An official statement from the House Ethics Committee was released late Friday in which Rep. John Conyers, D-MI, the incoming chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, “accepts responsibility” for using his official staff for campaign and personal duties. The Hill newspaper broke the story here. Federal law makes it a crime for a Member of Congress to use official staff members to perform campaign or personal duties. Many official staff members participate in their bosses’ re-election campaigns every two years but they go off the official staff payroll when doing so. So, isn’t it convenient that the House ethics panel made Conyers’ oddly phrased confession public on the Friday afternoon before the New Years weekend? If the incoming Democrat majority in Congress is serious about cleaning up the mess left on Capitol Hill by the Republicans, they will end such transparent gambits to minimize the fall-out from a Member admitting to breaking the law. HT: Glenn Reynolds, who generally misses nothing. UPDATE: Other bloggers are digging into the Conyers situation. Check them out here, here and here. Conyers Democrats Republicans Congress Corruption
