, also known as the ethics committee.
 
 The panel hasn't formally agreed to address the DeLay accusations. If it does, a subcommittee of four lawmakers would conduct a confidential inquiry, which could take six months to a year. It would collect documents and take testimony about DeLay's trips.
 
 "The process can be a penalty in itself," Gross warned. "It is inherently partisan and political."
 
 The trip that was most rife with potential problems for DeLay occurred in late May and early June of 2000. According to a report Sunday in The Washington Post, DeLay's airfare was charged to an American Express credit card issued to Jack Abramoff, a registered Washington lobbyist who is under investigation by federal authorities and a Senate committee in connection with tens of millions of dollars he collected for pubic affairs work for Indian tribes. Lobbyists are barred from paying for lawmakers' travel, even if the expenses are reimbursed by an authorized source, as Abramoff's spokesman says they were in this case, experts said.
 
 During the same trip, $184 of DeLay's expenses, including phone calls, food and other items, were also billed to a credit card used by Edwin A. Buckham, another registered lobbyist. Under House rules, lawmakers may not accept anything of value, including entertainment, recreation or meals, from anyone if the value of the gift exceeds $50 and if the total value of gifts from one source exceeds $100 in a year.
 
 In addition, DeLay may not have fully accounted for the cost of golf outings at a historic Scotland resort in disclosure forms required from lawmakers. What's more, no group or corporation is allowed to pay for foreign trips that last more than a week, even for educational purposes. The London and Scotland jaunt lasted 10 days.
 
 A visit to South Korea in 2001 presents a twist on these issues. That trip was paid for by the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council, a business-financed entity that registered as a foreign agent -- essentially a lobbyist for a foreign country -- a few days before the Aug. 25 trip that year. House rules don't allow registered foreign agents to pay for lawmakers' travel.
 
 A third trip DeLay made, to Moscow in June 1997, was under the auspices of the same group that oversaw the London-Scotland trip, the National Center for Public Policy Research. Published reports raise the question of whether the Washington-based nonprofit group paid for that trip itself -- a legitimate expenditure under House rules -- or whether the visit was paid for by business interests that were lobbying in support of the Russian government. House ethics rules prohibit the earmarking by third parties of financing for lawmakers' travel.
 
 "The rules don't allow straw organizations to conduct or fund any members' travel," Baran said.
 
 Bobby R. Burchfield, an attorney for DeLay, said that none of these incidents presents serious jeopardy for his client. The primary reason, he said, is that DeLay believed that the trips were arranged and paid for by bona fide organizations unconnected to lobbyists or lobbying groups, and that DeLay had no reason to think otherwise.
 
 DeLay and his staff considered the research center to be "reputable" and knew Abramoff to be a board member of the group, Burchfield said. Neither DeLay nor his staff knew that the Korea-U.S. Exchange Council had registered as a foreign agent, he added.
 
 "Congressman DeLay cannot be held accountable for things that he did not know about," Burchfield said. The council is now seeking to have its status as a foreign agent revoked because it may have registered needlessly.
 
 Burchfield also said the 10-day trip fell within the seven-day limit because travel days aren't counted as part of the official total.
 
 The broader issue involved in the controversy is whether DeLay or his staff should have worked harder to determine who was behind the trips. Burchfield 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."
 
 
 Would you like to send this article to a friend? Go to 
http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/emailafriend?contentId=AR2005042702053&sent=no&referrer=emailarticle
 
 

Visit washingtonpost.com today for the latest in:

News - http://www.washingtonpost.com/?referrer=emailarticle

Politics - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/politics/?referrer=emailarticle

Sports - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/sports/?referrer=emailarticle

Entertainment - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/artsandliving/entertainmentguide/?referrer=emailarticle

Travel - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/travel/?referrer=emailarticle

Technology - http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/technology/?referrer=emailarticle




Want the latest news in your inbox? Check out washingtonpost.com's e-mail newsletters:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?node=admin/email&referrer=emailarticle

Washingtonpost.Newsweek Interactive
c/o E-mail Customer Care
1515 N. Courthouse Road
Arlington, VA 22201 

© 2004 The Washington Post Company