There are volumes written about exactly what ethics are, but
generally ethics refer to well-based standards of right and wrong that
prescribe what humans should do in terms of rights, obligations,
benefits to society, fairness, and specific virtues. Politicians are
rightly expected to display the highest ethics because their actions
directly impact society, and citizens deserve representatives who
conduct the people’s business fairly and that they never misuse taxpayer
dollars for personal gain. There are mechanisms in the United States
Congress to hold senators and representatives accountable for misusing
public funds, and last Thursday, a watchdog group filed an ethics
complaint against a repugican senator who, by all accounts, violated
Senate ethics standards and committed at least one federal crime;
possibly two.
In February, during a private meeting at his 2014 reelection campaign
headquarters in Kentucky, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and
several campaign aides met to discuss opposition research collected on
potential challengers. The discussion centered around actress and
activist Ashley Judd, and one could argue the subjects discussed were
unethical from a fairness standpoint, but repugican politicians are
notorious for unfairly characterizing their political opponents as a
matter of course, and campaigns are messy affairs. However, the ethics
violation charges are not about what McConnell’s aides said about Judd,
but about McConnell illegally using paid congressional staff time or
resources for his re-election campaign. According to Citizens for
Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), McConnell did use “
taxpayer-funded resources to pay staffers to dig up dirt on political opponents,” and CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan charged “
it isn’t just an ethics violation, it’s a federal crime.” CREW filed an
ethics complaint
with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics to investigate whether
McConnell spent taxpayer dollars to dig up dirt on potential opponents,
and a
separate complaint with the FBI to investigate McConnell for violating two federal laws.
In the tape recording at McConnell’s headquarters, the speaker
leading the discussion clearly said details contained in the opposition
research “
reflects the work of a lot of folks: Josh, Jesse, Phil Maxson, a lot of [legislative assistants], thank them three times, so this is a compilation of work, all the way through.”
Phil Maxson is a legislative assistant, Josh may refer to Josh Holmes,
McConnell’s chief of staff, and Jesse may be Jesse Benton, McConnell’s
campaign manager. McConnell claimed
the tape
was recorded illegally and asked the FBI to investigate who taped the
secret meeting, and if they broke the law they should face the
consequences, but that is a rank deflection away from the real crime.
Using taxpayer dollars is against federal law and congressional rules
barring lawmakers from using congressional staff or resources, which are
paid for with taxpayer funds, for campaign purposes.
According to
18 USC § 641, “
Whoever
embezzles, steals, purloins, or knowingly converts to his use or the
use of another… money, or thing of value of the United States or of any
department or agency thereof, with intent to convert it to his use or
gain, knowing it to have been embezzled, stolen, purloined or converted
shall be fined under this title or imprisoned not more than ten years.”
In 1993 a former House employee pleaded guilty to a charge of theft of
government property after it was discovered he did campaign work at the
same time he said he was conducting official business. Also, according
to
18 USC § 1341
– Frauds and swindles, paying congressional staff for campaign work may
constitute mail fraud, and in 1979 another former House member was
prosecuted for mail fraud for putting campaign workers on his
congressional payroll. If McConnell used anyone on his legislative staff
to do opposition research, or paid campaign workers from his Senate
payroll, he broke federal law on two separate counts and is in violation
of Senate ethics rules.
McConnell’s spokesman said the taped recording was erroneous and that
the aide leading the meeting did not say thank legislative aides three
times for their work compiling research on Judd, but that they engaged
in research “in their free time.” The tape recording is clear, and the
aide did not say “in their free time,” but it is not unusual for repugicans to tell people what they heard was not what they really
heard, and in McConnell’s case, the contention is an attempt to deflect
attention away from his activities by alleging the recording may have
been illegal. In fact, when McConnell’s office was questioned by
reporters about misusing taxpayer dollars for this campaign, they
refused to comment, but days later after realizing they were in
violation of federal law and Senate ethics rules, told reporters they
did not hear what the tape recording clearly revealed.
CREW executive director said McConnell should “
welcome both an FBI and ethics committee investigation into his conduct,”
but doubtless the ranking repugican in the Senate welcomes an FBI or
Senate ethics investigation. Especially damning in the tape recording is
naming Phil Maxson who has been in McConnell’s employ as a legislative
aide since early in 2011, but according to reports filed with the
Federal Elections Commission, he was never paid by McConnell’s campaign
committee or leadership PAC. McConnell’s request for the FBI to
investigate the recording will also necessitate the Bureau to fully
inquire whether he violated federal law(s), and coupled with the
complaint filed by CREW detailing the U.S.C. violations and an impending
Senate inquiry, he may rue the day he felt he was above the law and
that he made enemies emboldened to tape a secret strategy meeting. It is
not clear that the recording was even remotely illegal.
McConnell is a bad Senate representative for doing nothing but
obstruct the U.S. Senate over the past four years, but these charges are
serious and demand a thorough investigation by the FBI and the Senate
Select Committee on Ethics. The account also demands that the Federal
Elections Commission conducts their own investigation to determine why
McConnell’s legislative aide was working on his re-election campaign
without filing a report with the FEC. Doubtless, McConnell will claim
ignorance of the sordid affair and tap the legislative aides and his
chief of staff to take the fall and shield him from prosecution, but the
fact remains he was at the secret campaign meeting and plainly heard
what the tape recording reveals; that he used taxpayer dollars for
personal gain. Because McConnell did not immediately alert the FBI and
FEC that a crime had been committed, and failed to tell the Senate
Select Committee his paid legislative staff worked for his campaign, he
is culpable for concealing the malfeasance and deserves to be prosecuted
as if he directed the entire affair that is more than possible, it is
entirely plausible.
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