Ethics probe prompts volley in congressional race
*Article appeared in the online version of Greenville's newspaper, The Daily Reflector. An ongoing ethics investigation examining a veteran New York congressman touched eastern North Carolina politics Tuesday.
Ashley Woolard, Republican candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives’ 1st District, demanded from the Pitt County Courthouse steps that Congressman G.K. Butterfield return $4,000 worth of campaign donations received from Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y.
Woolard, who faces Butterfield in the November elections, called the funds a bribe intended to influence Butterfield’s actions on the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct — regularly referred to as the Ethics Committee.
Butterfield refuted that claim in a written statement this morning. He said Rangel’s National Leadership Political Action Committee donated that money, with $3,000 of it given nearly five years ago during the 2004 election cycle. The final $1,000 was contributed March 30, 2008. Butterfield was appointed to the Ethics Committee Jan. 2009.
“Serving as a member of the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct is a serious responsibility,” Butterfield wrote. “For 15 years, I served in the judiciary of my state at both the trial and appellate levels and have a demonstrated record of fairness and impartially. As a judge, I presided over thousands of cases, civil and criminal, where counsel made small contributions to my judicial campaign.
“I did not allow the contribution to affect my impartiality and will not allow the contribution of the National Leadership PAC to affect me in any way.”
Rangel is under investigation for allegedly failing to pay taxes on a Dominican rental property; omitting income and assets from legally required financial disclosures; maintaining multiple rent-stabilized apartments in violation of New York City regulations; improperly using his office to solicit contributions for an institution named in his honor at the City University of New York; and accepting corporate-sponsored trips to the Caribbean in violation of House ethics rules.
The 10-member, bipartisan Ethics Committee is expected to release its findings Thursday, so Woolard said it’s a good time to show 1st District residents how their legislator is involved. The Rangel case is characteristic of how politics are conducted “inside the beltline” to the frustration everyday Americans, Woolard said. "There is a wind sweeping across this great nation that will cleanse our political system,” he continued. “This is a movement. There’ll be a lot of freshmen congressmen heading to Washington with me.”
Woolard’s speech today models action taken nationwide by the National Republican Congressional Committee. The organization has asked Democrat incumbents and candidates return thousands in “tainted campaign cash” given by Rangel’s PAC.
This article was written by Kathryn Kennedy on Tuesday July 27, 2010.
2 comments:
Ha, what a joke! Ashley really seems like a novice. Saying that Butterfield took a "bribe" is like saying Ashley is a swindler simply because he sells insurance that doesn't always cover a loss. Why not focus on the issues - unemployment, education, economy, national debt and the two wars? The lady goes invisible immediately after the primary only to surface with this red herring??? Ashley seems set on dividing not on offering solutions or working in a bipartisan manner. She should really learn what it means to be a statesman.
JUST AN FYI, here is some info on Ashley Woolard. http://www.woolardforcongress.com/page/1/bio.html. You might wanna look it up. HE might wanna know what lady you're talking about who has resurfaced with the red herring.And HE is already showing what it means to be a statesman by challenging Butterfield.
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