NYT: With Changes to House Ethics Rules, Standoff May Emerge

[kskiska]

WASHINGTON, April 17 - When Representative Tom DeLay appeared last year before an ethics panel investigating bribery accusations surrounding a Medicare vote, lawmakers conducting the confidential inquiry let him know they had collected substantial sworn testimony about what took place.

What they did not tell Mr. DeLay, the majority leader, was exactly what they knew, giving them added leverage as they questioned him.

Mr. DeLay, speaking under oath, then gave a candid account of how he offered to endorse, in a primary election, the son of a Republican congressman in exchange for the congressman's vote on a prescription drug bill, confirming the exchange that was at the heart of one of Mr. DeLay's three ethics admonishments last year.

Now, past and present leaders of the House ethics panel say rules changes that grew out of Republican resentment over the treatment of Mr. DeLay and others are threatening to put the committee on too short a leash. The escalating partisan clash over the legalistic details of the ethics process has paralyzed the panel at a moment of intense scrutiny of Mr. DeLay's conduct and has highlighted anew the historical difficulty of politicians judging other politicians.

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http://www.nytimes.com/2005/04/18/politics/18ethics.html?