Ethics issues prevail

Opinion: April 9, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Philadelphia Inquirer: The new Office of Congressional Ethics recently did something significant and unusual — it persisted in a disciplinary case against a lawmaker who was quitting.

Too often in the past, members of Congress could avoid the taint of an ethics probe by resigning. Leaving office early is punishment for a career politician, but quitting often allowed a lawmaker to avoid discipline that might have been meted out by a congressional ethics committee.

In most cases, the alleged transgression wasn’t resolved. But the case of former Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., is an important step forward in not allowing congressmen to evade their responsibilities.

The OCE believed Deal used his congressional office and his chief of staff to pressure Georgia officials to protect hundreds of thousands of dollars that his auto-salvage company earned annually from the state vehicle inspection program. The office referred his case to the House ethics committee for possible action. But just minutes before the committee’s deadline to act on March 21, Deal resigned. Now he is a candidate for governor of Georgia.

In the past, Deal’s resignation would have quietly ended the ethics probe. And voters in Georgia would not have been privy to any findings in the case. But five days after Deal’s resignation, the OCE decided to release its 138-page report on the subject. It showed “substantial reason to believe” that Deal might have violated House ethics rules.

The office pointed out that no other House member from Georgia had gotten involved in motor-vehicle inspections, which is a state matter. The OCE also found that Deal had failed to disclose to Congress $75,000 that he earned from his salvage company, an outside-income amount that is higher than what is allowed.

House Democratic leaders pushed for creation of the OCE in 2007 to jump-start a broken ethics enforcement system.

Even when the committee doesn’t get a chance to act, this new watchdog is serving the public interest by nailing down lingering questions. It’s a needed change.