By Jim Tankersley, Chicago Tribune
September 19, 2007
Former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.), Rep. Jerry Weller (R-Ill.) and 11 of their House colleagues are fighting subpoenas to testify in a criminal case linked to disgraced former Rep. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California.
In addition, Weller has landed on a Washington watchdog group's list of the "22 most corrupt" members of Congress.
Weller's spokesman declined comment on the list Tuesday and referred questions about the subpoenas to House counsel.
The subpoenas center on a criminal case against Brent Wilkes, the defense contractor who faces a variety of charges linked to his alleged bribing of Cunningham – who is already in prison after pleading guilty to accepting bribes. The congressmen disclosed their subpoenas, and their plans to fight them, in letters to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, which were entered into the House record late Monday.
"After consultation with the Office of General Counsel," Weller and Hastert each wrote in separate letters, "I have determined that compliance with the subpoena is inconsistent with the precedents and privileges of the House."
The "most corrupt" list is an annual compilation put together by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
The Washington-based watchdog group, known as CREW, is a nonprofit that says it is "dedicated to promoting ethics and accountability in government and public life by targeting government officials — regardless of party affiliation — who sacrifice the common good to special interests."
The group has targeted Democrats and Republicans, but the bulk of the congressional ethics complaints it has filed in the last year have targeted Republicans. It has repeatedly sued the Bush administration for access to documents.
The "most corrupt" list includes several congressmen and senators reportedly under investigation for ethical issues, including Reps. John Doolittle (R-Calif.), Alan Mollohan (D-W.Va.) and William Jefferson (D-La.) and Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska).
Weller makes the list, the group said, for several ethical issues, including his failure to report some Nicaraguan land deals on his financial disclosure form. The group alleged those omissions violated the Ethics in Government Act and House rules.
The group also said that Weller appears to have used his position to boost interests in Puerto Rico and Belize in exchange for campaign contributions. It called on the House ethics committee to investigate whether he also violated ethics rules by declining to disclose his wife's finances in his annual filings.
The Tribune reported this month that Weller failed to disclose at least seven Nicaraguan land transactions on House filings.
It also reported that a non-profit organization formed by Weller's wife, a member of the Guatemalan Congress, includes Weller family members and a business associate on its board of directors, raising questions about whether the couple's finances are sufficiently separate to merit a disclosure exemption.