WASHINGTON Official: Traficant probe isn't moving fast enough

The congresswoman is not prepared to force the U.S. House to vote on the expulsion of U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr.
By DAVID SKOLNICK
VINDICATOR POLITICS WRITER
WASHINGTON -- A California congresswoman who introduced a resolution seeking the expulsion of U.S. Rep. James A. Traficant Jr. is not satisfied with the pace of a House ethics committee investigation into the convicted felon.
U.S. Rep. Loretta Sanchez, a Garden Grove, Calif., Democrat, wants a status report from the ethics committee by next week on its confidential investigation into Traficant, which could lead to its recommendation to expel him from Congress.
"She's going to look into the progress of what's happened," Carrie Brook, Sanchez's spokeswoman, said today. "Her point is if nothing is resolved, [Traficant] is still receiving a paycheck and the people of Youngstown are not being represented. That's an injustice and a resolution is needed."
Sanchez and U.S. Rep. F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., a 12-term Republican from Menomonee Falls, Wis., who chairs the powerful U.S. House Judiciary Committee, introduced resolutions April 16 calling for the expulsion of Traficant, a Poland Democrat.
Taking longer
Sanchez had expected Traficant would be removed by August, but the pace of the ethics committee investigation does not seem to be moving along that timeline, Brook said.
The resolutions, introduced less than a week after Traficant's conviction on 10 felony counts including racketeering and bribery, were nonprivileged, which means they were automatically sent to the ethics committee, which is investigating the congressman.
If the resolution was privileged, it would have compelled the House to debate the request and either vote on it or send it to the ethics committee within two legislative days.
Congressional Quarterly reported that Sanchez plans to meet with Sensenbrenner if she is not satisfied with the ethics committee's progress report and would "craft a strategy to move a privileged resolution to expel Traficant."
But Brook, who was with Sanchez during that interview, said the congresswoman has no intention of seeking a privileged resolution at this time, and any implication otherwise would be an overstatement.
Any decision Sanchez makes would be done after consulting with Sensenbrenner, Brook said. A call seeking comment from a Sensenbrenner spokesman was not returned late this morning.
Sanchez would like Traficant to resign, but that move is doubtful, Brook said.
Hasn't returned
Since his April 11 conviction, Traficant has heeded the advice of the ethics committee to not return to Capitol Hill while it investigates him. But Traficant has submitted his version of his federal corruption trial into the Congressional Record in written form.
An ethics subcommittee provided Traficant last month with a preliminary report accusing him of violating House rules.
The ethics committee could recommend a variety of sanctions against Traficant up to expulsion. It would take a two-thirds vote of the House to expel Traficant, who is to be scheduled to be sentenced July 30 by U.S. District Court Judge Lesley Brooks Wells.
skolnick@vindy.com