The Washington Post has an extensive article today on the growing scandal about the use of official resources for personal and political purposes.  That's illegal if it is happening.  CREW wants the House Ethics Committee to investigate.

From the Washington Post:

Democratic Reps. Jane Harman and Neil Abercrombie spent more than $2 million on their 2006 reelection campaigns but paid only $5,000 to campaign workers, according to campaign finance reports.

The two have been accused by a disgruntled former employee of forcing congressional staff to perform campaign duties and run personal errands on official time, allegations that both lawmakers vigorously denied yesterday.

Harman, a seven-term lawmaker from Southern California, and Abercrombie, a longtime congressman from Hawaii, ran lean campaign bids that they say relied heavily on volunteers between 2005 and 2006.

Both employed Laura I. Flores, who has pleaded guilty to fraud, in their congressional offices during that period. She is cooperating with a government inquiry into the use of legislative resources that has raised questions about whether congressional staff members were paid in part for helping with campaigns, according to a source familiar with the case and court documents.

Citing the Flores case, a watchdog group yesterday called on the House ethics committee to investigate whether lawmakers routinely flout rules that bar legislative employees from performing campaign work on official time.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington urged the House ethics panel to launch its own probe of a problem it warned may be "pervasive." CREW also asked congressional leaders to establish a process for staff members to complain about abuses without fear of retaliation.

"American taxpayers have a right to assume that their money is being spent on the people's business and not on campaign activities or personal matters," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW.

Using congressional staff members on official time to help campaign violates ethics rules. The practice also may violate laws that prohibit soliciting political contributions from employees, ethics experts said.

This morning, CREW sent a letter to the House Ethics Committee asking for an investigation of the developing crisis of members illegally using official resources for campaign purposes.  This afternoon, the Crypt at the Politico did a post on our letter:

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) sent a letter to the House ethics committee today looking to turn up the thermostat on a reported investigation into the use of congressional resources for campaign purposes. “Something’s going on here,” said Naomi Seligman, CREW’s deputy director. “This has been a practice on the Hill that hasn’t been regulated.”

The letter asks the ethics committee to allow staffers to confidentially report being forced to do campaign work. Read the full text of the letter here.

Today, CREW sent a letter to the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, more commonly known as the Ethics Committee. We want the Committee to take immediate action in the face of the developing crisis of members illegally using official resources for campaign purposes. A copy of the letter can be found here.

As we reported yesterday, Last week, Laura Flores, a former aide to Reps. Jane Harman (D-CA) and Neil Abercrombie (D-HI) received a reduced sentence for embezzlement in return for her cooperation in a probe into whether members of Congress have been using congressional staff and resources for campaign purposes. The Washington Post reported that the Department of Justice is investigating whether members of Congress have used phones, supplies and staff time for campaign purposes and whether staff have been directed to perform personal errands on government time:

In the course of plea negotiations, however, Flores provided testimony and documents as part of a previously unreported Justice Department investigation into whether members of Congress used phones, supplies and staff time for campaign purposes, according to the source.

Investigators also are looking into whether members of Congress directed their staffs to perform personal errands on government time, said the source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is at an early stage.

Congressional aides are prohibited from raising money or participating in campaign activities while on the government payroll, said election law expert Lawrence M. Noble. "It's a serious matter," he added.

In 2006, the FBI began investigating allegations made by former congressional staffers to Rep. Tim Murphy (R-PA) that they were forced to work on campaign matters during office hours. Similar allegations have been made by former staffers to Reps. David Scott (D-GA) and Gary Miller (R-CA).

Despite the burgeoning number of stories suggesting that members may be routinely forcing staffers to illegally engage in campaign work – and firing some who go public with such allegations – the House Ethics Committee has taken no action.

CREW has asked the Committee to proactively begin investigating the scope of this problem and require members of Congress to attend mandatory training sessions on the proper use of staff and congressional research. CREW has further asked the Committee to establish a procedure allowing staffers to file complaints about such conduct without fear of retaliation.

CREW's Melanie Sloan summed up the situation:

Once again, a major scandal is brewing on Capitol Hill and the House ethics committee is sitting it out. The question is, when -- if ever -- is the Ethics Committee going to prove itself more than a paper tiger?

We're waiting.