Interesting…in a press release from RPV chairman Pat Mullins we read this:
“Today, acting at my direction, the Republican Party of Virginia filed a formal ethics complaint against Democratic Senator Mark R. Warner in connection with his ‘brainstorming’ about a job for former Senator Phil Puckett’s daughter during the 2014 campaign.”
“After examining the published reports and Warner’s own statements during the campaign, it appears that Warner may have violated a Federal law that prohibits Senators and Representatives from using their influence or offering to use their influence to secure employment for another, solely on the basis of political affiliation.”
“Said simply, if Warner offered to use his influence to land a job for anyone based simply on political considerations, he has violated Honest Leadership and Open Government Act of 2007, which is punishable up to 15 years in prison.”
“Democrats will argue that this complaint is nothing but poor sportsmanship, and a childish reaction to a close electoral loss. Nothing could be further from the truth. This complaint comes at a time when Virginia Democrats are publicly calling for ethics reform. As our Democratic colleagues wrote in a fundraising email just this week, ‘We need to hold our elected leaders accountable for their actions and demand a more transparent and honest government.'”
“This request for an investigation is just that – an effort to ensure that Democrat Mark R. Warner did not violate the law in an effort to aid in the expansion of Obamacare in Virginia. And if he did violate the law, that he is held to account.”
“Holding our elected leaders accountable begins with enforcing the laws we have on the books, and that is what we ask the Senate Ethics Committee to do.”
The complaint can be read here.
The obvious question: does it have any merit?
As a political maneuver, maybe. It seeks to keep pressure on Warner and hobble him a bit if he decides to take to the campaign trail for fellow Democrats this fall. And of course, it is an effort to gum up the Democratic works on ethics in this General Assembly session.
As a legal matter..it’s probably going nowhere. The U.S. Attorney for Virginia’s western district declined to indict anyone in the Puckett affair, and so both it and Warner’s involvement went down the memory hole (for some).
Whether it has an effect on the ethics reform debate remains to be seen. I have zero confidence the worthies will do much of substance (the opportunity for that came in the fall of 2013, and was studiously ignored). This is theater, though I do not fault Mullins or the RPV for doing what they have done. Going on offense is their job and kicking Mark Warner, particularly with his above the fray image in tatters, is great fun.
None of it takes the General Assembly off the hook to enact strong ethics reforms.
