Ethics office seeks fundraising info on 8 lawmakers, most on Financial Services panel

Ethics panel seeks fundraising info on 8 lawmakers

WASHINGTON — Acting on a tip, a congressional ethics office wants lobbyists to turn over fundraising information on eight House members, six of them on the Financial Services Committee that worked to overhaul the nation’s financial regulations.

The Office of Congressional Ethics is conducting a preliminary review of the fundraising between Dec. 2, 2009 and Dec. 11, the day the House passed its version of the legislation. The bill, a sweeping rewrite of regulations that govern Wall Street, now is before a House-Senate conference.

A letter to the lobbying firms, obtained by The Associated Press and other news organizations, seeks information on Republican Reps. John Campbell of California; Jeb Hensarling of Texas; Chris Lee of New York; Frank Lucas of Oklahoma and Tom Price of Georgia. The Democrats are Joseph Crowley of New York, Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota and Mel Watt of North Carolina.

All except Crowley and Pomeroy are on Financial Services.

Hensarling spokesman George Rasley said the Office of Congressional Ethics informed Hensarling that a source had claimed the congressman’s opposition to the regulatory legislation may have been influenced by political donations before the vote. Rasley said the ethics office did not identify the source. The ethics office gave similar information to other lawmakers, officials said.

“Congressman Hensarling categorically denies any implication of influence and looks forward to clearing-up this false charge,” Rasley said. Other lawmakers also denied wrongdoing.

The ethics office declined to comment Tuesday.

The letter to lobbyists sought information on individuals who attended fundraising events and made campaign contributions, along with any related written documents.

The information request, first reported in The Hill newspaper, requested information covering fundraising dating back to January 2009. But the offices of lawmakers told the AP of the December time frame.

The preliminary review determines whether a full investigation will be initiated. However, the Office of Congressional Ethics, run by a board of non-lawmakers, can only recommend actions to the House ethics committee. The ethics committee is composed of House members and decides whether lawmakers violated standards of conduct.

The ethics committee found no rule-breaking in an investigation of contributions to seven lawmakers by recipients of targeted appropriations — and a lobbying firm representing them.

While there have been several prosecutions in recent years of lawmakers receiving prison time for trading their votes for money or favors, the ethics committee said in the appropriations case that it rarely happened.

“Simply because a member sponsors an earmark for an entity that also happens to be a campaign contributor does not, on these two facts alone, support a claim that a member’s actions are being influenced by campaign contributions,” the committee wrote.

“As the Supreme Court has observed in other contexts, ‘to hold otherwise would open to prosecution not only conduct that has long been thought to be well within the law, but also conduct that in a very real sense is unavoidable so long as election campaigns are financed by private contributions or expenditures, as they have been from the beginning of the nation.’”

The committee has disagreed with a number of findings by the congressional ethics office and moved in the opposite direction.

The House version of the financial regulation bill passed with no Republican support. Republicans had long objected to the legislation, with none considered fence sitters in the days leading to the final vote. Democrats Watt, Crowley and Pomeroy all voted for the legislation.

“My voting record and opposition to Washington bailouts has been consistent since day one under both the current and previous administrations,” Price said in a statement. “The initiation of the preliminary review by the OCE to determine whether political contributions may have influenced my vote in favor of a smaller, more responsible, government is without any merit whatsoever.”

Pomeroy spokesman Brenden Timpe said: “The facts here show that Earl actually stood up to the big banks and Wall Street interests and voted for reform legislation that they opposed.”

Lucas, Hensarling and Watt are members of the House-Senate panel that is blending the House and Senate versions into one bill.

“This is an informational request and we have complied in full,” Lucas spokeswoman Leslie Shedd said.

A spokeswoman for Crowley said the New York Democrat “has always complied with the letter and spirit of all rules regarding fundraising and standards of conduct.”