ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609300073
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
The House ethics committee Saturday agreed to keep alive a complaint that Speaker Newt Gingrich broke federal gift and campaign finance laws, while dismissing - with criticism - allegations of financial irregularities by Democratic leader Dick Gephardt.
There was one piece of favorable news for Gingrich: The committee dismissed allegations that he improperly intervened with federal agencies on behalf of financial supporters.
The committee action was a compromise between Democrats, who sought dismissal of the action against Gephardt, and Republicans, who favored discharge of the complaint against Gingrich. The panel has five members from each party.
The committee scolded Gephardt for waiting until Friday to amend his financial disclosure statements for 1991 and 1992, to include a loan and rental income from a vacation home in North Carolina.
By doing so, committee Republicans were able to lessen the sting of keeping the Gingrich case alive, while dismissing the complaint against the Democratic leader.
For the speaker, the decision means he will face ethics inquiries on several fronts well into next year.
Thursday, the committee broadened an outside counsel's investigation of whether a college course taught by Gingrich was a political activity that violated tax laws. Among the new subjects in that inquiry: the accuracy of the speaker's statements to the committee.
The complaint involved in Saturday's decision was a separate action, filed by some of Gingrich's most vociferous Democratic foes. It accused the speaker of improperly accepting money from GOPAC, the political action committee he led from 1986 until 1995.
Committee Chairwoman Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., and ranking Democrat James McDermott, D-Wash., wrote letters to Gingrich and Gephardt informing them of the decisions.
LENGTH: Short : 45 linesby CNB