McConnell, Rogers on ‘Most Corrupt’ list

Local News

September 19, 2007

Ronica Shannon The Richmond Register Wed Sep 19, 2007, 08:59 AM EDT

U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and U.S. Rep. Harold “Hal” Rogers, R-5th District, have made it onto a national “Top 22” list that does not necessarily deem distinction.

“Beyond DeLay: The 22 Most Corrupt Members of Congress (And Two to Watch),” was released Tuesday by CREW (Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington).

The third annual report can be viewed at www.beyonddelay.org. The site offers short summaries of each member’s transgressions, full-length profiles and all accompanying documentation.

Reports for McConnell and Rogers are similar in that they claim each was using his power in government to benefit themselves, their families and their campaigns.

Most of the report’s accusations against McConnell can be traced back to his former chief legal council, G. Hunter Bates, who served McConnell from 1997-2002. Bates, of Louisville, is chairman of the Eastern Kentucky University Board of Regents.

He later formed Bates Capitol Group LLC (or “Bates Capitol) and clients included: E-Cavern, Voice for Humanity, Appriss Inc. and Boardpoint LLC, all of which have received (funding) earmarks from McConnell, according to CREW’s report.

“All of these companies have made substantial contributions to Sen. McConnell’s campaigns,” the report states. It also accuses the Bates Capitol Group of hiring former McConnell staffers including: Holly Piper, wife of Sen. McConnell’s chief of staff Bill Piper, and former McConnell aides Patrick Jennings and Lesley Elliot.

One thing that concerns Don Stewart, a press secretary for McConnell, is the timeline of the allegations.

“All the things they mention (in the report) are from 2002 or prior,” Stewart said. “It makes you wonder why this year, the year they happen to be up for re-election.

“I think this list is made up of 18 Republicans and four Democrats,” Stewart said. “My guess is that there is some kind of coincidence here. I think most of the people on (the list) are up for re-election.”

The CREW report insists that “Rep. Rogers’ ethics issues stem from misuse of his position to steer millions of dollars in earmarks to campaign contributors, including a company that employs his son.”

The full report includes these accusations: “In 2004, a Virginia-based company, BearingPoint, selected Senture, a call-center service provider, to set up a call center for a test of a prototype transportation worker card. Just before the contract was awarded, Senture hired Rep. Rogers’ son John as a computer systems administrator.

Then in 2003, Senture won an unrelated $4 million contract with DHS to field calls from truckers. Between 2002 and 2005, officials from Senture, BearingPoint and its lobbyist, Van Scoyoc, donated $41,989 to Rep. Rogers’ campaign committee and PAC.”

Rogers may have violated the bribery statute and/or received illegal gratuities and violated House ethics rules, according to the report.

Rogers could not be reached Tuesday for comment.

“Every year CREW creates this compendium of corruption to expose and hold accountable those members of Congress who believe they are above the law,” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of CREW. “With the third edition of Beyond DeLay it has become abundantly clear that many public officials believe that the rules don’t apply to them.”

Along with McConnell and Rogers, others among the “corrupted” list include: Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif.; Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M.; Rep. John T. Doolittle, R-Calif.; Rep. Tom Feeney, R-Fla.; Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska; Rep. Doc Hastings, R-Wash.; Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska; Rep. Duncan Hunter, R-Calif.; Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La.; Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.; Rep. Gary G. Miller, R-Calif.; Rep. Alan B. Mollohan, D-W.Va.; Rep. Timothy F. Murphy, R-Pa.; Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Pa.; Rep. Steve Pearce, R-N.M.; Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.; Rep. David Scott, D-Ga.; Rep. Don Young, R-Ark.; Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Ill.; and Rep. Heather A. Wilson, R-N.M.

The two who received the title of “Dishonorable Mention” (And Two to Watch) were Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, and Sen. David Vitter, R-La.

Visit www.beyonddelay.org for more details and to review full reports about each senator and representative on the CREW list.

CREW is a non-profit, legal “watchdog” group concerned with governmental accountability. Visit www.citizensforethics.org for more information about the organization.

The report stated: “Sadly, despite an election in which Democrats ran on a platform of eradicating the “culture of corruption” and the fact that voters overwhelmingly turned against members with ethics problems, very little appears to have changed. Members of both parties have boasted of Congress’ progress on this front, yet only tepid ethics reforms were passed and no new enforcement mechanisms were added.

“The bi-partisan House ethics task force, originally charged with reporting back by May 1, 2007, has yet to issue any recommendations, and the ethics committees in both Houses remain loathe to consider the unethical conduct of their colleagues unless, of course, gay sex is involved as we learned watching the Senate Republicans’ radically disparate treatment of the crimes committed by Sen. Craig and Sen. Vitter.

“As we said last year, if Congress is not going to police itself — and the evidence continues to demonstrate that it is not — the ethics committees should be disbanded and the charade ended. Thankfully, the Department of Justice does not share Congress’s willful myopia to corruption.”

To create this report, CREW stated that it reviewed news media articles, Federal Election Commission reports, court documents and members’ personal financial and travel disclosure forms. “We then analyzed that information in light of federal laws and regulations as well as congressional ethics rules.”

Ronica Shannon can be reached at rshannon@richmondregister.com or 623-1669, Ext. 234.

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