Statement of Campaign Legal Center, Common Cause, Democracy 21, League of Women Voters, Public Citizen and U.S. PIRG:

Our organizations have sought to improve and strengthen a discredited congressional ethics process, including the creation of a more independent investigatory office. We note that yesterday's inadvertent release of information regarding the activities of the House Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) indicates that both groups are seriously pursuing their ethics responsibilities at this stage. In our view, OCE, both by its very existence and by its actions, deserves much credit for this sharp increase in activity at the Ethics Committee as compared to previous years.

We are deeply concerned, however, about yesterday's actions by the Ethics Committee with respect to the investigation of Representative Sam Graves (R-MO).

The Ethics Committee's strong attack on the OCE in its report dismissing the Graves case is completely uncalled for and raises serious concerns that the Ethics Committee is engaged in an effort to undermine, weaken and possibly eliminate the Office. It also raises serious concerns about the Ethics Committee's approach to interpreting House ethics rules.

The Graves matter is the first instance where the newly created Office has been publicly attacked by the Ethics Committee. The result has been a messy public food fight, with the House Ethics Committee inappropriately challenging the activities of the OCE. This outcome is unfortunate and we believe should have been resolved more professionally and amicably. If the Ethics Committee had problems with OCE, they should have been negotiated out in good will discussions as the process moved forward. Unfortunately, that did not happen in this case.

The accusations lodged against the OCE by the Ethics Committee include its failure to abide by the rules on timelines, and the failure to provide Rep. Graves and the Committee with what the Committee describes as relevant and exculpatory information. We believe that these questions about timelines and their extensions in this case were relatively minor and can be easily resolved in future cases. Similarly, there can be greater clarification about what materials should be made available by OCE to the Committee and to the subject of an OCE investigation. These disagreements should be viewed as bumps in the road that can and should be easily fixed.

But the lengthy Ethics Committee Report also contains the very troubling finding by the Committee that "no relevant House rule or other standard of conduct prohibits the creation of an appearance of a conflict of interest when selecting witnesses for a committee hearing." On this basis, the Ethics Committee goes on to conclude that OCE could not find a violation of any current House Rule or other standard of conduct and that it violated "both its authorizing resolution and its own rules when it forwarded this matter" to the Committee.

This approach to the ethics rules ignores the fact that there are various places in the ethics rules themselves where an appearance standard has been used by the Ethics Committee to find ethics violations.

House Members, for example, are subject to the "broad ethical standards" articulated in the Code of Official Conduct. Id. at 12. These standards provide that Members shall conduct themselves "at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives." Rule 23, cl. 1.

This standard is "the most comprehensive provision of the code," according to the House Ethics Manual id. at 13-14, and has been cited and relied on by the Ethics Committee in numerous prior ethics matters.

Thus, the notion that there are no appearance standards that could have applied to this case is just plain wrong. The "most comprehensive provision of the code" could have applied in this case. As a result, it is wrong for the Ethics Committee to claim that OCE violated "both its authorizing resolution and its own rules when it forwarded this matter" to the Committee.

There are other examples, furthermore, where an appearance of conflict or impropriety standard is found in the House ethics process.

For example, the appearance standard is found in the House Ethics Manual which states "Caution should always be exercised to avoid the appearance that solicitations of campaign contributions from constituents are connected in any way with a legislator's official advocacy." House Ethics Manual at 257 (1992 ed.).

The House Manual also states that House Members "should be aware of the appearance of impropriety that could arise from championing the causes of contributors and take care not to show favoritism to them over other constituents." Id. at 251.

Thus, the Ethics Committee dismissal of an appearance standard in ethics matters is a serious and regrettable mistake by the Ethics Committee We urge the House leadership to reject this notion and to take steps to correct the impression left by the Ethics Committee.

In addition, we note that the Ethics Committee attacks OCE for misapplying the "substantial reason to believe" test on the grounds that it did not cite the relevant ethics rule that may have been violated in this case. As House rules state, it is a core responsibility of OCE to determine whether a matter should be dismissed or should be sent to the Ethics Committee, based on whether OCE determines there is substantial reason to believe that any ethics rules and standards may have been violated. In fact, OCE did cite relevant ethics standard that may have been violated. It is then the Ethics Committee's responsibility to further investigate and adjudicate the matter. We strongly believe that the Ethics Committee should maintain its focus on the many important ethics matters currently before it rather than engaging in an extensive and time-consuming effort to undermine the basic functions and jurisdiction of the OCE.

While we are pleased that the Ethics Committee decided to release to the public the report and findings of OCE, as required by House rules, the Committee, by its own admission in its report, seriously considered not releasing the OCE report as requested by Representative Graves' legal counsel. To have refused to release the OCE report would have been a violation of House rules and would have called for serious criticism of the Ethics Committee. One of the main purposes in creating the OCE was to increase transparency.

The Ethics Committee's Report in the Graves matter reveals a troubling approach that has too often characterized the Ethics Committee's enforcement of House ethics rules. Too often, the Committee has resorted to highly technical legal interpretations or to questionable interpretations of the House ethics rules and standards when confronted with questionable activities that, to the public, come across as unseemly but are common practice among Members of Congress.

But the Ethics Committee has staked out much more dangerous territory here in (1) concluding that there is no relevant appearance standard that could apply in this situation and (2) attacking OCE for forwarding a matter which OCE concluded deserved Committee adjudication. The Committee's attacks on these points were misguided and the Committee's exoneration of Representative Graves based on this interpretation does not help the credibility of the House Ethics committee or the ethics process.

The transparency resulting from the release of the OCE Report and the Ethics Committee's Report has brought into full public view the internal struggle that is occurring between OCE and the House Ethics Committee. As public reports have shown, there are Members who apparently believe the OCE is either unnecessary or unwarranted. In the Graves Report, the Ethics Committee seems intent on giving OCE's opponents as much ammunition as they could muster.

We applaud the OCE for its performance to date. We recognize and appreciate that the Ethics Committee is currently engaged in serious ethics inquiries in multiple cases. We are concerned about the Ethics Committee's apparent efforts to attack the OCE and strongly urge the Committee to back off and work out its differences with OCE in an amicable, professional, and negotiated process.

A report released today reveals that the House Ethics Committee has until Friday October 30, 2009 to empanel investigative subcommittees or to release reports compiled by the independent Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) related to ethics questions raised about Members of the House. The third quarter report issued by the OCE revealed the impending deadline for action by the Ethics Committee.

According to the report, the recommendations to the Committee may include "among other things, findings of fact and citations to laws, rules or regulations that may have been violated."

In a statement, the reform groups, U.S. PIRG, Public Citizen, Common Cause, Campaign Legal Center, The League of Women Voters, and Democracy 21 said:

"Friday is the first benchmark of the new transparency that was promised in the creation of the OCE on the heels of Speaker Pelosi's commitment to 'the most honest , most open , and most ethical Congress in history.' We look forward to this milestone in the OCE's brief history."

The independent OCE was created by the house to increase transparency and accountability in the House ethics process. It first began operating during this Congress,

The quarterly report issued today explained that the OCE had referred several of its preliminary investigations into potential ethics violations to the full House ethics committee ("Standards Committee"). The report further indicated that the deadline for ethics committee action in several cases would be Friday.

"Under House rules, the House ethics committee has two options upon reaching this deadline: it can release the OCE reports or it can formally open an investigation of the referred cases, or empanelling a subcommittee," the statement continued. "The OCE was created as part of an effort to restore integrity and public credibility in the House ethics process. We hope this October deadline will be the beginning of a new level of transparency of the ethics process."

To view the report, click here .

Three Commissioners have announced their refusal to seek higher judicial review of a court decision declaring FEC regulations unconstitutional. This is a sad dereliction of their duties, though not a surprising one given their history of placing their own personal views and philosophy ahead of the statute and regulations they are obliged to enforce by virtue of holding office as Commissioners.

The regulations at issue were validly enacted by the Commission--though not by these three Commissioners, who clearly would not have voted for them. However, having been approved by a majority of the then-serving Commissioners, and duly published, they become legally binding and the Commissioner's obligation is to defend the agency's regulations, and to seek en banc and/or Supreme Court review, so that the highest-possible definitive judicial decision can be obtained.

Even in cases where Commissioners personally believe the regulations are unconstitutional, the issues are important and deserve full consideration by the entire court of appeals. That is especially true in case like this, where the panel decision decided issues not before the court and not fully briefed and argued by the parties to the case. Ultimately, any appeal to the Supreme Court in this case would be more fully developed if such an en banc review had taken place.

We are deeply disappointed that the three Republican Commissioners have rejected their own General Counsel's recommendation and have voted to block further review of a decision by the panel that declared important FEC regulations unconstitutional. It appears these Commissioners are under the false impression that they have been appointed to the federal bench, and given the power to rule on the constitutionality of federal laws and regulations, rather than being paid by a government agency to represent its interests. This placement of their personal views ahead of their responsibilities to their agency, and the resulting creation of yet another 3-3 deadlock at the FEC, only points up their failure to properly carry out their official duties.

Today the Campaign Legal Center and Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) requested a full investigation of a series of allegations of public corruption and possible violations of the Voting Rights Act by a Texas State Representative and a local election official. In a letter to Attorney General Eric Holder, J. Gerald Hebert of the Legal Center and Melanie Sloane of CREW outlined the allegations against Representative Dwayne Bohac (District 138) and Harris County elections office employee Ed Johnson. The letter emphasized that the known facts "strongly suggest public corruption in Texas and in Harris County, but may also include violations of the Voting Rights Act and other federal laws."

"The evidence indicates Mr. Bohac and others conspired to interfere with voting rights in violation of the law," said CREW's Melanie Sloan. "Because our democracy depends on free and fair elections, the Department of Justice should investigate."

"The facts speak for themselves and when there is such a clear conflict of interest for local prosecutors, the Department of Justice must step in to see that the laws on the books are enforced," said J. Gerald Hebert of the Legal Center. "We hope that DOJ will thoroughly investigate the facts in question in order to safeguard the process and to restore public confidence that elections are conducted freely and fairly."

The full letter to the Attorney General and a link to the attachments are below.

October 21, 2009

The Honorable Eric Holder

Attorney General

United States Department of Justice

10^th and Constitution Ave. NW

Washington DC 20530

Dear Attorney General Holder:

We write to request that the Department of Justice conduct an investigation into alleged illegal activity by Texas state representative Dwayne Bohac and an employee of the Harris County (Texas) elections office, Ed Johnson. The facts are set forth below and additional information is set forth in the attached documents. The basic facts are as follows:

1. Texas State Representative Dwayne Bohac (District 138) served as the vice chair of the Elections Committee in the Texas House of Representatives. As such, he has a substantive role in drafting state election laws. Bohac continues to serve on the committee as a member drafting election laws. However, Bohac has kept hidden his outside business interest as a Republican political consultant. Accusations have recently surfaced concerning his role in the Elections Committee, asserting he has crafted laws to help his Republican clients win elections. See attached.
2. Bohac is listed on the articles of incorporation as a principal of the Campaign Data Systems (CDS), a Republican campaign consulting firm that has charged its clients over $200,000 for its services. See attached articles of incorporation.One of CDS's clients is the local DA in Harris County, Pat Lykos, making it unlikely that the local DA would pursue an investigation and prosecution.Over the years, Bohac has worked in conjunction with Ed Johnson, his business partner at CDS. Johnson has testified at least eight times before the Elections Committee including bills that Bohac authored without disclosing their business relationship. Bohac also voted on this legislation, apparently in violation of the Texas Constitution, which states that any person who has a personal or private interest in any proposed or pending bill before the Legislature must reveal the relationship. Furthermore, such a person is forbidden from voting on any legislation in which they have either a personal or private interest.
3. Bohac's questionable actions taken as a member of the Texas Legislature are numerous. During the 2005 legislative session, Bohac authored HB 1268, which requires a voter to check a new box when providing a Social Security number instead of a driver's license number. Although this does not seem nefarious on its face, the new law allowed voter registrars to reject any application in which new voters mistakenly checked or did not check the box (regardless of whether they met all other formal state law requirements for becoming a registered voter). Using this technical provision of HB 1268, Bohac's business colleague at CDS who also served as the Associate Voter Registrar in Harris County (Ed Johnson), rejected an estimated 70,000 registration applications from January 2006 through October 2008. About 40,000 of these rejections resulted from the provisions of Bohac's new bill. Conversely, Dallas County rejected only 1,800 applications during the same time period.
4. CDS's website stated that the company's voter data file was bolstered by information taken from driver license records. See attached. The evidence suggests that Bohac may have obtained those records through Ed Johnson in an illegal manner. Texas law states that driver license records can only be obtained from the Department of Public Safety (DPS) upon signed agreement that they will not be sold or distributed to other individuals or groups. Records show that the Harris County Elections Department obtained and updated a database of Texas driver license records. Upon requesting those records from DPS, Ed Johnson in his official capacity as a Harris County election official signed an agreement on behalf of Harris County that he would not provide the information to others. Given that neither CDS, nor Bohac (nor any CDS client) requested or received records from the DPS, the evidence strongly suggests that that Johnson, together with Bohac, took the records requested by the Harris County Elections Office and then converted those data for their personal and business use at CDS, their private business entity. Neither Bohac nor Johnson has offered evidence that their political consulting company obtained the records from the DPS, which suggests that they illegally obtained the information to use for commercial purposes. Such an act would appear to violate both federal law and Texas law.
5. During the 2008 election, Bohac's business partner Ed Johnson engaged in further activities that may have violated federal and state law. Harris County voter registrar Paul Bettencourt and his staff were in charge of reviewing about 7,000 provisional ballots that were cast by citizens in 2008 who were not listed on the Election Day voter rolls. Republican ballot board chair Jim Harding has alleged Bettencourt's staff, which includes Ed Johnson, altered numerous voting records using white correction fluid and also altered other information on voting records.
6. Several elections were close enough in Harris County to have been affected by the 7,000 provisional ballots that Johnson and the registrar staff processed. For example, Republican Pat Lykos won her election for District Attorney by 4,784 votes, less than one-half of one percent. Candidate Lykos has ties with Bohac's business: she paid CDS over $7,000 for their consulting services. Similarly, Republican Ken Legler won the seat for State House District 144, winning the election by 902 votes. He also had ties with CDS, paying the firm $8,000 for their services.

These actions and other activities described in more detail in the attached documents, not only strongly suggest public corruption in Texas and in Harris County, but may also include violations of the Voting Rights Act and other federal laws. We respectfully request that the Department of Justice investigate these matters and take appropriate action.

Sincerely,

J. Gerald Hebert

Executive Director and Director of Litigation

Campaign Legal Center

Melanie Sloan

Executive Director

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington

To view the attachments, click here.