WASHINGTON, April 20 (UPI) -- Republican House ethics leaders Wednesday offered to open an investigation into allegations of unethical behavior by embattled Majority Leader Tom DeLay.
The offer came as part of a broader proposal aimed at breaking the impasse between Republicans on the evenly divided Ethics Committee and panel Democrats who have refused to accept House ethics rules changes pushed through the body by GOP leaders earlier this year in a party-line vote.
Ranking Democrat Alan Mollohan of West Virginia has led the Democratic revolt against the three GOP-drafted ethics rule changes that he and other critics say weaken the ethics committee's investigatory and enforcement abilities in an attempt to protect DeLay, shutting down the committee.
Ethics Committee Chairman Doc Hastings, R-Wash., said the offer to investigate Delay along with his companion proposal to extend the period of time for the committee to examine ethics charges and personal guarantee that all charges will receive a vote show there is no truth to charges the GOP was trying to protect the powerful Texas conservative.
However, Mollohan dismissed Hasting's offer as inadequate to address the problems with the GOP drafted changes, which Democrats argue are inherently flawed and should be repealed.
