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Top Ten Ethics Scandals 2010 CREW’S TOP TEN ETHICS SCANDALS 2010 1400 EYE STREET NW, SUITE 450 WASHINGTON DC 20005 www.citizensforethics.org CREW’S TOP TEN SCANDALS OF 2010 Laugh ‘Til It Hurts Tickle fights are no laughing matter when they involve a congressman and his staff. Rep. Eric Massa (D-NY) resigned from Congress on March 8, 2010, following allegations of sexual harassment and bizarre behavior. His ever-shifting reasons for stepping down included his resurgent cancer, the toxic atmosphere of Washington, a pending ethics investigation, and, most colorfully, threats from a naked Rahm Emanuel.1 The laundry list of allegations against him paint a picture of a lawmaker out of control, whose crude comments and unpredictable actions had his staff on edge for almost a year.2 Rep. Massa, who lived with some of his staffers, was accused of a host of potential violations of House ethics rules, including groping staff members and using inappropriate language in his office.3 But it wasn’t until an anonymous online comment accused Rep. Massa of soliciting sex from a bartender that Rep. Massa’s staff contacted the office of House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer about the congressman’s behavior.4 When told about the allegations the week of February 8, 2010, Rep. Hoyer gave Rep. Massa and his staff 48 hours to report the matter to the ethics committee or he would do so himself.5 The ethics committee publicly confirmed the investigation into Rep. Massa on March 4, and the congressman announced his resignation on March 5.6 After Rep. Massa’s resignation, Republicans pushed for an investigation into when House Democratic leaders first learned of the allegations against Rep. Massa and whether they acted appropriately.7 The full House recommended the ethics committee continue its investigation into the allegations of misconduct, despite Rep. Massa’s resignation.8 On April 21, 2010, the ethics committee described the allegations against Rep. Massa as “serious,” and said it would look into the conduct of other House members and staff in the matter.9 Meanwhile, in the three days between his resignation announcement and actual departure, Rep. Massa’s campaign paid his chief of staff $40,000 and spent $32,000 to renew a lease on a car, prompting a separate federal investigation.10 Both investigations appear ongoing. 1 David Saltonstall and Michael McAuliff, Departing Rep. Eric Massa Goes Down Swinging: Rahm Emanuel Threatened Me – In the Nude!, New York Daily News, March 8, 2010; John Bresnahan, Hoyer Knew of Massa Allegations, Politico, March 3, 2010; John Bresnahan and Glenn Thrush, Rep. Eric Massa to Resign, Politico, March 5, 2010. 2 Carol D. Leonnig, Staffers’ Accounts Paint More Detailed, Troubling Picture of Massa’s Office, The Washington Post, April 13, 2010. 3 Jonathan Allen, Massa Aide Opens Door to Lawsuit, Politico, April 13, 2010. 4 Leonnig, The Washington Post, Apr. 13, 2010. 5 Id.; Bresnahan, Politico, Mar. 3, 2010. 6 Press Release, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, 111th Congress, Statement of the Chair and Ranking Republican Member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct Regarding the Investigation of Allegations Involving Representative Eric Massa, March 4, 2010; David M. Halbfinger and Raymond Hernandez, Congressman Accused of Harassment Resigns, The New York Times, March 5, 2010. 7 Leonnig, The Washington Post, Apr. 13, 2010. 8 John Bresnahan and Jonathan Allen, House Keeps Massa Probe Open, Politico, March 11, 2010. 9 Press Release, House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, 111th Congress, Statement of the Chair and Ranking Republican Member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, April 21, 2010. 10 Carol D. Leonnig, Payments by Former Congressman Massa Investigated, The Washington Post, April 22, 2010. Sins of the Senator Apparently, Sen. David Vitter’s (R-LA) prostitution scandal made him a little more forgiving of others’ misdeeds. At least, that’s one possible explanation for why Sen. Vitter kept on an aide accused of assaulting his girlfriend, and even used public money to pay the staffer’s travel expenses when he returned to Louisiana for two court dates in a DWI case. Other possibilities are less benign. Brent Furer, a legislative assistant who handled women’s issues, among other topics, was arrested in January 2008 for attacking his ex-girlfriend with a knife after he held the woman against her will, cut her, and threatened to kill her.11 Although Sen. Vitter’s office said the senator took “significant disciplinary action” against Mr. Furer after the arrest, records show Mr. Furer’s pay was suspended for only five days.12 Mr. Furer’s assault arrest was the most recent in a long criminal record, including at least three arrests for driving under the influence and one for cocaine possession.13 Taxpayers footed the bill for Mr. Furer to travel to Louisiana on two separate occasions – dates that coincided with scheduled court appearances for drunk driving charges.14 Sen. Vitter’s spokesman said the senator was unaware of the DWI arrest until it was reported publicly and it was standard procedure for staff to attend meetings in Louisiana.15 Mr. Furer finally resigned in June 2010, days after CREW and ABC News publicly revealed his assault charge and criminal record.16 Voters overlooked the scandal and elected Sen. Vitter to a second term in November. Ready, Fire, Aim! The carefully edited video posted by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart made USDA official Shirley Sherrod look like a racist.17 Ms. Sherrod, who is black, seemed to say she had failed to help a white couple save their farm because of race.18 Within hours after the video was posted, she was pilloried by everyone from the NAACP to Fox News commentator Bill O’Reilly, and her bosses pressured her to resign.19 Just as quickly, though, the news cycle turned around. The full video surfaced, making it clear Ms. Sherrod had been telling an anecdote about overcoming her own prejudice. The couple in the story said they counted Ms. Sherrod as a good friend.20 Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack offered to resign, and held a press conference to apologize to Ms. Sherrod and offer her a new 11 Matthew Mosk and Brian Ross, Vitter Aide Resigns After ABC News Disclosures About Past, ABC News, June 23, 2010. 12 Id. 13 Id. 14 Marsha Shuler, Records Link Aide’s La. Trips, DWI Case, 2TheAdvocate.com, August 19, 2010. 15 Id. 16 Mosk and Ross, ABC News, June 23, 2010. 17 Karen Tumulty and Krissah Thompson, Firing of USDA Official Shirley Sherrod Now Under Review, The Washington Post, July 21, 2010. 18 Id. 19 Howard Kurtz, Finger-pointing at Fox in Shirley Sherrod Firing, The Washington Post, July 22, 2010; Tumulty and Thompson, The Washington Post, July 21, 2010. 20 Tumulty and Thompson, The Washington Post, July 21, 2010. 2 job with the department.21 President Obama, meanwhile, apologized through his spokesman, and personally called Ms. Sherrod.22 Nevertheless, she declined the position.23 Greasy Palms The explosion of BP’s Deepwater Horizon also blew up the too-cozy relationship between the Minerals Management Service (MMS) and the energy companies it regulated. The problems with MMS were deep and longstanding. The agency had a built-in conflict of interest: it collected billions of dollars in royalties from the same companies it was responsible for policing.24 In November 2008, a former regional supervisor for MMS pleaded guilty to failing to report gifts from oil companies. An Interior Department investigation into the agency’s Lake Charles, Louisiana office, released shortly after the oil spill, found “that a culture of accepting gifts from oil and gas companies was prevalent” throughout the district office.25 The Interior Department report revealed a deep network of relationships between industry and government personnel, including long friendships. Larry Williamson, the Lake Charles district manager for the agency, went so far as to tell investigators, “Obviously, we’re all oil industry.”26 The report also found workers using illegal drugs, and hundreds of instances of employees circulating pornography on work computers. In one case, an MMS inspector conducted four inspections of a company’s oil platforms while discussing a job with the same company. As oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, the Obama administration dissolved MMS and replaced it with three separate regulatory agencies, dividing up enforcement, energy development and revenue collection.27 A December 2010 Interior Department report on the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Regulation and Enforcement, the agency now responsible for regulating the safety of offshore drilling, found continued problems with staffing, training, and pressure from the oil industry, though the report noted that the agency has already begun addressing many of its recommendations.28 As the spill recedes from public view, let’s hope regulators remember their job is to police oil companies. Junk Dealer Georgia voters overlooked an impressive array of red flags in choosing former Rep. Nathan Deal (R-GA) as their next governor: a federal probe, ethics investigations, and murky personal 21 Sheryl Gay Stolberg, Shaila Dewan and Brian Stelter, For Fired Agriculture Official, Flurry of Apologies and Job Offer, The New York Times, July 22, 2010; Roger Simon, Tom Vilsack Offered to Resign Over Shirley Sherrod, Politico, August 25, 2010. 22 Jake Tapper, Huma Khan and Karen Travers, President Obama Speaks Via Phone With Shirley Sherrod, ABC News, July 22, 2010. 23 Mary Clare Jalonick, Ousted Worker Sherrod Rejects Return to Ag Agency, Associated Press, August 24, 2010. 24 Patrik Jonsson, Obama to Sever Ties Between Drilling Cops and Big Oil, The Christian Science Monitor, May 11, 2010. 25 U.S. Department of the Interior, Office of Inspector General, Report of Investigation – Island Operating Company et al, Case No.
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