From The New Civil Rights Movement: 23 House Republicans selling agendas for cash

Editor's note: Republicans' BENGHAZI-Hillary witch hunt is going down in flames in a way that could give Hillary a pass with voters. A lot of Americans root for the underdog. Republicans may have shot themselves in the foot by exaggerating or fabricating wrongdoing and pandering to their donors instead of holding Hillary accountable for her actual misdeeds and mistakes.

See http://www.thenewcivilrightsmovement.com/thomasalberts/23_republicans_ethics_violations 
for the original article.

Selling Agendas For Campaign Cash': Ethics Violations Complaint Filed Against 23 House Republicans

The surprising resignation of House Speaker John Boehner, the withdrawal of his expected replacement, no viable candidate in sight, admissions that the Benghazi Committee was created to take down Hillary Clinton and its chair telling fellow Republicans to "shut up," and now allegations of cash for agendas. Is the House GOP trying to self-destruct?

Republicans' troubles may be just beginning considering that the American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF) has contacted the Office of Congressional Ethics charging 23 House Republicans over ethics violations. The complaint argues that these Republicans may have used their government resources for political and campaign purposes – a direct violation of federal law.

The complaint alleges the 23 House Republicans agreed, the Des Moines Register reports, "to provide details of their legislative strategy in exchange for campaign cash and "special attention.'"

A letter by the ADLF, released earlier this month, lists the 23 GOP congressional representatives that it argues have engaged in corrupt behavior:

Dear Chairman Skaggs:

This letter constitutes a complaint against United States Representatives Stephen Knight, Barbara Comstock, Rodney Davis, Jeff Denham, Dan Benishek, Tim Walberg, Martha McSally, David Valadao, Mike Coffman, Carlos Curbelo, David Young, Bob Dold, Mike Bost, Bruce Poliquin, Frank Guinta, Cresent Hardy, Lee Zeldin, John Katko, Will Hurd, Ryan Costello, Elise Stefanik, Daniel Donovan and Mike Bishop, (the “Members”) pursuant to Rule 3(A) of the Office of Congressional Ethics Rules for the Conduct of Investigations. It has come to my attention that the Members have violated 31 U.S.C. § 1301 and House rules prohibiting official resources from being used for campaign or political purposes.

“Vulnerable Republican House Members are literally selling their legislative agendas to a political committee for campaign cash,” American Democracy Legal Fund (ADLF) spokeswoman Mary Jennings said in a statement. “Members of Congress are supposed to craft a legislative agenda that benefits their constituents, not auction their vote off to the highest bidder.”

Meanwhile, an emboldened Hillary Clinton will testify before the Benghazi Committee Thursday as Rep. Gowdy tries to reassert control over the situation – even going so far as to try to silence fellow Republicans involved in the matter. On Sunday, he said on CBS' "Face the Nation" that he wanted other Republicans to "shut up" regarding Hillary Clinton and the Benghazi Committee.

"I have told my own Republican colleagues and friends, shut up talking about things that you don't know anything about. And unless you're on the committee, you have no idea what we've done, why we've done it and what new facts we have found," Gowdy said.

Clinton has already taken advantage of recent remarks made by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy and New York State Representative Richard Hanna that both insinuated that the Benghazi Committee has specifically targeted Clinton in order to hurt her presidential campaign. The remarks have called the committee's purpose and Gowdy's reputation into question.

Clinton herself has used the situation to her advantage in the first Democratic debate last week and in a recent interview with CNN, saying, "I think it's pretty clear that whatever they might have thought they were doing, they ended up becoming a partisan arm of the Republican National Committee with an overwhelming focus on trying to as, they admitted, down my poll numbers."

If an investigation into the 23 Republicans targeted by the ADLF turns up evidence of corruption then the entire House GOP could be thrown into greater turmoil. This, combined with the controversy that Gowdy finds himself in could spell trouble for House Republicans as McCarthy's admission has already cost him the House Speakership. This does not bode well for the GOP heading into the 2016 election approaches.