Tweet
Is there evidence of racial bias in the halls of our congress? All seven active ethics probes under way by the House Ethics Committee involve allegations of misconduct by African-American congressmen. At the present time, not a single White congressman is under investigation by the committee.
John Bresnahan, writing at Politico.com, reports that Black politicians have long complained that they’re treated unfairly when ethical issues arise. “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are still fuming over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to oust then-Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the House Ways and Means Committee in 2006, and some have argued that race plays a role in the ongoing efforts to remove Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) from his chairmanship of that committee,” writes Bresnahan.
According to Bresnahan, Rangel is the subject of two different probes, one involving a host of issues he has put before the committee and another involving allegations that corporate funds may have been used improperly to pay for members’ trips to the Caribbean in 2007-08. Reps. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Donald Payne (D-N.J.) and Del. Donna Christensen (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) are also included in the second of those investigations.
A computer leak last week, made by a congressional staffer who was later fired, named more than thirty congressmen being investigated this year by either the House ethics committee or the Office of Congressional Ethics. The list contains a substantial number of White lawmakers, but the House ethics committee has not yet launched formal investigative subcommittees with respect to any of them — as it has with the seven African-American members.
“It is kind of crazy,” an aide to one senior black Democrat told Bresnahan. “How can it be that the ethics committee only investigates African-Americans? It doesn’t make sense.”
The nation’s only black senator, Roland Burris of Illinois, is currently under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
..
John Bresnahan, writing at Politico.com, reports that Black politicians have long complained that they’re treated unfairly when ethical issues arise. “Members of the Congressional Black Caucus are still fuming over Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to oust then-Rep. William Jefferson (D-La.) from the House Ways and Means Committee in 2006, and some have argued that race plays a role in the ongoing efforts to remove Rep. Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) from his chairmanship of that committee,” writes Bresnahan.
According to Bresnahan, Rangel is the subject of two different probes, one involving a host of issues he has put before the committee and another involving allegations that corporate funds may have been used improperly to pay for members’ trips to the Caribbean in 2007-08. Reps. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Donald Payne (D-N.J.) and Del. Donna Christensen (D-U.S. Virgin Islands) are also included in the second of those investigations.
A computer leak last week, made by a congressional staffer who was later fired, named more than thirty congressmen being investigated this year by either the House ethics committee or the Office of Congressional Ethics. The list contains a substantial number of White lawmakers, but the House ethics committee has not yet launched formal investigative subcommittees with respect to any of them — as it has with the seven African-American members.
“It is kind of crazy,” an aide to one senior black Democrat told Bresnahan. “How can it be that the ethics committee only investigates African-Americans? It doesn’t make sense.”
The nation’s only black senator, Roland Burris of Illinois, is currently under investigation by the Senate Ethics Committee.
..
Comment