McDermott First up for Ethics Panel

By James G. Lakely

THE WASHINGTON TIMES
May 16, 2005

When the partisan impasse over rules and procedures on the House ethics committee ends, the first member to face the panel won't be House Majority Leader Tom DeLay, but rather Democrat Jim McDermott of Washington.

The Seattle-area congressman, one of the most vocal critics of Republicans, has been under investigation by the panel since last year over his role nearly nine years ago in the illegal taping and distribution of a phone conversation involving then-House Speaker Newt Gingrich.
A federal court already has determined, for a civil lawsuit against Mr. McDermott, that the liberal lawmaker illegally distributed the tape, a judgment of the sort that usually prompts the House to take some action.

Sources close to the committee said the McDermott case was on the agenda for the panel's organizational meeting two weeks ago, but it was removed when it was clear that Democrats wouldn't vote to continue the investigation, as required by committee rules.
"He's headed for a bad end," said one source last week, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. "As a general proposition, the easiest cases for the ethics committee to handle is one where the courts have made a decision."