Group targets Pombo

Contra Costa Times ^ | 5/5/6 | Lisa Vorderbrueggen

[SmithL]

A Washington watchdog group has called on Congress and the IRS to investigate Rep. Richard Pombo, R-Tracy, for a laundry list of what it calls the lawmaker's ethics violations.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington -- CREW -- on Thursday released a 13-count ethics complaint and a letter it sent to the Internal Revenue Service.

Pombo called the charges a politically-motivated assault timed to appear just weeks before the June 6 primary election, where he has two opponents.

"I have never engaged in any illegal or unethical conduct whatsoever in my nearly 14-year career in the House, nor has any evidence been produced to support an allegation to the contrary," said Pombo in an e-mail statement. "It is common knowledge that CREW is a liberal-activist organization masquerading as a government watchdog group."

Republicans regard the ethics group as a liberal front because of the backgrounds of its board of directors and the majority of its wrath has been directed toward Republicans. CREW director Melanie Sloan has worked for Democratic Rep. John Conyers Jr. of Michigan. Its two vice presidents are former Clinton pollster Mark Penn and major Democratic contributor Daniel Berger.

Regardless, the report has no legal heft. Only Congress may initiate ethics probes of its members and the House ethics panel remains paralyzed by months of partisan dysfunction.

CREW spokeswoman Naomi Seligman Steiner said the organization hopes the document will spur a lawmaker to file a formal complaint and break the logjam.

The group's only other ethics complaint, which targeted Rep. Tom Delay, R-Texas, preceded the lawmaker's eventual resignation from Congress under a cloud of suspicion related to his and his staff's relationship with convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

Steiner denied that her group targets only Republicans.

It has released an ethics complaint against Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., regarding his alleged role in a conspiracy and bribery scheme. And it called for Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., to resign as ranking member of the House Ethics Committee after federal prosecutors launched an investigation into an alleged relationship between recommendations for federal spending in his district and personal business interests.

The Pombo report focuses on a series of controversies that have dogged the conservative congressman for years. Among the allegations, the group says Pombo:

• Took bribes when he accepted campaign contributions from Indian tribes and mining interests in exchange for favorable laws. Pombo has repeatedly denied any connection and correctly noted that tribes and mining interests historically contribute to the House Resources Committee chairman.

• Misused campaign funds when he hired his wife and brother to work on his campaign. The law allows relatives on the payroll as long as they do actual work and the wages are reasonable. No one has suggested that Pombo's relatives were overpaid or didn't work.

• Violated the law when he failed to pay taxes on trips to Japan and New Zealand funded by a private foundation. Pombo's accountant determined it was the foundation's responsibility to notify him of the tax obligation and said the lawmaker is not liable.

• Misused federal resources when he rented an RV with taxpayer money and toured national parks with his family. Pombo says the $5,000 it cost to rent the RV was an inexpensive alternative to chartering airplanes and staying in park lodges. He also says he paid all costs for his family, and their presence did not cost the taxpayers.

• Broke federal law that bans the use of taxpayer money to fund political mailers. Pombo sent mailers during the 2004 presidential election that touted the Bush policies such as opening Yellowstone to snowmobiles. The GOP-controlled House Administration Committee later barred the practice but found that Pombo never broke any rules.

• Violated federal rules that bar the use of office for personal gain when he took actions that bolstered his parents' financial interest in an Altamont wind turbine farm and obtained federal money for highway work that increased the value of relatives' property. Pombo has said that he didn't know about the letter his staff sent under his signature with respect to the Altamont dispute, a statement his critics disbelieve. But no evidence has surfaced that shows his relatives will specifically benefit from the proposed San Joaquin County highway upgrades.

• Dispensed special favors when he subpoenaed records from a federal banking investigation into Charles Hurwitz, a campaign contributor, to publicize the documents and destroy the government's case. Pombo has said that investigators and environmentalists were conspiring to extort valuable Headwaters forest land from Hurwitz, and he sought to expose their actions. A federal appeals court judge later agreed with Pombo.

• Broke House rules by allowing Resources Committee Chief of Staff Steve Ding to commute between Stockton and Washington at taxpayers' expense. The House Administration Committee found nothing improper in the arrangement, although Democrats continue to contest it.

[Political Junkie Too]

While he is not as conservative as Pombo, the best way to keep this district Red may be to vote Pombo out

Really? McCloskey is 78 years old. Why vote out a younger incumbant for a much older candidate who doesn't have the longevity to retain the seat for as long as Pombo?

The CA-11 is the redistricted CA-10 that Ellen Tauscher used to have (after Bill Baker imploded), plus the portions of the central valley that Gary Condit left behind.

-PJ