The Spokane County Democrats are asking the US House Ethics Committee to move forward on an investigation of alleged ethics violations by Congresswoman Cathy McMorris Rogers. Earlier this year the House Ethics Committee put a hold on investigating allegations that McMorris Rodgers improperly co-mingled campaign and official funds.
Earlier this week, the Congresswoman’s former press secretary sent a letter to journalists accusing her of “retribution” in connection with the ethics complaint. Todd Winer says the House committee is now investigating McMorris Rogers' efforts to intimidate him for cooperating with the investigation, and that the committee found numerous examples of her breaking House rules banning use of taxpayer money for campaign purposes.
Now, Spokane County Democrats want the ethics committee to move forward on the investigation, before the November Election. Jim Castro-Lang is the Democratic county chair.
Castro-Lang: “Why wait? Either figure out she did nothing wrong, and everybody’s out to get her or something like that.Or lets get to the bottom of this, did she do wrong and how serious it is. You know the 400 page report is pretty substantial, and if what’s that in that report is true, she lost track of the boundaries of campaigning and her office.”
Castro-Lang says he sent a letter to each member of the Ethics panel asking that they resume their investigation of Mc Morris Rogers, and publish findings before the election. Meanwhile, an attorney for McMorris Rogers, Elliot Berke, offered the following comment on the Democrats action.
Berke: "We are sorry to see more frivolous allegations and information from the same source. From the beginning the Congresswoman and her staff have fully cooperated with the Ethics Committee and will continue to do so should it have more questions."