Ethics woes cast shadow on elections

WASHINGTON -- The dramatic FBI raid over the weekend at the office of Representative William Jefferson, Democrat of Louisiana, highlights the fact that major ethics problems are dogging members of both parties, political observers said yesterday, and complicates the Democrats' plan to make Republican corruption a nationwide issue in this fall's congressional races.

The search of Jefferson's office, in connection with a federal bribery probe, came weeks after another Democrat, Representative Alan B. Mollohan of West Virginia, resigned his post as the top Democrat on the House ethics committee over lingering questions about his efforts to direct more than $150 million in taxpayer money to charities he helped form.

The two investigations -- with made-for-the-movies details like the freezer stuffed with cash that agents allegedly found in Jefferson's home and hidden-camera images of an informant handing over a six-figure payoff -- are overshadowing, at least for now, other allegations of Republican wrongdoing that Democrats hoped would help them win control of Congress.

Though both Jefferson and Mollohan deny any wrongdoing, and neither has been charged with a crime, the scrutiny of Democrats has given Republicans a ready rebuttal to the Democrats' key campaign issue in this fall's elections.

``The Democrats' `culture of corruption' agenda has been washed away by their own ethics tsunami," Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, said yesterday. ``They're standing on the branch that they're sawing off."

Federal investigators' overnight search of Jefferson's Capitol Hill suite of offices was the first time agents have executed a search warrant in the offices of a sitting member of Congress.

Aside from detailing the cash stashed in frozen-food containers, FBI agents said in an affidavit made public on Sunday that they had captured the Louisiana Democrat on camera accepting a briefcase with $100,000 in cash from a Virginia businesswoman who was secretly wearing a microphone.

Jefferson vowed yesterday he would be vindicated and insisted he would not resign. He said he couldn't discuss specifics because the investigation isn't over, but blasted the FBI's search of his offices as an ``outrageous intrusion" that violates the separation of powers between the executive and legislative branches.

``There are two sides to every story," Jefferson told reporters. ``There are certainly two sides to this story. There will be an appropriate time and forum where that can be explained and explicated."

The allegations against the two Democrats could hamper the party's attempts to make upcoming congressional elections a national referendum on Republican leadership. Already, Democrats appear to be adjusting their message to voters.

Democratic House leaders want their colleagues to discuss high gas prices and veterans' benefits with constituents during next week's Memorial Day recess, changing the subject from the ``Republican culture of corruption" message that party chairman Howard Dean and House minority leader Nancy Pelosi have used to hammer Republicans.

But what may seem like good news for Republicans could ultimately hurt them, some political analysts say.

Jefferson's and Mollohan's scandals might add to public disaffection with Congress in general, and voters are more likely to punish the majority party, said Julian Zelizer, a congressional historian at Boston University.

``More tales of corruption only fuels the story that something's wrong in Washington, and voters will pin it in the party they associate with power," he said. ``If they're going to lash out at someone, it's going to be the Republicans."

Zelizer noted that the 1992 House banking scandal involved many Republicans as well as Democrats.

But Democrats, who were in the majority, were clobbered at the polls because their party was in power at the time, Zelizer said.

Democrats have piled on Republicans with each new suggestion of corruption: the indictment of former House majority leader Tom DeLay of Texas for alleged campaign-finance violations; the guilty plea of former GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff in a wide-ranging influence-peddling scheme; and the imprisonment of former representative Randy ``Duke" Cunningham, a powerful California Republican who took millions in bribes from a defense contractor.

Democrats are confident that Republicans' ethical and legal headaches will help them win the 15 seats they'd need to recapture control of the House. Still, Bill Burton, a spokesman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, said Congress's failure to act on pressing issues such as high gas prices and spiraling health-care costs are of greater concern to voters than any ethics problems.

``Americans want change, and Democrats are the party that's gong to bring it this November," Burton said. ``What's important to the American people is the fact that this Congress has not addressed the most important challenges facing their lives."

Nevertheless, for Republicans, the ethical climate is decidedly more favorable than they anticipated just a few months ago. Despite fears that it could ensnare a half dozen or more incumbent GOP lawmakers, the Abramoff scandal hasn't led to any charges yet; neither has an insider-trading investigation involving Senate majority leader Bill Frist.

Meanwhile, DeLay's resignation from Congress next month robs Democrats of a powerful image: a savvy, well-connected lawmaker who they say epitomizes GOP corruption. It also helps Republicans' effort to hold on to his Houston-area seat by removing DeLay's indictment as a reason to vote for the Democrats.

And the Republican-controlled House and Senate have both approved a series of ethics and lobbying reforms, though many Democrats complain that the changes are superficial.

``This is one of a number of issues where we can say there was a problem identified where we discussed a solution and enacted reform," said Danny Diaz, a spokesman for the Republican National Committee. ``Democrats continued to politicize the issue without offering solutions."

But Zelizer noted that Republicans could face more ethics embarrassments before November. Representative Bob Ney, Republican of Ohio, has been linked to the Abramoff case, and the Cunningham bribery probe, which authorities say hasn't ended, could involve House Appropriations Committee chairman Jerry Lewis, Republican of California, among others.

``There is some quiet from the storm, but the clouds are still there," Zelizer said.