The House ethics committee is investigating a Caribbean trip taken last year by members of the Congressional Black Caucus, but they put a fellow CBC member in charge of the probe. Among those on the trip was House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charles Rangel, D-N.Y., who is already the subject of an ethics probe over nonpayment of taxes and other issues.
The group of members, all Democrats, said their trip was sponsored by a non-profit group, but the conservative National Legal and Policy Center, claims for-profit companies paid for the trip, which is a violation of House rules because it would give lobbyists for those companies access to members.
The ethics committee has formed a special subcommittee made up of four House members who will make a recommendation to the full ethics committee as to whether they think the members committed an ethics violation. Leading the investigation is fellow Congressional Black Caucus member G.K. Butterfield, D-N.C. The ranking Republican on the subcommittee is J. Gresham Barrett, R-S.C., who is running to replace embattled governor and fellow Republican Mark Sanford. |