CBC member vows fair probe of Caribbean trip
(thehill.com)
[hahahaha--sorry! I'm really trying not to laugh here. Okay, to the article.]
“The chairman of a House ethics probe into a Caribbean conference attended by members of the Congressional Black Caucus is himself a CBC member who attended the same event in 2005.
Rep. G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.), the former judge chosen to chair the ethics probe, has vowed to lead a fair investigation into trips taken by CBC members to St. Maarten in 2008 and Antigua and Barbuda in 2007.”
[...]
House rules imposed by Democrats after they took back the majority in 2006 bar lawmakers from accepting travel lasting more than two days if corporations that “employ or retain a registered lobbyist” are underwriting or organizing any part of the trip.
Photos taken at the 2008 conference show banners bearing several corporate logos, including Pfizer, AT&T, Verizon, American Airlines and Citigroup. Against the backdrop of corporate logos, two CBC members thanked the corporate sponsors by name, according to recordings made of conference sessions.
Members attending the 2008 conference include Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.), Reps. Carolyn Kilpatrick (D-Mich.), Sheila Jackson Lee (D-Texas), Donald Payne (D-N.J.) and Bennie Thompson (D-Miss.) and Virgin Islands Del. Donna Christensen (D).
Rangel, his chief of staff George Dalley and Christensen, Thompson, Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.) and the late Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), who chaired the ethics panel at the time, participated in the 2007 trip to Antigua and Barbuda.
Peter Flaherty of the National Legal and Policy Center (A D.C. watchdog group) has done a great job following the Caribbean junket probe.
Sphere: Related Content
