news-record.com

WASHINGTON (AP) — A congressional ethics office wants lobbyists to turn over fundraising information on eight House members, six of them on the Financial Services Committee that is working to overhaul the nation's financial regulations.

Rep. Mel Watt, a Charlotte Democrat who represents parts of Guilford County, is among the House members that the ethics office is examining.

The Office of Congressional Ethics is conducting a preliminary review of the fundraising between Dec. 2, 2009 and Dec. 11, the day the House passed its version of the legislation. The bill, a sweeping overhaul of regulations that govern Wall Street, now is before a House-Senate conference.

A letter to the lobbying firms, obtained by The Associated Press and other news organizations, seeks information on Republican Reps. John Campbell of California; Jeb Hensarling of Texas; Chris Lee of New York; Frank Lucas of Oklahoma and Tom Price of Georgia. The Democrats are Joseph Crowley of New York, Earl Pomeroy of North Dakota and Mel Watt of North Carolina.

All except Crowley and Pomeroy are on Financial Services.

The letter sought information on individuals who attended fundraising events and made campaign contributions, along with any related written documents.

The information request, first reported in The Hill newspaper, did not specify a time period, but the offices of lawmakers told the AP of the December time frame.

The preliminary review determines whether a full investigation will be initiated. However, the Office of Congressional Ethics, run by a board of non-lawmakers, can only recommend actions to the House ethics committee. The ethics committee is composed of House members and decides whether lawmakers violated standards of conduct.

The ethics committee found no rule-breaking in an investigation of contributions to seven lawmakers by recipients of targeted appropriations - and a lobbying firm representing them.

While there have been several prosecutions in recent years of lawmakers receiving prison time for trading their votes for money or favors, the ethics committee said in the appropriations case that it rarely happened.

"Simply because a member sponsors an earmark for an entity that also happens to be a campaign contributor does not, on these two facts alone, support a claim that a member's actions are being influenced by campaign contributions," the committee wrote.

"As the Supreme Court has observed in other contexts, 'to hold otherwise would open to prosecution not only conduct that has long been thought to be well within the law, but also conduct that in a very real sense is unavoidable so long as election campaigns are financed by private contributions or expenditures, as they have been from the beginning of the nation.'"

The committee has disagreed with a number of findings by the congressional ethics office and moved in the opposite direction.

The House version of the financial regulation bill passed with no Republican support. Republicans had long objected to the legislation, with none considered fence sitters in the days leading to the final vote. Democrats Watt, Crowley and Pomeroy all voted for the legislation.

"My voting record and opposition to Washington bailouts has been consistent since day one under both the current and previous administrations," Price said in a statement. "The initiation of the preliminary review by the OCE to determine whether political contributions may have influenced my vote in favor of a smaller, more responsible, government is without any merit whatsoever."

Lucas, Hensarling and Watt are members of the House-Senate panel that is blending the House and Senate versions into one bill.

Hensarling spokesman George Rasley said the Office of Congressional Ethics had notified him that it was conducting a preliminary review of contributions during the nine days before the vote.

"The congressman publicly opposed major provisions of this legislation for almost six months before the time in question, he co-authored an alternative months earlier, he voted against it in committee, and he voted against it on the House floor," Rasley said. "Congressman Hensarling categorically denies any implication of influence and looks forward to clearing-up this false charge."

Lucas spokeswoman Leslie Shedd said: "This is an informational request and we have complied in full."

A spokeswoman for Crowley said the New York Democrat "has always complied with the letter and spirit of all rules regarding fundraising and standards of conduct."