I understand that Nancy Pelosi has already backed off from her threat. Newt Gingrich handled the matter masterfully, as expected, thanking Nancy Pelosi for giving him a Christmas present and demonstrating how utterly corrupt and politically motivated was the ethics investigation of about 15 years ago.
That is not to say that there will not be leaks in Washington but it is to say that it is not going to be so easy. First, I do not think any House member especially any House member who is a member of the ethics committee and participated in the investigation, will openly release such information. It will have to be done very carefully by leak.
I believe the entire house, the majority of which is Republican, will take very seriously leaking ethics committee proceedings. They will take it seriously for their own protection. If they negotiate a deal to end the affair they expect the affair to be ended. But Nancy Pelosi is threatening to break the rules of the house and that threatens every member of the House.
This was a judicial type rather than a legislative type proceeding conducted by the house. Most of these members are lawyers and they have a certain regard for the regularity of a judicial type process, especially when that process involves rules designed to protect them individually.
House members are lawyers who know that much of the information in these proceedings do not comply with the rules of evidence, such as uncorroborated hearsay, and which are not opened for rebuttal. We saw that for example in the investigation of Bill Clinton. They know that they will make themselves vulnerable to smears from unverified information if they do not put the lid on this.
There is another restraint operating on Nancy Pelosi. As bizarre as this sounds to us, she evidently still entertains aspirations to return as Speaker of the House. If she is exposed as having leaked such data even she must realize she would never become Speaker.
Having exposed herself publicly, no doubt out of ignorance, Nancy Pelosi now will be the first person suspected if there is a leak of the proceedings of the ethics committee. She must know that will, without actual evidence that she is the leaker, make it very difficult for her to become Speaker.
I do not claim that there cannot be a leak, but I think people will tread very carefully.
