Letter Backing Gingrich Raises Questions

WASHINGTON —  A day after two Republican House Ethics Committee members opposed a censure for Speaker Newt Gingrich, a former chairman of the panel called such a prejudgment in a pending case unusual.

Previously, committee members have always been “exceptionally cautious” about making public statements when issues were not yet resolved, Rep. Julian C. Dixon (D-Los Angeles) said Wednesday.

In a telephone interview, Dixon expressed surprise at a letter that Reps. Porter J. Goss (R-Fla.) and Steven H. Schiff (R-N.M.) sent Tuesday to the GOP leadership in an effort to calm nervous Republicans before Tuesday’s scheduled election for speaker.

“I’m unaware of a member of the Ethics Committee heretofore communicating to the leadership of either party their predisposition to vote a certain way on a sanction,” Dixon said.

At least 13 GOP House members have expressed worries about reelecting Gingrich while he’s under an ethics cloud. The Georgia Republican acknowledged Dec. 21 that he violated House rules by failing to seek proper legal advice on use of tax-exempt contributions for political purposes, and by providing inaccurate statements to the ethics panel about the role of his political organization, GOPAC, in the tax-exempt projects.

In the letter, Goss and Schiff said they would vote for Gingrich for speaker and saw nothing in the evidence that warrants the severe penalty of censure, which would bar Gingrich from serving as speaker under Republican caucus rules.

The letter went to Majority Whip Tom DeLay of Texas, part of the GOP leadership team lobbying to save Gingrich’s job. DeLay sent it to all Republicans.

Dixon was chairman of the Ethics Committee for six years starting in 1989. His tenure included the investigation of former Speaker Jim Wright, who resigned after 69 counts of ethics violations were lodged against him.

Ralph Lotkin, the committee’s chief counsel while Dixon was chairman, said: “Historically, I am unaware of any instance, particularly to the case involving Speaker Wright, in which any member of the committee made any public statements regarding an evaluation of the evidence--or a prediction of the possible outcome of the process.”

Lotkin said it was “more than curious” that Goss and Schiff communicated with DeLay, “because of DeLay’s status as Republican whip and one of the key defenders of the speaker.

“It is reasonable to conclude that the communication represents a further infusion of politics into what should be nonpolitical peer review before the Ethics Committee,” Lotkin said.

The Ethics Committee will soon begin a review of the findings of its four-member investigative panel headed by Goss. Schiff was its other Republican.

The committee will hold a public hearing soon afterward on how to punish Gingrich, then make a recommendation to the House, with the ethics case to be concluded by Jan. 21.

One Republican, Rep. Michael P. Forbes of New York, has announced his opposition to Gingrich. At least 13 have expressed uncertainty about Gingrich’s reelection as speaker.