Republicans were particularly eager to hit Emanuel, who knew about the Foley scandal before it unfolded in the press.
At least two GOP candidates — Tom Manion, who is running against Rep. Patrick Murphy (D-Pa.) and Keith Fimian, who is running against Gerry Connelly for retiring Rep. Tom Davis’s (R-Va.) seat — called on their Democratic opponents to return campaign donations received from Emanuel and Van Hollen.
Manion in a release pointed out Murphy had called on his opponent to return campaign funds he received from then-Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) during the Foley scandal.
Boehner and National Republican Congressional Committee Chairman Tom Cole (Okla.) accused Democrats of trying to forestall any more embarrassing revelations in the matter by calling for an ethics committee investigation. The ethics committee is notoriously slow to act and its deliberations and activity are secret.
After Rep. Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-Ohio), who chaired the ethics panel, passed away suddenly in August, Pelosi failed to name a formal chairman, instead allowing Rep. Gene Green (D-Texas), the next most senior member, to head the committee temporarily as the “acting chairman.” Some GOP aides and outside ethics experts argue that the decision not to name the next official chairman has slowed down the selection of the committee’s top aide (a position that has been vacant for months and does most of the heavy lifting in all investigations) because whoever is the next official chairman will want to name his or her own person to that key position.
“The American people, beginning with the people of Florida’s 16th congressional district, deserve to know the facts immediately about Congressman Mahoney’s conduct,” Boehner said in a statement. “They are also entitled to know immediately what House Democratic leaders knew about it, when they knew it, and what they did with the information.
“Congressman Mahoney and House Democratic leaders must provide these answers to the American people at once,” he continued. “They should not be permitted to hide behind the shield of a nonfunctioning House ethics committee or any convenient loopholes in House rules.”
Republicans claimed that Democrats are especially vulnerable on ethics issues because they won their majority in part because they promised to run “the most honest, open and ethical Congress in history.”
Cole held a press conference Tuesday with GOP candidate Tom Rooney, who is expected to catapult to victory in a district whose constituents are sex-scandal- fatigued. Cole used the time to accuse Mahoney of trying to stonewall on the specifics of the allegations and Democratic leaders of trying to stall any new disclosures until after the election by using the ethics committee as a fig leaf for decisive action.
“It’s clear Speaker Pelosi would like to sweep this under the rug through a lengthy investigation rather than shine a light of truth on the facts,” Cole said in a statement.
Democrats would not say whether they believed ethics committee members should return to Washington immediately to launch an investigative subcommittee to look into the Mahoney matter.
A Pelosi spokesman, however, emphasized that Pelosi urged the ethics panel to investigate the allegations as soon as she learned of them.
“She believes the investigation should proceed without delay,” said Nadeam Elshami, a Pelosi spokesman.
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