Wednesday, June 29, 2011

Another ethically challenged Dem Rep. Laura Richardson may have some ‘splaining to do to the FBI


Whatever happened to Nancy Pelosi’s promise to drain the swamp of corruption in Washington?

Dem Rep Charlie Rangel-certified tax-cheat who was in charge of writing tax law for the rest of us.

Dem Rep Anthony Weiner-certified freakaziod who spent more of his time sexting woman other than his pregnant wife than he did work for his constituents.

And here come Dem Rep Laura Richardson with her own alleged kind of misconduct.

The Hill

A leading watchdog group is touting new evidence of alleged ethics violations by Rep. Laura Richardson (D-Calif.) and calling for a criminal investigation.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) is accusing Richardson of habitually threatening her congressional staff with their jobs if they didn’t work on her campaign, and has asked the FBI to investigate.

“Rep. Richardson presented staffers with an odious choice: work on her campaign, or lose their jobs,” Melanie Sloan, CREW’s executive director, said in a statement. “Astonishingly, in just three short terms, Rep. Richardson has been the subject of at least two ethics investigations. Now a criminal investigation should be added to the list.”

CREW says it also has evidence that Richardson’s staffers were asked to make political contributions and run personal errands on behalf of the three-term lawmaker — a breach of federal laws barring congressional office funds from being used for unofficial purposes.

Richardson’s office fiercely denied the charges, characterizing the claims as old news.

“The allegations in today’s letter released by CREW are not new, and they are based on media accounts, information and claims reported publicly months ago,” spokesman Ray Zaccaro said in an email Tuesday.

In November, the Ethics panel interviewed Richardson’s staff about the allegations of campaign activity, but the status of that investigation is unknown. The Ethics Committee did not respond to a request for comment.

The FBI likewise declined to comment.


More here

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