Dawn Gibbons Lawmaker's wife wrote check for $1,654 for share of cruise cost

WASHINGTON -- Rep. Jim Gibbons blamed a "clerical error made in my office" to explain why he did not seek permission under House ethics rules to accept a vacation cruise from a friend and political donor who also benefited from federal defense contracts, according to a document made public Thursday.

The Republican congressman told the House Ethics Committee the Caribbean trip that he and his wife, Dawn, and their teenage son took was valued at $12,419.50.

During the weeklong cruise, the family was told that $1,654 would cover their share, Gibbons said. Besides writing a check for that amount, Dawn Gibbons also charged $1,508 on a personal credit card for on-board expenses, he said.

Gibbons, who is running for Nevada governor amid allegations linking him to several scandals, asked the Ethics Committee for a "retroactive personal friendship gift waiver" to clear up the legality of the March 2005 cruise.

"This was a personal trip with a family friend, and to my knowledge there was no other members of Congress or discussions of congressional business aboard this cruise," Gibbons wrote in a letter to Ethics Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash.

Gibbons' attempt to gain a waiver after the fact shows flaws in how Congress polices itself, said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group.

"There is not a rule providing for it, nor a rule that does not allow it," Sloan said. "But it does not pass the smell test. If they were to give this to him, it would just emphasize what a joke the Ethics Committee is."

Gibbons wrote the letter on Wednesday after the Wall Street Journal reported on his relationship with Warren Trepp, a Reno software company owner and longtime friend and financial supporter who hosted the weeklong Caribbean cruise.

The Gibbonses were among 30 guests of Trepp, a former financier.

The Nevadan acknowledged the newspaper's report that he helped Trepp's firm, eTreppid Technologies, gain millions of dollars in federal work, some of it from classified defense and intelligence programs.

Gibbons insisted his actions were legal and proper, and that eTreppid was deserving of federal contracts it received.

The company developed data compression and pattern-recognition software that helps electronic weaponry recognize enemy targets.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev., also sought to help eTreppid, aides confirmed this week.

Trepp was a campaign donor to Porter as well as Gibbons.

Questioned about the Trepp-sponsored cruise, Gibbons told the Wall Street Journal he believed the cruise did not need to be reported to Congress because of a "friendship exemption" in House ethics rules.

That proved to be inaccurate reading of the gift ban and gift reporting rules, experts said.

On Wednesday, Gibbons top campaign aide Robert Uithoven said the lawmaker would take full responsibility if a violation was found.

Asked on Thursday why Gibbons was blaming "clerical error" if he believed at the time the trip did not need to be reported in the first place, Uithoven said: "The error was in not following due diligence in getting the letter and the information to the ethics committee in advance. The letter should have been handled administratively (by staff) and it wasn't."

"I am not trying to say that Jim is not responsible," Uithoven said. "At the same time, when there is a staff error, it is the member of Congress who employs us who is ultimately responsible."

Uithoven said the ethics letter may be amended further as information on the trip becomes clear.

Gibbons and his wife were in Elko for a campaign event Thursday with President Bush, and were difficult to reach for details, the aide said.

For instance, it was not certain whether the Gibbons family flew back to Reno on a charter arranged by Trepp, as reported by the Wall Street Journal.

If so, the value of the vacation would increase further.

As for amending Gibbons' 2005 financial disclosure reports to the House of Representatives to reflect the travel, "if the ethics committee comes back with the recommendation we should amend any other paperwork we certainly will do it," Uithoven said.