Bid to reveal ethics critics’ funding draws opponents

WASHINGTON -- Sen. John Ensign says an ethics proposal he is trying to get through Congress will promote openness and "protect the Senate."

Critics say otherwise, that it is an attack on watchdog groups, would excuse corruption and likely is unconstitutional as well.

Lines began to harden Thursday as Ensign, R-Nev., unsuccessfully tried to schedule a vote on an amendment that would require organizations that file ethics complaints against senators to disclose where they get their money.

Public advocates bristle at the idea, saying it would chill the work of good government watchdogs and intimidate their donors, and is legally flawed on inspection.

"Senator Ensign and those who would support him are trying to get at membership lists and donation lists, and that is completely inappropriate," said Chris Farrell, research director at Judicial Watch, a self-described conservative group.

"This is an attempt to suppress public scrutiny and the public's right to demand accountability from their elected officials," Farrell said.

Ensign said the amendment is an antidote to what he called a practice of "partisans" wielding ethics complaints as political weapons.

Because investigations by the Senate Select Committee on Ethics are conducted in secret, senators have little way to defend themselves once such complaints invariably become known, he said.

"Your opponent can say you have an ethics complaint against you, and you can't do anything about it," Ensign said.

Except for anecdotes, Ensign acknowledged there is little hard evidence to back the charge.

"People on the Ethics Committee tell us it is a big problem and it's becoming more of a problem, and I will guarantee you it will become even more of a problem in the future as people see they can use it effectively," he said.

An Ethics Committee spokesman would not comment on the process or on Ensign's bill. Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., could not be reached for comment.

Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., a former Ethics Committee chairman, was examining the amendment and had no immediate comment, a spokesman said.

The amendment would require groups that file sworn ethics complaints to "include the names and addresses of all substantial contributors to the organization," an amount that could be as low as $200 depending on the group's legal structure with the Internal Revenue Service.

The public should be able to weigh the leanings of organizations that charge senators with improper behavior, Ensign argued.

"The amendment is just transparency," he said. "It doesn't protect Republicans, it doesn't protect Democrats. It protects both. It protects the institution."

An ethics bill Congress passed earlier this year requires the Senate Ethics Committee to file annual reports beginning in January describing the number of alleged violations it fielded.

While the panel generally does not confirm its investigations, groups that file complaints usually announce them in press releases while others are ferreted out by journalists.

One group, Citizens for Responsibility in Washington, has acknowledged filing complaints this year against Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., who is alleged to have tried to influence a federal investigation in his state; Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who admitted that a woman accused of running a prostitution ring had his phone number; and Sen. Larry Craig, R-Idaho, who is trying to overturn a guilty plea for disorderly conduct in a gay sex sting in Minneapolis.

Republican leaders in the Senate, which includes Ensign, also have asked the Ethics Committee to investigate Craig.

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., chairwoman of the Senate Rules Committee, has offered to hold a hearing, but Ensign said that would be a dead end.

"Offering a hearing is just a way to get rid of you," he said.