Rep. Mel Watt of North Carolina’s 12th congressional district tried to exact revenge on the Office of Congressional Ethics. The gerrymandered Democrat underwent an investigation last year. Even though Mr. Watt was found innocent of any wrong doing, he tried to cut their budget by 40%.
On a bipartisan vote of 102-302, the House rejected the amendment, offered by Rep. Mel Watt, a North Carolina Democrat who was investigated last year by the office.
“Today, lawmakers stood up for ethics by rejecting Watt's misguided amendment," said Melanie Sloan, the executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a watchdog group, in a statement. "Now lawmakers should take the additional step of strengthening the OCE by giving it subpoena power. The only lawmakers with anything to fear from an empowered OCE are those who have done something wrong."
It looks like Congressman Mel Watt has 40% more to fear.
Not surprising that Watt is up to his "old" tricks again attempting to use his power and influence to serve himself while ignoring well established laws. Just as he did in 1991 when he somehow convinced Mecklenburg County Superior Court Judge James U. Downs that a state registered trademark was superior to a previously registered trade name in Onyx Communications Group v. Juan Whipple, winning a temporary injunction to stop a minority publisher from publishing his Charlotte Black Page directory and thus ruining his reputation and business.
ReplyDelete