Gingrich Ethics Investigation Sparks Partisan Tensions

Partisan tensions over the House Ethics Committee’s stalemated investigation of Speaker Newt Gingrich (R-Ga.) intensified Wednesday as a GOP lawmaker filed an ethics complaint against the panel’s top Democrat, who had publicly criticized the committee’s Republican chairman.

Rep. Peter T. King (R-N.Y.) filed a three-count complaint against Rep. Jim McDermott (D-Wash.) less than 24 hours after McDermott took the highly unusual step of giving a speech on the House floor critical of Rep. Nancy L. Johnson (R-Conn.), committee chairwoman, and calling for the panel to report to the House on its probe of the speaker.

At Wednesday’s committee meeting, McDermott asked the panel to resolve the complaint against him before proceeding on the Gingrich investigation so the committee’s work would not be tainted, according to people familiar with the proceedings.

The developments make it increasingly unlikely the committee will resolve the speaker’s case before this fall’s elections. Democrats have long complained about the pace of the investigation, which has been underway for more than a year.

King’s complaint questions whether it is proper for McDermott to participate in the Gingrich investigation because of his campaign’s use of fund-raising consultant Steven J. Jost. Jost helped former Rep. Ben Jones (D-Ga.), who was running against Gingrich in the 1994 election, craft the first ethics complaint against the then-House minority whip.

McDermott dismissed the complaint as “frivolous” and politically motivated.