Panel Clears D’Amato
It is a travesty of justice that lets Sen. Alfonse M. D’Amato (R-N.Y.) off the hook with no thanks to the so-called Senate Ethics Committee (“D’Amato Cleared After Senate Inquiry,” Part A, Aug. 3). Committee members played a game with words, hypocritically contradicting their own rules.
If ignorance of the law is no excuse, why does the committee clearly rule, “It is the duty of every U.S. senator to conduct his or her office in a manner that precludes its systematic misuse by members of his or her family for personal gain”?
The committee admittedly finds that D’Amato acted in “an improper and inappropriate” manner, failing to prevent his influence from being exploited by his brother.
Yet they weaseled their way through the evidence for a unanimous agreement that D’Amato broke no laws, even though Sen. Warren Rudman (R-N.H.), committee vice chairman, said he considered the report to be “a fairly strong statement.”
Am I crazy? Will someone please explain this word game.
SYLVIA FLISS, Panorama City
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