Wright Makes Impassioned Plea to Hold Onto His Job : Fights Tears in Defense of His Wife

House Speaker Jim Wright, choking back tears, said today he never “knowingly or intentionally” violated House rules and asked for “the very earliest possible opportunity” to answer Ethics Committee charges against him.

In a defiant defense of a lifetime in public life, a feisty Wright vowed to defend his wife, Betty, who figures in the allegations against him.

She is a “good decent, caring, thoroughly honorable person,” Wright said, “and I’ll damn well fight to protect her honor and integrity from any challenge from any source whatever the cost.”

There have been charges that his wife did little work for a salary she was paid by a Fort Worth business partner of Wright.

Wright’s performance signaled his determination to fight aggressively against the Ethics Committee charges--allegations that could ultimately lead to his removal as Speaker.

Wright spoke even before a formal announcement of the vote by Democrats and Republicans on the Ethics Committee to pursue allegations that he improperly accepted gifts from a business partner and tried to evade outside income limits through the sale of his books.

He was flanked by a virtual who’s who of House Democratic leaders as he appeared before reporters. The scene unfolded in the ornate Rayburn Room a few steps outside the House chamber--a hall named for another Texas Democrat who rose to become Speaker of the House.

“I will fight to the last ounce of conviction and energy that I possess,” Wright vowed.

“I am confident that in the 34 years I have served in the Congress I have not violated any of those basic rules or any commonly accepted standard of ethical conduct,” Wright said.

“I am prepared to demonstrate that in each of these instances no rule has been violated,” Wright said of the Ethics Committee charges.

“This House has been my life for more than half of my life,” Wright said. “I love this institution.”

Wright made a detailed defense against the allegations he faces after noting that the Ethics Committee had not yet established any proof that he had violated the rules or even that there was “clear and convincing evidence” of a violation.

The public scene came after a private defense.

Sources said Wright, speaking on a highly personal level, told senior House Democratic colleagues at a closed-door meeting that he will fight to defend his honor following Wednesday’s votes in the Ethics Committee, which has been investigating his finances for 10 months.

“There are some things worth fighting for, and one of them is personal honor and reputation earned over 66 years of living and giving,” Wright told reporters after the leadership meeting. “And that’s far more precious to me than any public office.”

The last of the ethics decisions were reached Wednesday on strong bipartisan votes, according to sources familiar with the panel’s probe. The votes mean the panel has found “reason to believe” Wright violated a series of House rules, and they point toward a new phase of the case that could involve a disciplinary hearing and possible punishment.