Senate Ethics Panel Probing Durenberger’s Paid Appearances

The Senate Ethics Committee is investigating 113 paid appearances by Sen. Dave Durenberger (R-Minn.) to determine whether he violated limits on outside income in 1985-86, according to a letter from the panel released Friday.

The letter to Durenberger, required under the panel’s rules, provided additional details of its investigation into the lawmaker’s controversial book contract and other dealings.

For instance, the panel had not previously disclosed how many paid book-promotion appearances by Durenberger were under investigation. Other newly released information provided details on travel reimbursements, a campaign check possibly converted to personal use, book-promotion speeches in the U.S. Capitol and gifts of limousine service.

The committee voted last week to hold trial-like proceedings to determine whether Senate rules had been violated by Durenberger, or whether any of his actions should be referred to the Justice Department for a criminal investigation. The panel’s letter to the senator was a formal notice of the action and a statement of possible violations.

Durenberger said after receiving the letter: “I will continue to cooperate fully with the committee and will present evidence demonstrating that there was no intent on my part to violate or circumvent Senate rules.”

The panel wrote Durenberger that “you may have violated” two separate laws on outside-income limits “through an arrangement with your publisher, Piranha Press.”

Under an arrangement that has been widely publicized, the committee said that Durenberger charged businesses, associations and other organizations an appearance fee, as senators usually do when speaking in their official capacity as lawmakers.

But Durenberger has said that the appearances under investigation were part of a deal he made with his publisher to promote books he had written on health and defense issues. He has contended that the fees earned should not have counted toward the Senate’s outside-earnings limitations.

Some of the organizations have said that they considered the appearances standard speeches by a senator and that the books were not mentioned.

The panel told Durenberger he turned over his fees to the publisher, “in exchange for which you received $100,000” from Piranha.

The committee letter said Durenberger “may have violated” Senate rules--and the Ethics In Government Act--”by failing to disclose in a timely fashion” the travel-expense reimbursements he received from 43 of the appearances. The panel previously had not disclosed the number of reimbursements under investigation.

Durenberger amended his financial disclosure forms last July to include the reimbursement data.