Associated Press
Mr. Bachus will apparently need a good lawyer.
Congress' approval rating has already dropped to near-comical depths; new ethics allegations against a powerful House Republican probably won't help matters.
CBS's "60 Minutes" ran a widely-noticed segment recently on the practice of federal lawmakers making investment decisions based on inside information that the public does not have. It was especially unflattering for Rep. Spencer Bachus (R-Ala.), chairman of the House Financial Services Committee, who was receiving secret briefings on the imminent collapse of the global economy in 2008, and then making dozens of options trades that would make him wealthy as the economy deteriorated, relying on information that other investors didn't have.
As a result, the Office of Congressional Ethics has reportedly launched an investigation into the Alabama Republican's investments.
The Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent investigative agency, opened its probe late last year after focusing on numerous suspicious trades on Bachus's annual financial disclosure forms, the individuals said. OCE investigators have notified Bachus that he is under investigation and that they have found probable cause to believe insider-trading violations have occurred.
The case is the first of its kind involving a member of Congress. It comes at a time of intense public scrutiny of congressional ethics, with the House passing legislation Thursday to tighten rules against insider trading by lawmakers.
Those new rules have not yet been approved, but Bachus is apparently facing an ethics probe as a result of existing Securities and Exchange Commission laws.
As this investigation unfolds, it's also worth pausing to appreciate a larger point: there sure are a lot of congressional Republicans facing allegations of misconduct right now.
The Bachus controversy is arguably the highest-profile matter -- in part because of the "60 Minutes" report, and in part because of the power of his committee chairmanship -- but consider some of the other simmering investigations:
* This week, congressional ethics investigators concluded there is "substantial reason to believe" that Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-Fla.), one of the top Republicans in the House, "violated ethics laws by failing to report his position with a half-dozen firms."
* Rep. Michael Grimm (R-N.Y.) is facing allegations he accepted illegal campaign contributions during his 2010 campaign, aided by a district supporter who's facing a federal criminal investigation.
* Reps. Pete Sessions (R-Texas), Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), and Elton Gallegly (R-Calif.) have been accused of receiving special favors through Countrywide's VIP mortgage program.
The Hill recently flagged several other pending controversies:
* Rep. David Rivera (R-Fla.), who is being investigated by the FBI, IRS, Miami-Dade Police Department's public corruption unit, the Miami-Dade State Attorney's Office and Florida Department of Law Enforcement over allegations that he abused his former seat in Florida's state House of Representatives for personal financial gain and repeatedly lied on financial disclosure forms.
* Rep. Darrell Issa (R-Calif.), who came under fire last year when a New York Times article raised questions of legality around his former company's dealings.
* Rep. Joe Walsh (R-Ill.), who is accused of owing $117,000 in child support to his ex-wife, which he did not report on his financial disclosure forms and, if true, would violate House rules.
All of this only refers to ongoing controversies, and doesn't include New York Rep. Chris Lee (R) and Nevada Sen. John Ensign (R), both of whom resigned last year in the wake of sex scandals.
This hasn't quite reached the "culture of corruption" GOP scandals of 2005 and 2006, but it's getting there.
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It seems to me that whenever a good idea passes Congress they make sure it lacks funding and any real teeth. This should be interesting. Will charges lead to independent investigations and real punishment? I doubt it.
Tom is whitewashing the fence but Huck is handed an empty bucket and told to finish it.
This looks like a good spot to insert that old chestnut "I'm shocked that there is gambling at Ricks. . ."
(Why do they spend millions to get a job that pays $178,000 a year? The perks, my boy, the perks!)
The biggest perk being they are millionaires when they leave office if they weren't to begin with.
His phone calls during that time should be investigated also,how many friends and contributors did he contact to let them in on the corruption.Speaking of corruption,is'nt this the same kind of thing the republicans did the last time they held the house.Remember Jack Abramhoff and Tom Delay just to name a couple.
And yet these reptiles want US to believe that they uphold "family values, morals, decency, yadda, yadda, yadda"! Of course when you belong to Slytherin House I suppose anything and everything goes!!
What do you have against reptiles? Without snakes rats will eat up your corn, without frogs mosquitoes will eat you up, without gators there would be no "Swamp People" to watch and without lizards we would never have heard that little orphan say "leaping lizards".
My bad, wrong word - I actually like reptiles, I was trying to be polite & politically correct & stay away from the words "political whores" - which is what I actually wanted to use in the first place....Please forgive me...
Excuse me but I love whores. Whores are honest and don't play head games with you.
I also like contrarians because...(well they are fun to watch as they chase their tails).
Yes, but Barney Frank is a homosexual and that is a violation of Pat Robertson's interpretation of his god's law and more than outweighs dozens of republicans' violations of man's laws.
Surely, our savior and self-appointed mediator of all that is good in ameriKa, David Brooks will provide us with examples of both sides do it.
The House has passed the STOCK Act but they weakened the provisions for the benefit of Wall Street intelligence firms. Don't expect the House to do much with these ethics investigations. I wouldn't assume it is only the Republicans under investigation either.
...there sure are a lot of congressional Republicans facing allegations of misconduct right now. [...] This hasn't quite reached the "culture of corruption" GOP scandals of 2005 and 2006, but it's getting there.
I'd say they need more time to get there, but I'm rather unwilling to give it to them.
Spencer Bachus is a crook who should be put away.