Democrats Accuse Gingrich of Conflict Over Adviser : Ethics: Unpaid help from telecommunications entrepreneur while legislation is pending is labeled influence peddling.

House Democrats accused Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) of a conflict of interest Friday for using a telecommunications entrepreneur as an unpaid adviser while Congress rewrites laws regulating that industry.

“Influence peddling, special interest access . . . these are the hallmarks of the Gingrich revolution,” said Rep. Rosa DeLauro (D-Conn.).

From December, 1994, until late July, Donald G. Jones, a GOP donor whose holdings include cable television systems and a service that sells access to the Internet, was a volunteer in Gingrich’s office, advising the Speaker on telecommunications issues.

Earlier this year, the House and Senate each passed versions of a major rewrite of the nation’s telecommunications laws. The measures would ease regulation of cable rates.

Jones’ attorney, Louis Andrew, said in an interview Friday that Jones attended at least two meetings between Gingrich and telecommunications executives. But he denied that his client ever attempted to influence legislation.

In a statement, Gingrich defended Jones and his service. “To the best of my knowledge, Don Jones is an ethical and upstanding citizen,” he said. “He has done nothing inappropriate nor unethical.”

Jones’ role as a Gingrich adviser was reported in Thursday’s Wall Street Journal.

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Rep. George Miller (D-Martinez) said he planned to file a complaint with the House Ethics Committee over Jones’ role in the Speaker’s office.

House rules prohibit the donation of services to a lawmaker except in the case of “educational programs that are primarily of educational benefit to the individual [volunteer], as opposed to primarily benefiting the member or office, and which do not give undue advantage to special interest groups.”

“I don’t believe, if you read those rules, that they’re intended to cover a person like Mr. Jones,” Andrew said.

House Democrats portrayed Jones’ role as an example of a special interest holding sway in Gingrich’s office. “This is a toxic mixture of campaign money, special interests and the third-highest office of the land,” Miller said.

“This is the clearest example we have yet that the Speaker’s office is up for sale to the highest bidder,” House Minority Whip David E. Bonior (D-Mich.) said.

Since 1988, Jones and his wife have given at least $63,950 to the Republican Party and GOP candidates, including $1,000 to Gingrich in 1990, Federal Election Commission records show. In addition, he has given at least $10,000 to GOPAC, a political action committee Gingrich headed, according to GOPAC records.

On Dec. 1, 1994, Jones wrote to Dan Meyer, Gingrich’s chief of staff, to “tender myself as a volunteer . . . in the areas of technology and information systems implementation, culture and change management ideas and education.”

Andrew said he could not recall whether Gingrich invited Jones to volunteer, or the other way around.

Sue E. Wadel, the Speaker’s counsel, wrote to Jones on Feb. 2, informing him of the House rules covering his volunteer service. “The provision of in-kind services by an individual such as yourself could be deemed an improper subsidy of official activity,” she wrote, adding that Jones’ advice “must be given on an informal policy basis.”

In a June 30 memorandum, Jones told associates that he was “a trusted listener and companion” to Gingrich, often spending “two to three hours daily” with him. Jones said they “rarely” discussed policy, but said his ideas “resulted in . . . actions on national strategic directives on huge matters” in four instances.

Jones’ service to Gingrich took place amid business troubles back home. He is involved in a court dispute about how to dissolve a partnership with co-owners of an Internet access company, called US Cyber, in which Jones holds an 80% investment.

One former co-owner, Jeff Coleman of Tucson, operates an adult-oriented Internet forum over US Cyber.

Andrew said Jones did not know of the service when he invested in US Cyber. Coleman said he was certain Jones knew of the service when he joined the company.

Gingrich has long opposed efforts to regulate material on the Internet. He opposed an amendment in the Senate telecommunications bill that would make it illegal to knowingly transmit obscene materials on the Internet.