2009 Legislative Summary: Senate Ethics Inquiries

3 Jan 2010 // Status: The Senate Select Committee on Ethics took only one public disciplinary action, admonishing Illinois Democrat Roland W. Burris for his behavior while seeking appointment to the seat vacated in late 2008 because Barack Obama had been elected president. The six-member panel -- headed by Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., and Johnny Isakson, R-Ga. -- dismissed complaints against three Democrats. Boxer says the panel, which operates almost exclusively in secret, is conducting one other investigation.

Synopsis: These are the cases that received public notice in 2009:

- Burris. The committee announced its conclusion Nov. 20 that the senator, who is not seeking election in his own right in 2010, misled investigators and senators and inappropriately lobbied Rod R. Blagojevich, the Democratic governor who made the appointment before his own impeachment and removal from office for alleged corruption.

The panel said there was no evidence Burris violated the law but that his actions nonetheless reflected unfavorably on the Senate. In a letter of "qualified admonition," the panel told the senator, "[You] should have known that you were providing incorrect, inconsistent, misleading or incomplete information to the public, the Senate and those conducting legitimate inquiries into your appointment."

The panel began its investigation soon after Burris took office in January. He was appointed Dec. 30, 2008, weeks after Blagojevich was arrested on federal charges of soliciting bribes and conspiracy to commit mail fraud in a wide-ranging "pay to play" scandal. The ethics panel said that during a Nov. 13, 2008, phone call with Blagojevich's brother Robert, Burris pleaded for the Senate appointment and indicated he would help raise money for the governor. The call, "while not rising to the level of an explicit quid pro quo, was inappropriate," said the committee.

- Dodd and Conrad. In August, the panel decided to drop yearlong probes of Banking Committee Chairman Christopher J. Dodd, D-Conn., and Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a watchdog group, had filed complaints in June 2008 questioning whether the senators obtained mortgages from Countrywide under more favorable interest rates than generally available to the public because of their official posts. After reviewing 18,000 pages of documents and interviewing witnesses, the panel said it found "no substantial evidence" the mortgages violated Senate rules. The panel, however, said the lawmakers "should have exercised more vigilance" in their dealings with the company.

The probes focused on whether the chairmen received special treatment under a VIP loan program started by Countrywide chief executive Angelo Mozilo known as "Friends of Angelo." Investigators found that while the program offered a quicker and more efficient mortgage application process, the discounts "were not the best deals that were available at Countrywide or in the marketplace at large."

- Landrieu. In November, the panel dismissed a CREW complaint against Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., questioning a $2 million earmark for Voyager Expanded Learning that she secured in 2001, when she was the top Democrat on the District of Columbia Appropriations Subcommittee. The money was for a program to build literacy among the city's kindergartners and first-graders. CREW contended that Landrieu wrote the earmark four days after receiving $30,000 in campaign contributions from the company's executives and their relatives.

- Ensign. In October, Boxer confirmed a "preliminary investigation" of whether John Ensign, R-Nev., had violated Senate rules during and after an extramarital affair. She declined to discuss details, and the panel does not comment on specific investigations. The senator disclosed June 16 that he had an affair with Cynthia Hampton, his former campaign treasurer. CREW has raised questions about Ensign's dismissal of Hampton and alleged severance payments made to her and her husband, who was a member of his Senate staff.