Battle escalates over ethics -The Hill (new probe)

[Rose Siding]

Rep. Bob Ney (R-Ohio), the powerful chairman of the House Administration Committee, has attracted the attention of the House ethics committee for his dealings with disgraced lobbyist Jack Abramoff, said congressional and lobbying sources with knowledge of the matter.

The ethics panel has been working for the past month to glean more information on Ney’s involvement with Abramoff, which was first disclosed at a Senate hearing Nov. 17.

Ethics committee counsel Paul Lewis would neither confirm nor deny the panel’s interest in Ney — as is the norm for the highly secretive body — but it is likely that the action amounts to an informal fact-finding mission, which in some cases leads to an official investigation.

The committee has undertaken 18 such cases in the past seven years, Reps. Joel Hefley (R-Colo.) and Allan Mollohan (D-W.Va.), the committee’s chairman and ranking member, told House colleagues in March. Most matters were opened and closed without public knowledge, but some have led to disciplinary action. The panel admonished House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) three times in the 108th Congress.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/export/TheHill/News/Frontpage/121504/ney.html

[Benhurst]

1. Ethics? Are there any left on Capitol Hill to fight over ? NT

[Jeff in Cincinnati]

2. I know what you mean...

It's like a group of $25-a-throw hookers fighting over virginity.