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The House Ethics Committee says it is expanding an investigation into sexual harassment allegations against Republican Rep. Blake Farenthold of Texas. The committee said it will investigate whether Farenthold sexually harassed a former member of his staff and retaliated against her for complaining. The committee also said the panel would review allegations that Farenthold made inappropriate statements to other members of his official staff.

The House Ethics Committee on Thursday night cleared Rep. Devin Nunes, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee… Ethics said that, following analysis from "classification experts" it has determined that what Nunes disclosed was not classified information, ending months of "investigation" into the Republican lawmaker's. Nunes has called on the committee to release all transcripts related to his case. “I respect the ethics process, but I remain dismayed that it took an unbelievable eight months for the Committee to dismiss this matter.

In 1992, after Bill Clinton admitted to marital infidelities, George Stephanopoulos tells Sam Donaldson, "Bill Clinton has no character problem".

Hopefully Senate Republicans will be prepared for it, too. This leftover from yesterday will take on additional importance if Al Franken resigns tomorrow. Democrats clean up their messes while Republicans get theirs elected will be the cry from the media, ignoring their 25-year record of covering for Bill Clinton’s sexual predation and their efforts to get him back in the White House via Hillary. But still, that doesn’t mean Republicans won’t have to answer for Moore, and that the need will become more acute if Franken hits the bricks: The Senate Ethics Committee will immediately launch an investigation into allegations...

Mitch McConnell today warned Judge Moore that he will face an Ethics Committee grilling upon his arrival in the Senate. I have news for you Mitch. Judge Moore will destroy you and your parasitic Swamp suck-ups. He has iron balls. The Swamp is occupied by bullies and snowflakes. The only thing standing between bullies and snowflakes is a courageous person of virtue. He will humble you, crush his enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentations of their women.

The probe, likely to be rigorous, would be carried out behind closed doors by the Senate Ethics Committee's professional, nonpartisan staff. It could take months, and might come up empty or conclude with an "admonishment" — essentially a slap on the wrist. The committee could also recommend that the full Senate vote on a motion to "censure" Moore or expel him from Congress. “If he were to be elected, he would immediately have an issue with the Ethics Committee that they would take up,” Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters Tuesday during a Capitol Hill news conference.

We Sue Office of Director of National Intelligence over Failure to Produce Legally Mandated Report on Russia’s Election Meddling Obama Vacations, Campaigning Cost Taxpayers New Total Over $114 Million New FBI Records Show FBI Leadership’s Conflicts of Interest on Clinton Email Investigation We Sue Office of Director of National Intelligence over Failure to Produce Legally Mandated Report on Russia’s Election Meddling We’re a year into the Trump Administration, and we’re still trying to get a grip on why the agencies that report to him continue to slow walk the release of information the public rightfully should have. The latest...

Other Democrats were hesitant to commit to putting the entirety investigation results out in the open. "I think it's something we should look at," said Sen. Chris Murphy. "I guess I'm not intimately familiar with what parts of that are public knowledge and what aren't, but I think it's something we should look at." "I'd wanna have a sense of the precedent before I opine," Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse told Business Insider. "Ordinarily transparency is good but I don’t know." Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, a former chairman of the Judiciary, deferred to members of the Ethics Committee, who do not comment...

Self-driving cars may have to make the moral decision of who lives and who dies during a crash, according to a report.“As you approach a rise in the road, heading south, a school bus appears, driving north, one driven by a human, and it veers sharply toward you. There is no time to stop safely, and no time for you to take control of the car,” USA Today explained. “Does the car: A. Swerve sharply into the trees, possibly killing you but possibly saving the bus and its occupants? B. Perform a sharp evasive maneuver around the bus and into the oncoming...

The Oregon State Bar will move ahead with ethics charges against the state's former top federal prosecutor who lied about a sexual relationship with an underling. The agency's disciplinary board met Saturday to review the bar investigation into Amanda Marshall, who resigned in 2015 amid a federal inquiry into her relationship with an assistant prosecutor in her office. The panel determined there was probable cause to bring ethics charges against Marshall for violating rules dealing with honesty and trustworthiness. The case now advances to the trial phase. A panel will convene, likely sometime in the spring, to determine if Marshall...

Falsely accusing opponents with hate is a devilish tool of the anti-Christian crew. Given its prominence in current public discourse, one would think that hate, not love, is a many-splendored thing. The perfectly good word, which oozes out of every media pore, is now so overused that it means next to nothing. Every time you turn around, someone is accused of "hate" merely for expressing disagreement. This is not just a matter of semantics. It's serious. When you cheapen a word, it discourages honest discussion and leads to more confusion and conflict, which is how the devil likes it. We...

New York’s attorney general, Eric Schneiderman, has reportedly been assisting with Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe of former Trump campaign manager Paul Manafort.... Schneiderman’s public comments and civil lawsuits against Trump’s agenda make it impossible for the public to have confidence that he could be impartial on the subject of the president.... Prosecutors are expected to be fair and impartial in the administration of justice....Rule 3.8 of the New York Bar’s ethics rules, addressing the “Special Responsibilities of Prosecutors and other Government Lawyers,” states: A prosecutor has the responsibility of a minister of justice and not simply that of an...

Full title: Retired FBI Supervisory Special Agent Sues Justice Department for Records About Top FBI Official Ties to Top Clinton Ally Sues for Records on Links Between FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe and Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe (Washington, DC) – Judicial Watch announced that it today filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit on behalf of Jeffrey A. Danik, a retired FBI supervisory special agent, against the U.S. Department of Justice for records concerning FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe ( Jeffrey A. Danik v. U.S. Department of Justice (No. 1:17-cv-01792)). Danik worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigation for...

A day after President Trump gave a long-sought endorsement to Sen. Luther Strange, a wealthy businessman submitted complaints to Alabama's ethics commission and the Senate ethics committee, alleging malfeasance in Strange's Senate appointment. Developer Stan Pate says he spent $100,000 in Facebook ads branding Strange's appointment as part of a corrupt bargain with former Gov. Robert Bentley, and says he's concerned about the potential impact of Trump's tweeted endorsement.

In early April, news reports were filled with word that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Devin Nunes had recused himself from the committee's Russia investigation. Outside activist groups accused Nunes of revealing classified information, and the House Ethics Committee decided to look into the matter. Nunes was forced to step aside from the Russia probe while the ethics watchdogs worked. Now, nearly four months later, the committee is still working, with no end in sight. It's been an unusual investigation from the beginning. The House Intelligence Committee has nonpartisan staff to watch members for any possible disclosures of classified information. If...

"The Abedin emails include a mid-August 2009, email exchange in which Band urges Abedin to follow up on a request from Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy to set up a meeting with then-Ambassador to Panama Barbara Stephenson on behalf of lobbyist Amb. Otto Reich, President Reagan’s ambassador to Venezuela who maintained high-level government positions during the tenure of both President George H.W. Bush and President George Bush. In early September, Ruddy then was contacted by State Department Deputy Assistant Secretary for the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs, Roberta S. Jacobson, at the behest of Band and Abedin, in reference to Ruddy’s...

Investors are hoping to seize upon the $1 trillion infrastructure plan proposed by President Donald Trump to transform the nation’s highways, bridges, and tunnels into assets they can monetize by adding tolls and other user fees.The Trump infrastructure plan, which the administration plans to roll out this week, is centered on the idea of “asset recycling,” which refers to the process of securing new infrastructure spending by leasing the operations of existing public property to private operators.The privatization-centered scheme has the nation’s largest toll operators salivating. Transurban, Cintra, and TransCore, three major toll operators, have retained federal lobbyists to influence...

WASHINGTON ― Some of the Trump administration’s nominees have pushed back against the government’s ethics requirements with “a ferocity we’ve not previously seen,” Walter Shaub, the director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics, told a top White House lawyer in an email this week. Shaub was responding to Reince Priebus, President Donald Trump’s chief of staff, who, when asked on Fox News Wednesday why the White House has been slow to fill key positions, claimed that many nominees were “sitting and waiting for OGE.” “That’s not the case,” Shaub wrote in an email sent to Stefan Passantino, the White...

Yeah, for RTP there is nothing like the sweet smell of vindication. The crew here at Rocky Top has been reporting for months about what appeared to be numerous shady deals involving Sen. Bob Corker. You can see those posts here: - Special Report — The Corruption of Bob Corker (Part 1) – Coming up short in the ethics department. - The Corruption of Bob Corker – Part 1.5 – The Big Short, Corker Style. - Update: – Private Gains, Public Losses. - The Corruption of Bob Corker – Part 2 – Wells Fargo bails out Corker and his Cronies...

Devin Nunes to step aside from House Intel Russia investigation after ethics complaint Nunes statement at the link: https://twitter.com/BraddJaffy/status/849980499691003905