from the bcct:
Ethics complaint filed against Fitzpatrick
By: GARY WECKSELBLATT
Bucks County Courier Times
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington said the congressman violated House rules, federal law and the Constitution when he missed his swearing-in ceremony.
A political watchdog group filed an ethics complaint Wednesday with the Office of Congressional Ethics against Mike Fitzpatrick and Pete Sessions, the two lawmakers embarrassingly caught in a national media firestorm last week for missing their swearing-in ceremony.
Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington cites violations of House rules, federal law and the U.S. Constitution in its eight-page complaint to the OCE.
"Republicans have made strict adherence to the Constitution a hallmark of the new Congress," CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said. "Now we will find out if that was just window dressing designed to appease the tea party movement or if they were sincere. Two Republican House members have blatantly violated not only House rules, but federal law and the Constitution. Will they be held accountable, or given a pass?"
Though Fitzpatrick and Sessions were not on the House floor for the swearing-in, they participated in a series of votes that had to be nullified, and they later apologized to their 433 colleagues.
Fitzpatrick, Bucks County's 8th District representative, and Sessions, a Texas representative and head of the National Republican Congressional Committee, were at a reception for Fitzpatrick supporters when Speaker John Boehner issued the oath of office for the new chamber. Watching a large TV, the two raised their right hands and took the oath in front of about 500 Fitzpatrick supporters.
CREW claims the gathering was a fundraiser because about half of the estimated crowd paid $30 each to "Fitzpatrick for Congress" for a seat on one of several buses chartered by Fitzpatrick for the trip from Pennsylvania to the Capitol.
Fundraisers on Capitol grounds - the Fitzpatrick event was held in the Capitol Visitors Center - are against House rules.
"You're missing the oath for a fundraiser, what does that say about your priorities?" Sloan said. "It's all about the money from day one."
The Sunlight Foundation, another watchdog group, cited the House Ethics Manual when questioning the Fitzpatrick event.
It reads: "House rooms and offices are not to be used for events that are campaign or political in nature, such as a meeting on campaign strategy, or a reception for campaign contributors."
"We hope the Office of Congressional Ethics looks into this matter promptly," Sunlight spokeswoman Liz Bartolomeo said.
Last week, Fitzpatrick said, "To claim this is a fundraiser is just wrong."
On Wednesday, his spokesman Darren Smith said: "Congressman Fitzpatrick welcomes this review. The reception held last week in the Capitol Visitors Center was not a fundraiser. It was open and free to all comers and held in compliance with the House Ethics Manual."
Sloan said calling the Fitzpatrick event a reception and not a fundraiser "doesn't pass the smell test."
A registration form posted on the Fitzpatrick for Congress website provided options for contributing $30, $60, $90, $120 or "Other." The form, taken down from the site Friday and replaced with a thank-you note to those who attended the swearing in, was labeled "Mike Fitzpatrick's Swearing in Celebration."
Fitzpatrick said those amounts were based on people purchasing multiple $30 tickets for the bus ride.
"If you look at all the language that surrounded it, I would say that they were soliciting money," Sloan said. "This is not what you're allowed to use the Capitol Visitor Center for."
Election law expert and D.C. lawyer Brett Kappel sides with Fitzpatrick on the issue. He told Talking Points Memo last week that if the congressman's explanation of the event is true, it looks like the lawmaker wasn't doing anything against the law.
"This would have been a 'reception for campaign contributors' only if the event was only open to those who had made a contribution," Kappel said. "That doesn't appear to be the case."
Resolution of the complaint won't come any time soon, Sloan said. If the Office of Congressional Ethics dismisses it, that could come within 60 days. If it believes the complaint has merit, it'll take much longer.
"They're not quick," she said.
While Sloan admitted the actions of Fitzpatrick and Sessions are "not the end of the world," she criticized their "hypocrisy."
"Maybe we wouldn't have come down so hard on them but for the newfound devotion to the Constitution by Republicans. That somehow Republicans care about the Constitution and Democrats do not. When you claim you are going to be so devoted, you're going to be held, and I believe fairly, to a higher standard."
Gary Weckselblatt can be reached at 215-345-3169 or gweckselblatt@ phillyBurbs.com. Follow Gary on Twitter at twitter.com/gweckselblatt.
January 13, 2011 02:10 AM
