Nation : Ethics Panel Takes ‘Fresh Look’ at Charges Against Speaker Wright

The House Ethics Committee today took a “fresh look” at charges against House Speaker Jim Wright, but the panel’s chairman said he didn’t know whether any minds were changed by arguments advanced a day earlier by the Texas Democrat’s lawyer.

The committee held a morning session lasting two hours and agreed to meet again later in the day, although there was no word on when a vote would be taken on whether to proceed with the two main allegations against the embattled Speaker.

Wright insisted that he isn’t thinking of relinquishing his office, even temporarily, no matter what the committee decided.

But the Speaker met with his lawyer-adviser, Clark Clifford, and Ethics Committee attorneys met with another member of Wright’s legal team, fueling speculation that a deal was being discussed that could involve a change at the very top of the House leadership.