ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1997, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, January 18, 1997 TAG: 9701200040
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: WASHINGTON
SOURCE: Associated Press
Capping a two-year probe, the House ethics committee voted Friday night to reprimand Speaker Newt Gingrich for admitted rules violations and called for an unprecedented $300,000 financial penalty.
The sanctions, ratified on a bipartisan 7-1 vote, would permit Gingrich to retain his powerful post. Only Republican Lamar Smith of Texas dissented, saying the punishment was too severe.
The Georgia Republican had said in advance he would submit to the sanctions. A formal House vote is scheduled for Tuesday.
The committee voted after special counsel James Cole laid out the findings of his investigation in the case.
``Over a number of years and in a number of situations, Mr. Gingrich showed a disregard and lack of respect for the standards of conduct that applied to his activities,'' Cole said at a public hearing.
The proposed punishment for Gingrich was a plea bargain of sorts, the product of negotiations involving Cole, the speaker and members of the ethics subcommittee that has been investigating the case.
While the punishment does not formally recommend a referral to federal prosecutors, it makes clear that the records involving disputed tax matters will be made available to the Internal Revenue Service.
Gingrich's political action committee, GOPAC, solicited donations for a charitable organization aligned with Gingrich and his political backers. The organization then transferred the money back to GOPAC, according to Cole's report.
The report also shows that the transactions resulted in a tax break for Gingrich's political backers that they would not have received had they made their donation directly to the political action committee.
After days of partisan savagery, Rep. Nancy Johnson, R-Conn., gaveled the public hearing to order in an ornate hearing room across the street from the Capitol where Gingrich wields his power. ``The penalty recommendation the committee will consider is tough and unprecedented,'' she said. ``No one is above the rules of the House.''
If approved by the full House, the punishment would be the sternest meted out to a speaker since the modern-day ethics process was established three decades ago.
Republicans said they hoped Tuesday's vote by the full House would put the case to rest. But several Democrats renewed their call for Gingrich to relinquish power. ``Sometimes it's not enough just to say you're sorry,'' said Rep. David Bonior of Michigan, Gingrich's most tenacious critic.
And in a reminder of the political intrigue surrounding the case, the panel's senior Democrat, Rep. Benjamin Cardin of Maryland, released a document indicating there had been an organized political effort by Republicans to undermine some of Gingrich's most aggressive Democratic critics. Among the suggested strategies was to put Democrats on the defensive by ``attacking personal ethics'' and their legislative records and forcing them to ``defend the Clinton administration.''
For two years, Gingrich had denied all wrongdoing; then he admitted Dec. 21 that he had violated House rules. He said he had failed to seek proper legal advice on using tax-exempt projects to meet political goals, and he acknowledged that ``in my name and over my signature,'' inaccurate statements had been submitted to the ethics committee.
Cole, a former Justice Department prosecutor, said he and the investigative subcommittee had been ``faced with troubling choices'' in each of the two areas.
``Either Mr. Gingrich's conduct was intentional or it was reckless. Neither choice reflects creditably on the House,'' he said.
Cole said he thought Gingrich had committed a clear violation of the law that prohibits using tax-exempt organizations for partisan political purposes - namely, a college course the speaker taught.
The counsel also strongly suggested that Gingrich had violated the terms of an agreement he reached with the ethics investigators in December. That seemed to be a reference to a telephone conference call in which Gingrich conferred with GOP allies about how to launch a political counterattack that would preserve his hold on power.
Cole disclosed that the agreement for the sanctions had been settled in December, at the same time Gingrich admitted to the violations.
Cox News Service contributed to this story.
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