A document from the US House Ethics Committee that details ongoing ethics investigations currently in play was inadvertently released reports The Washington Post.
The 22-page “Committee on Standards Weekly Summary Report” gives brief summaries of ethics panel investigations of the conduct of 19 lawmakers and a few staff members. It also outlines the work of the new Office of Congressional Ethics, a quasi-independent body that initiates investigations and provides recommendations to the ethics committee. The document indicated that the office was reviewing the activities of 14 other lawmakers. Some were under review by both ethics bodies.
But the thing to remember about ethics investigations is that there is a presumption of innocence, however, when the usual suspects are named over and over again, throughout the years, one has to stop and wonder.
Ethics committee investigations are not uncommon. Most result in private letters that either exonerate or reprimand a member. In some rare instances, the censure is more severe.
Many of the broad outlines of the cases cited in the July document are known . . .