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| -Lurid Crime Tales- | |
| Ethics panel looking at Shuler's role in deal | |
| 2009-11-01 | |
| A document inadvertently made public this week confirms the U.S. House ethics committee is reviewing U.S. Rep. Heath Shuler's role in a land swap involving the Tennessee Valley Authority. The Washington Post reported Friday that a summary of
The TVA's inspector general investigated the land swap and forwarded his findings to the ethics panel over the summer. The ethics panel, however, doesn't comment publicly on its activities, so the summary obtained by The Post provides the first acknowledgment that the committee is scrutinizing Shuler's actions. The status of the review is not clear. The summary that was the basis for The Post's report was from July, and the paper said it had not been able to determine why ethics investigators were reviewing the matter or the status of their review. A spokesman for the ethics panel did not return a phone call Friday. Shuler's office also did not return calls from the News Sentinel. The ethics committee's review of Shuler came to light when a document summarizing the panel's investigations into dozens of lawmakers was leaked to The Post after a junior ethics staff member saved the information on the hard drive of a home computer. The staff member, who was fired, had information-sharing software and didn't realize that someone could download the file. Besides Shuler, other lawmakers under scrutiny include U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, D-N.Y. and chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee. Ethics investigators interviewed Rangel regarding his personal finances. Investigators also are looking into the actions of seven members of a subcommittee in charge of defense spending, including the panel's chairman, U.S. Rep. John Murtha, D-Pa. The ethics committee is examining the relationship between the seven lawmakers and a now-defunct lobbying firm, the PMA Group. In Shuler's case, the ethics panel's review concerns a deal involving The Cove at Blackberry Ridge LLC, a development in which Shuler held an ownership. TVA gave the development water-access rights along Watts Bar Reservoir in Roane County to build a boat dock. In return, the development agreed to relinquish some water-access rights in Rhea County and provide $15,000 for a shoreline bank stabilization project at a different location on Watts Bar Reservoir. Shuler is formerly a member of the House Transportation Committee's Subcommittee on Water Resources and Environment, one of two congressional panels that provide formal oversight of TVA. A report issued by TVA Inspector General Richard Moore in June said the deal created an inherent conflict of interest, but that there was no evidence the congressman used his position to pressure TVA into providing water access for his firm. | |
| Posted by:Fred |
| #3 Ethics Panel Looking at Shuler's Role in Deal Yawn. Wake me up when they do more than look. |
| Posted by: Woozle Uneter9007 2009-11-01 15:43 |
| #2 I'm not sure what's going on here. I would like to know who is on the ethics panel. I know Shuler (Dem) doesn't always go along with his party. That probably galls the Obamaistas. My impression is that he is a pretty straight shooter who actually tries to represent his district. I think he voted against the stimulus |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2009-11-01 15:19 |
| #1 Heath Shuler? WTF? Well you can't spell Tangerine without TN. |
| Posted by: .5mt 2009-11-01 08:00 |