Only Democrats on Leaked List of Check Writers

The identities of 16 congressional Democrats and five former lawmakers found to be among the worst offenders in the House hot-check scandal were revealed Saturday night in a deliberate news leak that omitted the names of three Republicans also on the list.

The Associated Press, which disclosed the names, said the list was provided by unidentified congressional sources. Democratic lawmakers immediately accused Republicans of trying to take partisan advantage of the bank scandal by making the abridged list public.

Several prominent congressional Democrats were among those found by the House Ethics Committee to have been the biggest abusers of the private House bank during a recent 39-month period.

None of the listed Democrats currently serving in Congress is from California, although three of the former House members named are from the state.

The one-sided disclosure seems certain to intensify partisan differences in the House, already close to a breaking point in this election year. It also dashes a leadership plan to withhold the names of the worst offenders until March 23 to give them time to review the evidence against them.

The only ostensible Republican among the names revealed Saturday is former Rep. Tommy Robinson of Arkansas. But Robinson was a Democrat during his three House terms and later switched parties to run unsuccessfully against Gov. Bill Clinton. Robinson reportedly wrote 996 bad checks and overdrew his account by more than a month’s pay 16 out of 39 months.

The 16 current House members named include Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.), chairman of the Government Operations Committee; Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.), chairman of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee, and Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.), a leading foreign affairs expert.

A spokesman said Solarz had not been informed that he was on the list but acknowledged that Solarz had written many overdrafts.

“No laws were broken, no rules were violated, no public funds were involved,” Solarz said in a statement. “In retrospect, this was a service that probably should not have been provided, and one which I regret having utilized.”

Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.), former chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, and Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio), recently named vice chairwoman of the Democratic Platform Committee for the coming party convention, also made the worst-offenders list.

Others included on the roster are Rep. James H. Scheuer (D-N.Y.), reputed to be one of the wealthiest members of the House, and Rep. Robert J. Mrazek (D-N.Y.), whose campaign for the Senate could be endangered by the disclosure.

Five members of the Congressional Black Caucus were on the list: Rep. Edolphus (Ed) Towns (D-N.Y.), the caucus chairman, Rep. Charles A. Hayes (D-Ill.), Rep. Harold E. Ford (D-Tenn.), Conyers and Clay.

Besides Robinson, the other former members on the list were Democrats Tony Coelho, Douglas Bosco and Jim Bates, all of California, and Doug Walgren of Pennsylvania.

The House voted early Friday to disclose the names of 19 current members and five former members deemed to be the most flagrant abusers of the bank’s policy of rarely bouncing a check and accepting member overdrafts without penalty.

But it provided a 10-day period for those on the worst-offenders list to contest the findings and prepare their defense. On a second vote, the House decided that the names of another 331 past and present members who wrote one or more bad checks would be disclosed in early April.

“No question that it’s a Republican leak,” said Rep. Robert T. Matsui (D-Sacramento), who has not been involved in the bank scandal. “I’m shocked at the number of Democrats on this list.”

Rep. Jerry Lewis (R-Redlands), third-ranking Republican leader in the House, said the leak showed “a considerable lack of ethics and violation of due process.” He added, however, that as far as he knew, “the Republican leadership has not been given any names at all.”

A spokesman for Speaker Thomas S. Foley (D-Wash.) alluded to the three unidentified Republicans on the list, saying: “If only Democrats were left to protect due process for Republicans and the system, they would protect it.”

Despite the 21-3 ratio of Democrats to Republicans on the worst-offenders list, the initial reaction of some Democratic analysts was that the disclosure might not be devastating for their party at the polls in November. Democrats now hold a 267-167 margin over Republicans in the 435-seat House, with one independent.

Even if some of those tarred by the scandal are defeated, one analyst suggested, most of the districts would send another Democrat to Congress anyway. In a few marginal districts, however, being cited as a bank abuser could prove fatal for Democrats on the list.

While no current Republican members of the House were on the leaked list, speculation centered on Rep. Robert W. Davis (R-Mich.), who acknowledged Saturday that he has written more than 800 bad checks because of “my own sloppy bookkeeping.”

In addition, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Coronado) has said he wrote more than 400 bad checks, and Rep. Vin Weber (R-Minn.) has acknowledged writing 125 bad checks totaling $47,987. “I’m ready to take my medicine. I’m a big boy,” Weber said.

It was not certain if the three are included among the worst offenders--who made the list not on the basis of the total number of bad checks they wrote, but only if their overdrafts exceeded their monthly take-home pay in at least eight of the 39 months studied.

During its five-month inquiry, the House Ethics Committee worked with coded account numbers so that its decisions would not be clouded by partisanship or friendship. The actual names were provided Friday to the acting committee chairman, Rep. Matthew F. McHugh (D-N.Y.).

The Worst Offenders

Here is a list of 21 of the 24 current and former lawmakers labeled by the House Ethics Committee as the worst abusers of the House bank, the number of checks they bounced and the number of months their negative balance exceeded their next paycheck. The three Republicans were not named: Former Rep. Tommy Robinson (D-Ark.): 996 checks, 16 months

Rep. Robert J. Mrazek (D-N.Y.): 972 checks, 23 months

Rep. Charles Hatcher (D-Ga.): 819 checks, 35 months

Former Rep. Doug Walgren (D-Pa.): 858 checks, 16 months

Rep. Stephen J. Solarz (D-N.Y.): 743 checks, 30 months

Rep. Charles A. Hayes (D-Ill.): 716 checks, 15 months

Rep. Ronald D. Coleman (D-Tex.): 673 checks, 23 months

Rep. Carl C. Perkins (D-Ky.): 514 checks, 14 months

Rep. Bill Alexander (D-Ark.): 499 checks, 20 months

Rep. Edolphus (Ed) Towns (D-N.Y.): 408 checks, 18 months

Rep. Harold E. Ford (D-Tenn.): 388 checks, 31 months

Rep. Edward F. Feighan (D-Ohio): 397 checks, eight months

Former Rep. Tony Coelho (D-Merced): 316 checks, 12 months

Rep. William L. Clay (D-Mo.): 329 checks, 10 months

Rep. John Conyers Jr. (D-Mich.): 273 checks, 9 months

Rep. Mary Rose Oakar (D-Ohio): 217 checks, 21 months

Rep. James H. Scheuer (D-N.Y.): 169 checks, eight months

Rep. Joseph D. Early (D-Mass.): 140 checks, 15 months

Former Rep. Douglas Bosco (D-Sebastopol): 124 checks, 13 months

Former Rep. Jim Bates (D-San Diego): 89 checks, nine months

Rep. Charles Wilson (D-Tex.): 81 checks, eight months

Source: Associated Press