Watchdog Groups Weigh In On Ongoing Graves Ethics Inquiry

Two weeks ago, it was revealed that the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), a relatively new body created to strengthen ethics investigations in Washington, had found "substantial reason to believe" that Rep. Sam Graves was involved in a "substantive violation" of House rules.  The exact nature of the potential ethics violation was not specified, but the inquiry is believed to pertain to Graves' inviting of his friend Brooks Hurst to testify before a Congressional hearing on renewable fuels without mentioning that his wife and Hurst are investors together in renewable fuels plants in Missouri.

The OCE recommended that the House ethics committee -- a separate ethics panel made up of Graves' House colleagues -- review the matter. The ethics committee, however, accused the OCE of withholding information, a charge flatly denied by the OCE.

Here's what Roll Call wrote at the time:

The Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, commonly known as the ethics panel, said the quasi-independent board’s [OCE] own inquiry had found no evidence that Graves had broken any rules.

The OCE countered those claims several hours later, stating that Graves was not exonerated and noting its inquiry showed “substantial reason to believe that a substantive violation may have occurred.”

Today, six government watchdog groups -- the Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, the League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG-- came down "squarely on the side of the Office of Congressional Ethics"  in the dispute.  They also criticized the House ethics committee for publicly airing potentially unfounded concerns about the OCE before resolving the larger issue -- whether or not Graves broke House rules.  From The Hill:

“In taking this action, the ethics committee left the public impression that it seemed more concerned about the activities of the OCE than it was about the ethics inquiry involved,” [the watchdogs] wrote. “It is unclear why the committee felt compelled to make such a public statement about the work of the OCE in the middle of a nonpublic ethics inquiry by the ethics committee.”

The groups also heaped praised on the OCE for its work so far.

“Based on the public record, we believe the OCE is doing an excellent job,” they wrote. “We do not want to see the performance of the OCE undermined by inappropriate challenges to their work, nor do we want to see the stage being set for attempting to weaken the powers of the independence of OCE, when the House adopts new rules at the outset of the next Congress.”

Image credit: Daylife