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Ethics finds troubling conduct by Rep. Corrine Brown

September 21, 2000
Web posted at: 2:42 PM EDT (1842 GMT)

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The House ethics committee said Thursday that Rep. Corrine Brown exercised "poor judgment" and created "substantial concerns" in her connections to an African businessman. But the panel said its inability to reach key witnesses led it conclude that no rules or laws were broken.

African businessman Foutanga Dit Babani Sissoko had provided lodging to the Florida Democrat in his luxury Miami condominium and his chief financial officer had given a $50,000 Lexus sedan to Brown's daughter.

"Although the evidence ... raised concerns as to whether Representative Brown may have violated standards of conduct ... the subcommittee did not obtain sufficient evidence" to "adopt or to prove a statement of alleged violation," said the panel, whose official name is the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct.

"This was due in large part to the fact that key witnesses who had actual knowledge of the events within the subcommittee's jurisdiction were beyond the reach of the committee's subpoena power and could not be compelled to give testimony."

Despite the lack of proof, the subcommittee "does believe that Representative Brown's actions and associations in connection with Sissoko demonstrated, at the least, poor judgment and created substantial concerns regarding both the appearance of impropriety and the reputation of the House of Representatives," the committee said

Brown said in a statement, "For more than a year I have looked forward to the day when this matter would be put to rest and I am grateful that this day has finally come. The people of the Third District of Florida have sent me to Washington to serve them and I do so proudly."

Brown, of Jacksonville, is serving her fourth term, winning in 1998 with 55.4 percent of the vote despite the questions about her conduct. The ethics probe was formally launched June 9, 1999.

Sissoko was famous for giving away cash, jewelry and expensive cars to friends, lawyers and needy strangers. In 1997, he pleaded guilty to paying an illegal gratuity to a U.S. Customs Service officer to allow helicopters to be shipped to Africa. He was sentenced to four months of house arrest and four months in prison and required to pay a $250,000 fine.

In the summer of 1997, Brown sought help from other members of Congress and wrote to Attorney General Janet Reno, urging her to release Sissoko under a law that lets nonviolent criminals be deported before their sentence is completed. The effort failed and Sissoko went to prison.

Her daughter, Shantrel, accepted the car a few weeks later.

Brown gave her side in a deposition earlier this year -- in a lawsuit brought by a Dubai bank that accused the businessman of stealing more than $240 million.

The lawmaker said there was no connection between her lobbying campaign and the Lexus. She testified she stayed in Sissoko's luxury condominium in Miami in 1997 but reimbursed him $2,500.