American Government Ethics Enforcement by . . . Russia
According to <a href="http://www.politico.com/story/2014/07/russia-bans-congressman-jim-moran…; target="”_blank”">an Associated Press article this weekend</a>, Jim Moran, a
congressman from Virginia, was banned from entering Russia
supposedly for a series of financial misdeeds. These supposed
misdeeds, as delineated in <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Moran#Controversies" target="”_blank”">Moran's
Wikipedia page</a>, include ethics and ethics-related criminal
allegations that have been dismissed by the House Ethics Committee,
the Virginia Attorney General, and the Federal Elections Commission.
Allegations of insider trading based on a 2008 briefing by the
Treasury Secretary and Federal Reserve chair do not appear to have
been investigated. There is no reason to believe that there was any particular wrongdoing by any of these bodies or offices; in fact, at least one of the allegations would not be illegal but, if true, would instead be an example of common, institutional corruption.<br>
<br>
This might be the first time an American politician has been
sanctioned by a foreign country for ethics violations (with or without a hearing). However, it
is believed that the real reason for the ban, besides simply a
tit-for-tat response to an American entry ban on certain Russians, was Moran's
sponsorship of an amendment prohibiting the U.S. purchase of helicopters
from a Russian state arms dealer that is alleged to have supplied
the Assad regime in Syria.<br>
<br>
But it's intriguing that Russia is at least posing as a protector of
the American people against the misuse of office by their
representatives for their own financial benefit. Will Russia next
call for an international governmental ethics tribunal? Or will it
take up every case the House Ethics Committee (or, for that matter,
any state and local ethics commission) drops? Will the Speech or
Debate Clause's "in any other Place" take on a new meaning?<br>
<br>
I'm being facetious, because this isn't really about government
ethics. But it does point to a problem with government ethics
enforcement in the U.S., and especially in Congress. If the U.S.
allows its representatives to get away with ethical misconduct, how
can it criticize other countries for their corruption, and how can
it not expect other countries to criticize it for its weak
ethics programs, its weak ethics laws, and its failure to acknowledge that the Speech or
Debate Clause was itself intended to be a government ethics
provision, rather than a way to protect elected officials against
government ethics enforcement?<br>
<br>
Robert Wechsler<br>
Director of Research-Retired, City Ethics<br>
<br>
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