DURING THE BANKSTER REGIME OF GAMER LAWYERS BARACK OBAMA, ERIC HOLDER AND 'CREDIT CARD' JOE BIDEN, OL' JOE WAS HANGING WITH CHINESE SPIES.... see video bellow:
cut and paste youtube links below
Watters: Sam Bankman-Fried had 'full access' to Biden White House
Breitbart Political Editor Emma-Jo Morris’s investigative work at the New York Post on the Hunter Biden “laptop from hell” also captured international headlines when she, along with Miranda Devine, revealed that Joe Biden was intimately involved in Hunter’s businesses, appearing to even have a 10 percent stake in a company the scion formed with officials at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party. WENDELL HUSEBØ
Report: Democrat, Republican Lawmakers Beat Terrible Stock Market in 2022
Both Democrat and Republican lawmakers on average beat the stock market again in 2022, according to Unusual Whales’ annual report.
Despite the stock market having one of the worst years since 2008, lawmakers were able to avoid huge losses in 2022. While the total value of stocks traded shrunk, some politicians, such as far-left Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA), made more than 5,700 trades in 2022, the report shows.
In 2022, the S&P 500 was down 18 percent. Yet on average, Republicans collectivity beat the market by 0.4 percent, while Democrats were only down -1.76 percent.
“House Republicans disclosed 1000+ less trades in 2022 compared to the year before. While House Democrats disclosed 1,000+ more trades in 2022 compared to 2021,” the analysis found.
The second and third highest volume traders were two House Republicans: Republican leader on Foreign Affairs Committee Rep. Michael McCaul (R-TX) with over 1,600 transactions totaling $176 million, and House Homeland Security member Rep. Diana Harshbarger (R-TN) with over 1,000 transactions totaling $21 million.
Among the lawmakers who individually performed the best were Reps. Patrick Fallon (R-TX), Debbie Schultz (D-FL), Susie Lee (D-NV), David Joyce (R-OH), and Sen. Gary Peters (D-MI).
Fallon served on the House Armed Services Committee. Schultz served on the powerful House Appropriations Committee with Lee and Joyce. Peters served on the Senate Armed Services Committee.
Not everyone performed well in 2022. Rep. Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) portfolio was down nearly 20 percent, a contrast to Fallon’s, whose was up 51 percent.
The report explained which asset classes had the most activity in 2022.
“Across both chambers, over $398M in stocks were bought and sold last year. Next were government securities and agency debt (ie. treasury bonds, municipal bonds, etc.),” the report read. “Other securities (such as mutual funds and ETFs) and non-publicly traded stocks were in third place.”
“Much of the buying for 2022 occurred in the beginning of the year, with some increases in September. December was one of the lowest periods, as was April and October. In both cases, the stock market began a trajectory into a bear market,” the report explained.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
HOW MANY OF THESE PIGS ARE GAMER LAWYERS?
“Protect and enrich.” This is a perfect encapsulation of the
Clinton (LAWYERS-2) Foundation and the (LAWYERS-2)
Obama book and television deals. Then there is the Biden
(LAWYERS-3) family corruption, followed closely behind by
similar abuses of power and office by the (LAWYER) Warren
and Sanders families, as Peter Schweizer described in his recent
book “Profiles in Corruption.” These names just scratch the
surface of government corruption (YOU CAN ADD LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS
AND LAWYER CHUCK SCHUMER TO THE PATHEION OF DEMOCRAT BRIBES SUCKING
CORRUPT LAWYER POLITICIANS!). BRIAN C JOONDEPH
Liz Cheney Exits Congress 6 Years Later and Millions of Dollars Richer
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) will vacate her congressional seat on Tuesday after becoming a wealthy woman during her six years of serving Wyoming.
Cheney, who lost her Republican primary by nearly 40 points in August, will depart Congress on January 3 and return home as a defeated 56-year-old never Trumper.
Cheney will not depart Congress empty-handed. During her six years in Congress, she has become very wealthy. Breitbart News reported in August that Cheney’s net worth ballooned from an estimated $7 million when she first took office in 2017 to possibly more than $44 million in 2020. Depending on the specifics of her latest financial disclosure form, Cheney’s net worth could have skyrocketed up to 600 percent in Congress.
According to her 2020 Personal Financial Disclosure form, Cheney declared a net worth between $10,422,023 and $44,140,000, stemming from assets valued between $10,432,024 and $44,155,000. She reported no earned income, gifts, or transactions. She did, however, declare she held three posts, including a trustee position at the University of Wyoming, membership of a holding company, and what appears to be a position in her family’s trust.
Cheney’s wealth and social status are enhanced by her husband, Philip Perry, who is a partner at Latham & Watkins law firm in Washington, DC, which has advised Chinese companies. Since 2017, the year Cheney joined Congress, Perry has maintained “equity ownership” in the firm worth between $1,000,001 and $5,000,000. Breitbart News reported:
Perry’s firm has advised a Chinese Communist Party-linked technology company named TME and Exelon Corporation. The State Department in 2019 dubbed TME a tool of the Chinese government. According to the Wall Street Journal, in 2011, Exelon Corporation agreed to provide consulting and training services to an arm of the state-owned China National Nuclear Corporation (CNNC). The state-owned CNNC’s president and vice president are appointed by the highest administrative position in the Government of China, the Premier of the People’s Republic of China. The CNNC supervises all facets of China’s nuclear programs.
While Perry’s law firm has serviced Chinese clients, Cheney sat on the Armed Services Committee with many powerful subcommittees dedicated to national security. Cheney worked with House Republicans’ on producing a 2020 report on Communist China entitled the “China Task Force Report.” The report states, “[T]he greatest generational challenge we face today is the threat of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP).”
Cheney’s forced exit from Congress does not mean she or her family will depart Washington, DC, and return home to Wyoming. Technically, She represented her home state of Wyoming for six years. But her lack of appearance in the state during the GOP primary become a point of contention for many Cowboy State voters. Instead of campaigning in Wyoming, Cheney appeared to prefer dwelling in the D.C. area, soaking up the spotlight on the January 6 Committee.
Born in Wisconsin, Cheney moved to Wyoming with her family as a young woman. They divided their time between Wyoming and Washington, DC, to suit former Vice President Dick Cheney’s political aspirations. In 1996, Liz Cheney graduated from the University of Chicago’s law school. She then worked in the Bush administration while her father was vice president. In 2014, she ran for the Wyoming State Senate and lost. A few years later, she won Wyoming’s U.S. House of Representatives seat.
Former US Vice President Dick Cheney (C) sits with his daughter US Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R), R-Wyoming, during the opening of the 115th US Congress on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, January 3, 2017 (JIM WATSON/AFP via Getty Images).
Cheney’s congressional career entailed some successes. In 2019, she was elected the third most powerful House Republican as GOP House Conference chair. She was later displaced by Trump-endorsed Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) by a vote of no confidence in 2021, the same year she accepted a position on the January 6 Committee.
Cheney’s participation on the committee appeared to seal her political fate in Wyoming. Viewed as a partisan witch hunt, the committee failed to sway 89 percent of the public. Moreover, the committee’s final report did not produce any legally binding results. Adding insult to injury, the committee officially withdrew its subpoena on Wednesday for former President Donald Trump to testify before Congress.
As a new political cycle begins Tuesday, Cheney has not definitively stated what her future plans entail. She has said her forward focus is blocking Trump from winning reelection in 2024. But it is unclear how she will do so without the vice chair pulpit or the January 6 Committee. She has floated the idea of potentially running for president in 2024, but critics doubt she will gain enough Democrat votes or Republican support in either primary.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
DEMOCRATS RIG EVERYTHING TO PROTECT THEIR CRIMINALITY
“Our job as elected officials is to serve the people — not ourselves,” the Virginia Democrat said in a statement on Friday.
Nancy Pelosi Sits in SILENCE as Lauren Boebert UNVEIL New Facts on her in Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49fs72UqZ6k
Watters: The Five (CRIME) Families of the Democrat Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBpvvHethg0
Internet stock traders often follow Nancy Pelosi's purchases and selloffs for investing tips, Business Insider reported, with some suggesting "she's making the big bucks off of insider information."
Nancy Pelosi Sits in SILENCE as Lauren Boebert UNVEIL New Facts on her in Congress
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49fs72UqZ6k
San Fran patrol special officer rips Pelosi's inaction over BLACK crime surge: She doesn't care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SewBXWKj2g
SF Suffers Highest Rate of Car Break-Ins Compared to Atlanta, DC, Dallas, LA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iTLPISB7xig
Among the 25 largest U.S. cities, San Francisco has had the highest
property-crime rate in four of the most recent six years for which
data is available, bucking the long-term national decline in such
crimes that began in the 1990s. Property crimes declined in San
Francisco during the first year of the pandemic, but rose 13% in
2021. Burglaries in the city are at their highest levels since the mid
1990s. There were 20,663 thefts from vehicles last year—almost 57
a day—a 39% increase from the prior year, although still below the
record of 31,398 in 2017, according to the police. Zusha Elinson
“Our entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and Republican alike, has become a kleptocracy approaching par with third-world hell-holes. This is the way a great country is raided by its elite.” Karen McQuillan
SAUDI DIRTY MONEY ENDS UP IN THE CLINTON FOUNDATION FAMILY SLUSH FUND
Jesse Watters: The Clintons' crooked connections
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tnPSvkxKuLg
HOW MANY OF THESE PIGS ARE GAMER LAWYERS?
“Protect and enrich.” This is a perfect encapsulation of the Clinton (LAWYERS-2) Foundation and the (LAWYERS-2) Obama book and television deals. Then there is the Biden (LAWYERS-3) family corruption, followed closely behind by similar abuses of power and office by the (LAWYER) Warren and Sanders families, as Peter Schweizer described in his recent book “Profiles in Corruption.” These names just scratch the surface of government corruption (YOU CAN ADD LAWYER KAMALA HARRIS AND LAWYER CHUCK SCHUMER TO THE PATHEION OF DEMOCRAT BRIBES SUCKING CORRUPT LAWYER POLITICIANS!). BRIAN C JOONDEPH
One topic that Hillary is quick to criticize President Trump on is his relationship with Saudia Arabia. It’s ironic given the Clinton Foundation’s refusal to state that they will no longer accept financial donations from The Kingdom as others have.
the confessions of an inside trader: nancy pelosi
What did she just say?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFhXpFyUKQg
NANCY SUCKS BRIBES, INSIDE TRADES AND SIPHONS BRIBES THROUGH FAMILY MEMBERS
How politicians get filthy rich (by rigging the system)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gfgf0UymF2M
HERE'S THE TRUTH ON DRUNK DRIVER PAUL PELOSI
Where’s the D U I?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CjdbFtjQzks
Pelosi got so MAD when he asked that question
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3JoVbiIx72Y
WHAT DID NANCY PELOSI DO FOR HER CONGRESSIONAL DISTRICT OF MELTDOWN SAN FRANCISCO? - NADA! - BUT SHE SURE RAKED IN THE MONEY BEING A FAILURE
https://mexicanoccupation.blogspot.com/2022/03/what-did-nancy-pelosi-do-for-her.html
San Fran patrol special officer rips Pelosi's inaction over BLACK crime surge: She doesn't care
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SewBXWKj2g
Americans are exhausted of this Nancy Pelosi saga: GOP lawmaker
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3E5TrgN-0Yk
Watters: The Five (CRIME) Families of the Democrat Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BBpvvHethg0
“Our entire crony capitalist system, Democrat and Republican alike, has become a kleptocracy approaching par with third-world hell-holes. This is the way a great country is raided by its elite.” ---- Karen McQuillan
Breitbart Business Digest: Nancy Pelosi Headed to Stock Trading Hall of Fame; FTX Gets the Clown Emoji
133
AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster
17 Nov 20220
3:35
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced Thursday that she would retire from House leadership. She has earned a spot in history for breaking barriers, succeeding in what was formerly a man’s world, and advancing a left-wing agenda more effectively than nearly any individual in American politics.
But the Breitbart Business Digest believes Pelosi’s career ought to be defined in a different way: She is the most infamous—and one of the most successful—stock traders of all time. Her personal wealth has soared to nine figures and beyond since the financial collapse of 2008. This is largely attributed to stock trades made by her husband, Paul; and those trades were often concentrated in businesses and industries propped up by Nancy’s political policies. As famously documented by Breitbart Senior Contributor Peter Schweizer, Nancy Pelosi’s stances shifted consistently as her family made money. Currently—and thanks in part to the Speaker herself—most, if not all, of this appears to be legal.
Pelosi is slow-walking an utterly reasonable (and necessary) ban on congressional stock trading. Something like that is almost guaranteed to become a part of the platform for any Republican seeking the White House in 2024—unless Joe Biden signs something into law along these lines first. Though she will remain in the Congress, at least for now, Pelosi’s tenure in leadership has come to an end. What does the future have in store for the soon-to-be former Speaker? We certainly hope it’s seminars, newsletters, or masterclasses on how to dominate the trading game while still soaring to historic heights at your day job.
Nancy and Paul Pelosi (Photo: UPI)
Though his retirement is not confirmed, Brian Deese, Biden’s top economic advisor and a BlackRock alumnus, is reportedly looking for an offramp from his post as National Economic Council Director in 2023. He’s largely responsible for the Bidenflation and America’s reluctance to tap our own natural resources despite soaring energy prices. So, good riddance, but he’ll likely be replaced by someone equally as bad.
Also on Wednesday, the Philadelphia Fed released their factory activity index, and it showed a large and unexpected drop from already low estimates. This gauge measures manufacturing in the mid-Atlantic region. While a negative 8.7 number was posted in October, November’s number came in at -19.4 percent. The expectation was -6.0 percent. New orders also weakened from already low numbers. Given that inflation is continuing at a rapid pace, these numbers might be even worse than they appear on paper.
FTX’s CEO John Ray III (famous for restructuring Enron) referred to his new company as a “complete failure” with an “absence of trustworthy financial information.” The company’s bankruptcy filing, released today, made this saga even more surreal. Most of FTX’s digital assets have not been secured, and no one appears to know who the company’s biggest creditors are. But perhaps more amusingly and horrifyingly, the company was paying for its employees’ luxury housing, and disbursements were approved via personalized emojis in a company chat. As murky as things stand as of now, one thing is clear: FTX calls for a double clown emoji.
1. Conspiracy or defrauding the United States
2. Wire fraud
3. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
4. Violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act
5.
Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
6.
7. Violations of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
8. Tax evasion
9. Money laundering
GOP Rep. Comer: ‘Joe Biden Was Actively Involved in Hunter’s Shady Business Dealings’
17 Nov 20220
2:51
During Thursday’s broadcast of FNC’s “Special Report,” Rep. James Comer (R-KY), the ranking member of the House Oversight Committee, argued President Joe Biden was aware of his son Hunter Biden’s “shady” business dealings.
Comer told host Bret Baier it was possible that was guiding Biden administration policy.
“What we proved today was, first of all, Joe Biden lied to the American people when he said he had no knowledge of Hunter Biden’s shady business dealings,” he said. “OK, that is a complete lie. He also denied having any financial benefit from — from Hunter Biden. What we have proven today is not only did he know about Hunter’s shady business dealings with our adversaries in Ukraine, Russia and China, but he also was going to be an active part of that. We showed an e-mail that Hunter Biden sent to a property owner just outside of Washington, D.C. when they were nailing down office space. And he said, I need three extra keys, one for his Chinese partner, who is closely aligned with CCP, one for Jim Biden, and one for Joe Biden.”
“So, there are also e-mails that show that Hunter Biden was involved, that his dad was going to be a 10% equity stakeholder,” Comer continued. “We know the Gilliar comments and the Bobulinski comments that both have identified Joe Biden as being the big guy who’s going to get a 10% ownership stake. So, Joe Biden was actively involved in Hunter’s shady business dealings. And maybe that’s why we’re getting such bad policy. We learned today that one of their business propositions was to try to get China’s foot in the door on the American natural gas industry. I think the American people need to know that. And is that — has that compromised this administration?”
In 2018 and 2020, Breitbart Senior Contributor and Government Accountability Institute President Peter Schweizer published Secret Empires and Profiles in Corruption. Each book hit #1 on the New York Times bestseller list and exposed how Hunter Biden and Joe Biden flew aboard Air Force Two in 2013 to China before Hunter’s firm inked a $1.5 billion deal with a subsidiary of the Chinese government’s Bank of China less than two weeks after the trip. Schweizer’s work also uncovered the Biden family’s other vast and lucrative foreign deals and cronyism. Breitbart Political Editor Emma-Jo Morris’ investigative work at the New York Post on the Hunter Biden “laptop from hell” also captured international headlines when she, along with Miranda Devine, revealed that Joe Biden was intimately involved in Hunter’s businesses, appearing to even have a 10% stake in a company the scion formed with officials at the highest levels of the Chinese Communist Party.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
GOP House Opens Probe into Biden Family for Potential Tax Evasion, Money Laundering, Human Trafficking Violations
7,774
AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta
17 Nov 20220
3:29
Members of the newly controlled Republican House on Thursday announced an investigation into the Biden family business and whether President Joe Biden is compromised by the family’s business schemes.
Rep. James Comer (R-TN), the top Republican on the Oversight Committee, announced during a press conference that the Biden family will be investigated for the following violations:
1. Conspiracy or defrauding the United States
2. Wire fraud
3. Conspiracy to commit wire fraud
4. Violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act
5.
Violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act
6.
7. Violations of the Victims of Trafficking and Violence Protection Act of 2000
8. Tax evasion
9. Money laundering
10. Conspiracy to commit money laundering
“I want to be clear, this is an investigation of Joe Biden,” Comer stated. “The Biden family’s business dealings implicate a wide range of criminality from human trafficking to potential violations of the constitution.”
“In the 218th Congress, this committee will evaluate the status of Joe Biden’s relationship with his families foreign partners and whether he is a president who is compromised or swayed by foreign dollars or influence,” he said.
“We are also sending letters to the Biden administration and Biden family associates renewing our request for voluntary production of documents relevant to this investigation,” Comer continued before stating Joe Biden lied about having knowledge about his family’s business dealings.
“This is an investigation of Joe Biden, the president of the United States, and why he lied to the American people about his knowledge and participation in his family’s international business dealing schemes,” Comer said. “National security interests require to conduct an investigation and we will pursue all avenues – avenues that have long been ignored.”
Comer then listed a number of crimes that members of the Biden family may have committed, according to uncovered evidence by House Republicans.
“These include conspiracy or defrauding the United States, wire fraud, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, violation of the Foreign Agents Registration Act, violations of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, violations of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act, tax evasion, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit money laundering,” Comer said.
Comer added that additional evidence suggests the Biden family tried to aid the Chinese’s purchase of American assets.
“We find evidence that Hunter Biden and Joe Biden were involved in a scheme to try to get China to buy liquified natural gas,” Comer said. “People are in outrage over China buying farmland in the Dakotas. What about China starting to buy into our American energy industry?”
Joe Biden and his staff have claimed at least seven times that the president has not been involved in the family business, yet more than 17 pieces of evidence suggest Joe Biden has played an influential role in his son Hunter and brother James’s activities.
Fifty-eight percent of voters believe that Joe Biden has played a role in his family’s business dealings. Sixty percent say Hunter Biden has sold “influence and access” to the president.
Follow Wendell Husebø on Twitter @WendellHusebø. He is the author of Politics of Slave Morality.
McCarthy Proposes Gutting Office of Congressional Ethics in Bid for Speaker
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif. attends a portrait unveiling ceremony for Speaker Nancy Pelosi at the U.S. Capitol on December 14, 2022. Credit - Tom Williams—CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy spent the first two days of the new year trying to shore up GOP support for his bid to be Speaker by releasing a series of proposals aimed at winning over hard-right detractors who stand to torpedo his ascension.
The part of his proposed changes to House rules that drew the most attention was allowing just five House members to call for a vote at any time on ousting the Speaker; that would render McCarthy beholden to the most extreme members of his caucus, should he get on their wrong side. But buried in the text was another provision that could be highly consequential for the new Congress being sworn in on Tuesday: language that would effectively gut the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), as the independent panel faces pressure to investigate lawmakers who participated in the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol.
Most significantly, McCarthy’s proposal would require OCE to hire its staff for the 118th Congress within 30 days of the resolution’s adoption, a requirement that sources familiar with the process tell TIME would make it exceedingly difficult for the office to have the resources it needs to conduct its investigations, given how long it takes to hire candidates for roles in the federal government. The proposal would also block OCE from hiring new employees over the next two years if someone leaves their position, sources say.
“Republicans get to take control of the House, and on their first day in Congress, they are not trying to take a hammer to the OCE—they’re being a little smarter about it—but they’re taking a scalpel to it,” a Hill source familiar with the ethics process tells TIME.
The resolution would also impose eight-year term limits for members of OCE’s eight-member board, which is composed of four Democrats and four Republicans. The move would result in three of the four Democrats being forced to vacate their seats effective immediately. While the new Democratic leader, Rep. Hakeem Jeffries of New York, would be able to appoint replacements, the changes could still significantly slow down the panel’s work and zap it of valuable institutional knowledge.
“This could easily kill the only body that’s investigating ethical issues in Congress,” says Kedric Payne with the Campaign Legal Center. “There’s no investigations in the Senate. And the only investigations that happen in the House of any significance are done by the OCE.”
“This is a very smart way to do it,” adds Payne, a former OCE deputy chief counsel. “Because it looks as though the office still lives, but, in fact, it doesn’t.”
This isn’t the first time Republicans have tried to dismantle the Congress’s independent ethics panel. In 2017, the House Republican Conference took steps to curtail the power of the OCE, but the proposal was opposed by then-Speaker Paul Ryan and even McCarthy.
This time around, circumstances have changed. A handful of ultra-conservative lawmakers, including Reps. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Matt Gaetz of Florida, and Lauren Boebert of Colorado, have vowed to vote against McCarthy for speaker. With the Republicans’ slim majority, the California legislator can only afford four defections.
Some of the defectors also happen to be among the lawmakers who stand to benefit the most from a castrated OCE. Last month, more than 30 former members of Congress of both parties requested the ethics panel to investigate the lawmakers who participated in the Jan. 6, 2021 attempt to overturn the 2020 presidential election, a move that increases the spotlight on OCE and which investigations it chooses to pursue in the new Congress.
The OCE was also expected to investigate George Santos, the Republican Congressman-elect from New York who appears to have fabricated large swaths of his biography, including his employment history, his educational credentials, and even the circumstances of his mother’s death.
On Monday, as details of McCarthy’s proposal drew more attention, the good-government watchdog group Public Citizen called on him and the next Congress to get rid of the provisions that would weaken the OCE, saying in a statement Monday that the panel “has a proven track record of enhancing transparency and enforcement of ethics rules and has gained widespread support among the American public.”
McCarthy did not respond to a request for comment.
The Office of Congressional Ethics was established in 2008 by then Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi after a wave of Democratic victories in the 2006 midterms and after corruption scandals that sent multiple members of Congress to jail. The panel was intended to be an independent body separate from the House Ethics Committee, which advocates have long criticized as ineffectual and lacking in transparency.
But the two work hand-in-hand. When the OCE finds evidence of misconduct, it sends a report of its findings to the House Ethics Committee, which then chooses whether to censure a member for a violation.
While the OCE lacks the subpoena power of full House committees, it has been effective at probing wrongdoing by lawmakers of both parties. Shortly after its inception, it found that then-Rep. Charlie Rangel, a New York Democrat, improperly accepted trips to Caribbean islands as gifts from a nonprofit group. The entire House later sanctioned Rangel for violating 11 House ethics rules. In 2017, it was the first entity to investigate then-Rep. Chris Collins, a New York Republican, of insider trading. He later pleaded guilty to insider trading and lying to federal investigators. (Trump pardoned Collins in 2020.)
The OCE was poised to have a full plate over the next two years, with a heavy emphasis on the members who participated in the Jan. 6 attack. It’s a scenario that leads Congressional watchdogs to suspect that McCarthy is offering to debilitate the agency of resources and institutional knowledge to shield his members from scrutiny in order to hold onto power.
“Today’s Republican Party is rife with ethical transgressions,” says Craig Holman, a government affairs lobbyist with Public Citizen. “And it is now trying to make it much harder to hold members of Congress accountable to the standards of decency we expect.”
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