The House Ethics Committee told Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who pleaded guilty in his criminal case this week, that he needs to stop voting.
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1266816
This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://talkingpointsmemo.com/?p=1266816
Stop him from voting by expelling him from the House.
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What’s the big deal? Did he run those scams with the assist of a private email server or out of Benghazi? Did he buy stock in Burisma?
“take a Democrat down with matters of sex and a Republican down with matters of money” Seems like he was just playing by the rules.
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Ducky Hunter is a grifter. He is just like Trump’s other early supporter, Chris Collins, a grifter. Both saw a fellow crook, and a chance to profit from their association with him.
Hunter is not going to resign since he is unemployable. Guy will never get a job. But he is used to a certain standard of living - funded by campaign cash - and a certain level of adultery - funded by campaign cash. The problem is that he can’t survive without his $151K/year congressional pay… so he will hold on as long as he can.
I just hope he runs for re-election, claims it was a deep state frame-up job on a military vet… That is probably enough to get him into the general election.
And the best part of all is that the republicans have defended him for a full two years, now if they expell him, they will have to explain why they supported him. Best to let the republicans drift for a while with this guy on their side of the aisle.
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Guy was spending much of the money he misused from his campaign on mistresses (or perhaps women of ill repute is more accurate, their character is not exactly clear…) so he dipped in both scandal pots so to speak…
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The House Ethics Committee told Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-CA), who pleaded guilty in his criminal case this week, that he needs to stop voting.
Here’s you and me, foolishly thinking that voting is the sum total of the job Hunter was elected to do.
Clearly he should stay in the House to sweep the floors, do some flower-arranging, replenish everyone’s stash of bottled water, sell his colleagues’ votes to lobbyists …
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“should refrain from voting on any question at a meeting of the House or of the Committee of the Whole House” unless they’ve been exonerated or reelected after their conviction.
So, if I’m reading this right, if he runs for re-election after conviction but while still on parole, he’ll be able to vote in the House (if he wins), but not in the general election in California.
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But can he still make an ass of himself at public hearings? That seems to be the main job description for Republicans.
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Adios, Duncan
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Oh, and Hunter? You can leave quietly and gracefully, or in a sergeant-at-arms frogmarch. We’re good either way.
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He may find the sex experience as a lobbyist to be somewhat different than that of a sitting congressman.
Some were also lobbyists. The jokes write themselves.
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Screw that dirtbag. And screw each and every voter who voted for him after he was charged. When Hillary spoke of the deplorables…
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That requires a 2/3 vote so the Democrats (currently 54%) would need a lot of GOP help.
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I guess I don’t understand why anyone in the House would make a rule like this that isn’t binding. Shouldn’t rules be binding? Otherwise, wtf.
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It takes a high degree of naivete to think a convicted criminal or unethical Representative would voluntarily comply with a rule in the Code of Official Conduct.
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No problem. Trump will pardon him and he can keep on gifting.
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No shit. Good point.
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Plenty of counterexamples to both sides of that “rule”. Just off the top of my head, there’s Dan Rostenkowski and Jim Wright as leading Dems brought down by financial scandals, and Larry “Wide Stance” Craig as one of many Reps who let their “little brain” do too much of the thinking.
ETA: For a non-closeted Rep sex scandal, how could I overlook Bob Packwood, who provided the material for one of my all-time favorite “Lirty Dies” skits from the Capitol Steps?
“And who was lurking wate? Wackpood.”
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I can’t believe he did not resign as part of his plea deal.
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Hunter’s case gives us an interesting experiment.
We’ve seen Republican’ts resigning in droves ever since the midterms. The conventional wisdom is that they are opportunists and dilettantes who enjoyed the power of the majority but have no appetite for the lot of the minority or interest in governing.
If that’s accurate, it suggests Hunter will resign now that he’s been told he can’t even participate in the unglamorous work of the minority.
But the experiment isn’t perfect, because there are other variables at play. Hunter is a legacy, which might temper the dilettante within. And the ethics rule is non-binding – proof positive that the political class is just like every other community of practice and cannot be trusted to police itself when the stakes are high – so it’s conceivable that Hunter might take a page from Trump and dare the committee to back its threats. And that’s just from this one article.
If anyone in the Trump crime family had a single brain cell, they’d buy up all the popcorn stock in the States.
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