Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 21, 1990 TAG: 9007210117
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Medium
Republicans said they would seek a vote to expel the five-term liberal Massachusetts Democrat or censure him for his official actions on behalf of male prostitute Stephen L. Gobie.
The ethics committee unanimously reported that aspects of Rep. Barney Frank's relationship with a male prostitute "reflected discredit upon the House" and recommended that he be reprimanded before the full House next week.
But the panel also sharply criticized the credibility of Gobie, Frank's chief accuser, saying that much of his testimony had been contradicted when investigators checked it out. Gobie's lack of credibility weighed heavily in the committee's conclusions, the report stated.
The panel also gave Frank credit for expressing regret for his actions.
Frank is one of two acknowledged homosexuals in the House. In his news conference, he said, "I think I am justified in saying that this report bears out that. . . I told the truth."
"I don't think anyone who has judged the way this process has gone, I don't think they'd say they're being soft on me."
Gobie, meanwhile, told Boston radio station WEEI he was pleased the committee was not harder on Frank.
Frank paid Gobie $80 for sex and then hired him in July 1985 as a housekeeper and driver, paying Gobie with personal funds. Frank says he ended the relationship in August 1987 after learning that Gobie was operating a sex-for-hire ring out of Frank's Capitol Hill apartment.
by CNB