OntheWilderSide

It’s a scandal making headlines everywhere.

Why did Attorney General Alberto Gonzalez’s Justice Department suddenly fire eight federal prosecutors, including the one who jailed former GOP Rep. Randy “Duke” Cunningham on bribery charges?  Was it political retaliation ordered by the White House?

And, why were members of Congress and their staff also pressuring these lawyers about other pending criminal investigations?

There are a lot of questions right now.  I think the most important one is – who will get to the bottom of this?  I’ll tell you who isn’t – the House Ethics Committee. Did you know that an investigation hasn’t even started? Some members of Congress seem content making excuses for bad behavior.  I think that’s wrong. What about you?

Use this link to tell Congress to create an INDEPENDENT outside ethics commission to investigate Congress’ role in this scandal:
http://www.commoncause.org/Ethics

Never before has the need for independent ethics enforcement been so great.

Consider this: A chief aide to Rep. Doc Hastings (R-WA), the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee, is among those who allegedly called a federal prosecutor in his boss’ district to lean on him about a criminal probe.  How can we expect a fair and impartial investigation, especially since Hastings and other GOP leaders have said there’s nothing inappropriate about the calls?

Common Cause is calling for:

• Congress to fully investigate it’s role in this scandal by creating a fully independent ethics process in Congress to investigate Members and staff who allegedly called federal prosecutors to pressure them on pending criminal investigations;
• An impartial and experienced investigator to review the escalating scandal;
• Reinstating prosecutors who were fired for what appears to be partisan politics at its worst.

Congress can’t investigate itself fairly.  We need accountability, and without an Independent Ethics Commission, we won’t get it.

Click below to tell Congress to form an Independent Ethics Commission now:
http://www.commoncause.org/Ethics

You can make our call even stronger simply by forwarding this message to your friends and family and asking them to sign, too.  Thank you for your support of better ethics in government.

Sincerely,

Jon Goldin-Dubois
Executive Vice President
Common Cause

Filed under: reform, US Politics Tagged: | Uncategorized