SLYLY and without warning, on January 2nd Republican congressmen announced as their first major initiative of the new year a scheme so crassly self-interested as to suggest they had learned nothing from the old one. Denizens of a reviled institution, and a party railroaded by Donald Trump’s populist insurgency, the Republicans planned to gut the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE): an independent investigative body designed to root out corruption among them. Less than 24 hours later, after a hail of condemnation, they turned tail; even so their bungling was damning.
The OCE was founded by the Democrats in 2008 after a run of scandals—including a big one concerning the Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff—highlighted the impunity with which some lawmakers were abusing their office in exchange for campaign contributions. The office is empowered and equipped to investigate any allegation of impropriety. It may then report its findings to the House Ethics Committee and, even if that body decides to take no further action, publicise them. Anti-corruption campaigners consider it an exemplary bulwark against official corruption. But many congressmen consider it over-zealous,...Continue reading
Source: United States http://ift.tt/2iG89eo
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