Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloan
Melanie Sloanis the former Executive Director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a nonprofit government watchdog group...
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A man who lives in a $1.1 million mansion in Washington does not intend to move into an 814-square-foot cottage that he's rented out since 1997.
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If rooting out corruption in the House of Representatives is truly a priority for both parties, then we ask a member, any member, to put their money where their mouth is and file this complaint against Acting House Majority Leader Roy Blunt. We urge members to end the ethics 'truce' and cease abdicating their responsibility to police the conduct of their colleagues.
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Why did Sen. Frist suddenly decide to sell the stock in June after holding the stock for so long? Also, did the Senator order the sale based on insider knowledge that the value of the stock was about to decline precipitously?
changes oversight rule virtually
Without oversight or enforcement, rule changes are virtually meaningless.
enforce enforcing ethics interest problem
The problem is, they don't want to enforce the ethics rules, and they don't have any interest in enforcing ethics rules.
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The only way to get an FOI request honored these days is to go to court. We can go to court and win, but some regular person is not going to know how to file a complaint in federal court and prepare a brief arguing that the administration is in violation of the law. And no one has endless resources to fight every denial. It's very effective, what they've done. They keep the information hidden.
concerning uncommon
I think it's a little too cozy. It's not an uncommon practice, but it is a concerning one.
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Rep. Johnson abused the public trust by using the power of his office to harass an organization which had taken a position with which he disagreed. Such actions are specifically prohibited by federal law and ethics rules and the House ethics committee should immediately commence an investigation into Rep. Johnson's disgraceful conduct.
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Rep. Jefferson's conduct shows a blatant disregard for the rule of law and the integrity of the House of Representatives. We urge a member of the House to ignore the long-standing ethics truce and file CREW's complaint with the House Ethics Committee today.
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Republican culture of corruption. There are so many corrupt members of Congress. By no means are all of the problems gone.
progress slow
Particularly in the House, the progress is very slow and may end up with very little reform.
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starting to undermine the prosecutor by implying that he's only going to be able to indict on technicalities.
reform
Lobbying reform is going more the enforcement route. What's that going to do? Nothing much.
heard lots pay view
Lobbying is cost-effective only for those who can pay for lobbyists. Those with an opposing view won't be heard as well as those with lots of money.