Late on Friday, the House Ethics Committee issued a statement that Rep. John Conyers had “accepted responsibility” for “possibly violating House Rules” by requiring his staff to work on campaigns and perform other, personal duties. The Committee, whose formal name is the House Committee on Standards and Official Conduct, concluded that Conyers should “take a number of additional, significant steps to ensure that his office complies with all rules and standards regarding campaign and personal work by congressional staff." They also said, "We have concluded that this matter should be resolved through the issuance of this public statement."

At least three members of Conyers’ staff testified under oath that he required them to “babysit his children, perform personal errands, and to work on political campaigns (other than Conyers’).” Now, the first two items are obviously wrong use of the time of staffers who are paid taxpayer dollars to perform official duties. It looks like the newly-elected Treasurer of the State of New York may be forced to resign for misuse of public employees like that of Rep. Conyers.

But the third item is more serious. Under federal election law, it is a felony. Conyers could do hard time, if convicted of sending his staff to work in other people’s political campaigns. Based on the tap on the wrist from the House Ethics Committee, it’s clear as a bell that the sworn testimony of Conyers’ aides will never see the light of day in a federal courtroom.

Let’s talk about the House Ethics Committee. Ethics and Intelligence are the two Committees in the House which have equal numbers of Democrats and Republicans, regardless of the number of each party elected to the House. These two Committees have equally-ranked Co-Chairmen, one of each party. The idea is that this structure will cause them to act in a bipartisan manner.

In the case of House Ethics, that goal has been achieved, but not the way that those seeking integrity in public office had in mind. As I have written before, Republicans and Democrats on the Ethics Committee reach a mutually-assured non-destruction pact. It is: “We’ll go easy on your crooks, if you go easy on ours.”

In fact, the slap on the wrist for John Conyers is proof that House Ethics found the charges against him to be serious and well-established. I say that because normally the Committee reacts to potentially criminal charges against a Congressman, by hiding under a rock. Witness Rep. William Jefferson, (D, La.), arrested after being videotaped accepting a bribe, and $90,000 of the bribe was found wrapped in tin foil in his home freezer.

Hardly any offence by a member of the House more deserves immediate expulsion than taking a bribe. What has House Ethics done about Rep. Jefferson? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. The Committee ducked its duties to the House by waiting for the long-term criminal justice process to do the job. In the meantime, a crook remains a Member of Congress.

At least, Rep. Jefferson has been backed off of some of his more sensitive Committee assignments. Rep. Conyers has been assured that he will assume the Chairmanship of the House Judiciary Committee. That’s right. A Member of Congress who did not contradict sworn testimony that he committed multiple felonies, will be Chairman of the Judiciary Committee.

How did this happen? Well, good ol’ John has three Get Out of Jail Free cards. The first is, he’s a political ally of the new Speaker, Nancy Pelosi. It should be clear by now to everyone that Pelosi’s concern about public corruption melts away when the target is a Democrat.

Conyers’ other Get Out of Jail Free Cards are that he is a Democrat and a black man. Put those together and the mere fact that he committed a few felonies is no barrier to his remaining in the House, and “serving” as Chairman of House Judiciary.

About the Author: John Armor is a lawyer specializing in constitutional law, who may again be a candidate for Congress in the 11th District of North Carolina. John_Armor@aya.yale.edu

The following is the text of the House ethics committee statement regarding Conyers:

December 29, 2006
Statement of Chairman Doc Hastings and Ranking Minority Member Howard L. Berman Regarding Representative John Conyers

The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member, pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a), initiated an informal inquiry in December 2003 into reports that members of the congressional staff of Representative John Conyers had performed campaign activity on official time and in some instances using official resources, and that some staff members may have been compelled to do campaign work or personal work for Representative Conyers. The assertions in the reports, if true, could implicate a number of laws and House rules applicable to Members, including: House Rule 23, clause 1 (requiring the conduct of a Member or employee to reflect creditably on the House of representatives); House Rule 23, clause 8 (requiring that congressional staff perform official duties commensurate with compensation); 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a) and corresponding regulations of the Committee on House Administration (providing that official funds may be used only for the purposes appropriated); and 18 U.S.C § 606 (prohibiting adverse personnel action or intimidation to secure a "contribution of money or other valuable thing" including services, for a political purpose). Committee Rule 18(a) permits the Committee, in the absence of a filed complaint, to consider "any information in its possession indicating that a Member, officer, or employee may have committed a violation of the Code of Official Conduct or any law, rule, regulation, or other standard of conduct . . ." The Chairman and Ranking Minority Member may jointly gather additional information concerning such a potential violation unless and until an investigative subcommittee is established. During the course of their inquiry, the Chairman and Ranking Member asked for and received information, including documents, from several sources, including Representative Conyers. Committee staff also interviewed witnesses regarding the allegations. In the course of providing information to the Committee, Representative Conyers acknowledged what he characterized as a "lack of clarity" in his communications with staff members regarding their official duties and responsibilities, and accepted responsibility for his actions. Representative Conyers also provided the Committee with documents indicating that he had begun taking steps to provide clearer guidance to staff regarding the requirement that campaign work and official work be separate. After reviewing the information gathered during the inquiry, and in light of Representative Conyers’ cooperation with the inquiry, we have concluded that this matter should be resolved through the issuance of this public statement and the agreement by Representative Conyers to take a number of additional, significant steps to ensure that his office complies with all rules and standards regarding campaign and personal work by congressional staff. Representative Conyers has agreed to the following conditions:

1. Prohibiting his personal congressional staff (other than his Chief of Staff) from performing any campaign-related work, including work done on a voluntary basis, during the 110th Congress, unless the staff member takes a paid position on his campaign while on leave without pay status and obtains prior written approval from the Committee.

2. Informing staff members in writing of the prohibition set forth above against the voluntary performance of campaign work.

3. Distributing a memorandum to each member of his personal congressional staff which clearly sets forth all House rules concerning (1) the performance of campaign and other non-official work by congressional staff members and (2) the prohibition against the performance of any campaign-related work being conducted in either his congressional or district offices. Additionally, this memorandum will explicitly state that the performance of campaign or other non-official work by staff members may not be required as a condition of their employment.

4. Directing that meetings of his personal congressional staff be held annually in which the House rules concerning staff participation in campaign activities are discussed and explained. In addition, a description of these rules will be made a part of the orientation for all new staff employees.

5. Continuing to maintain the detailed time-keeping system initiated by Rep. Conyers during the course of the Committee’s inquiry.

6. Requiring that all members of his congressionalstaff attend a briefing conducted by Committee counsel on the application of, and compliance with, applicable House rules concerning the performance of campaign and other non-official work by congressional staff members.

Provided that the above requirements are complied with, this matter will remain closed, and the Committee will take no further action on it.

Paper's in Michigan are using the AP story below to report this announcement:

The story makes it sound like he simply forgot to brush his teeth before leaving home.

Conyers to clarify ethics rules with staff

12/30/2006, 5:50 p.m. ET

The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — The House ethics committee has closed its investigation of U.S. Rep. John Conyers, who has agreed to clarify work rules with his staff to ensure his office is in compliance with ethics regulations.

Three former aides to the Detroit Democrat in March said the veteran lawmaker used them as baby sitters and personal servants while they were supposed to be working in his Michigan offices. The aides also said Conyers had them pay restaurant and motel bills.

Conyers has served in the House since 1965 and is senior minority member of the House Judiciary Committee. He takes over as chair when the Democrats regain control of Congress next week.

The committee launched an informal inquiry into the matter in December 2003.

After reviewing information gathered during the inquiry, the committee concluded — without commenting on whether there was any wrongdoing — that it would best for Conyers to resolve the matter by taking steps to make sure his office complies with rules and standards regarding campaign and personal work, The Detroit News and Detroit Free Press reported Saturday.

"Mr. Conyers is pleased to cooperate fully with the committee to resolve this matter," according to a statement released by Conyers' office. "He agrees that he could have been more explicit with staff and agrees to do so in the future."

Conyers agreed to prohibit his congressional staff from performing any paid or voluntary campaign work during congressional sessions, unless the staff member takes a paid position on his campaign while on leave without pay from the office and obtains prior written approval from the ethics committee.

He also agreed to have an annual meeting with staff to go over the rules regarding work responsibilities and hours; and require all staffers to attend a briefing with ethics committee lawyers to explain rules regarding congressional and campaign work.

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