Two possible ethics trials of senior Democratic members of Congress are compounding the governing party’s political woes and raising hopes among Republican leaders that they can make large gains in November’s mid-term elections.
On Sunday, Republicans sought to capitalize on the ethics troubles of Democratic Reps. Charles Rangel of New York and Maxine Waters of California.
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) said on Fox News that Democrats had failed to “drain the swamp” of House ethics as they had promised.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) moved to limit the damage, saying the proceedings facing the two members show that Democrats are taking ethics seriously. “When I came in, we said, ‘We’ll drain the swamp,’ and we did,” she said on ABC’s “This Week.”
The comments came after Ms. Waters failed Friday to reach a plea agreement with ethics investigators and will face a public trial for allegedly using her influence to steer federal bailouts funds to a Boston-based bank in which her husband owned stock. A spokesman for Ms. Waters didn’t return calls Sunday.
Full Story: Ethical Woes Fog Democrat Hopes for November – WSJ.com
WATCH: RANGEL FACES 13 ETHICS CHARGES