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King cites Mollohan conflict, proposes $1 million probe |
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By Susan Crabtree
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Posted: 07/26/07 08:12 PM [ET] |
Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) yesterday challenged Rep. Alan Mollohan’s (D-W.Va.) chairmanship of the spending panel that funds the FBI, arguing that it creates a conflict of interest because the Justice Department is reportedly investigating Mollohan’s real estate deals.
King offered an unprecedented amendment to the Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies bill that would set aside $1 million specifically to investigate Mollohan’s real estate deals. The amendment failed on a vote of 19 to 388, with 16 members voting “present.”
“My amendment makes no assumptions as to guilt or innocence; the details of the investigation are properly left to the FBI,” King said.
“I believe an impropriety exists when the man holding the gavel in charge of Justice appropriations — the purse strings for the FBI and entire Department of Justice — is reported to be under investigation by the FBI. Because Speaker Pelosi chose to appoint an individual who is being investigated by the FBI to chair the [Appropriations Justice subcommittee], with full knowledge of this ongoing investigation, I am compelled to bring this amendment today.”
Mollohan, who was leading the floor debate on the 2008 Commerce, Justice, Science and Related Agencies bill, defended himself and appeared to counter with a threat.
“I have no doubt that the gentleman is a good person,” he said of King. “I have no knowledge that [the FBI probe] exists; I have never been approached. I would caution those who raise this issue.”
Appropriations Chairman David Obey (D-Wis.) immediately came to Mollohan’s defense, arguing that Mollohan has recused himself from FBI funding and that the spending process is no place to have a debate about ethics. If King wants to raise a conflict argument against Mollohan, he should do so in the ethics committee, Obey said.
Obey was also more direct in threatening retaliation, saying, “I know a little about the code of ethics — I served on the committee in the 1970s,” and added that King’s action could come back to haunt Republicans “with respect to another member on the other side of the aisle.”
While it was unclear who Obey was referring to, Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Calif.), the former chairman of the Appropriations Committee and now its ranking member, is also under FBI investigation for ties to a lobbying firm and tens of millions of dollars in contracts he directed to the firm’s clients. Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), another member under investigation, stepped down from the committee after the FBI raided his home this year. Lewis has remained on the panel despite calls for him to step down.
Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) also defended Mollohan.
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