Salter, Perry, VP on Thompson Ethics

Sid Salter, Brian Perry, and the Vicksburg Post all wrote about the ethics investigations surrounding Congressman Bennie Thompson last week.

Salter interviewed Peter Flaherty of the National Legal and Policy Center who said

it would "have been impossible" for congressmen attending the conference not to know about its corporate sponsors. Flaherty documented signage, posters, banners and other promotional materials visible inside the meeting rooms at the event. He submitted 18 photographs and other documentation to the House Ethics Committee documenting that Citigroup, Pfizer, American Airlines, AT&T, Verizon, Macy's, and IBM were corporate sponsors promoting their businesses at the event. And while Flaherty scoffed at the claims of congressmen who said they were unaware of the corporate sponsorship of the Caribbean junket, he was quick to point out that Democrats don't have the market cornered on such behavior.

Perry noted that there are additional allegations pending against Thompson including the credit card hearing, the Tunica junket, and his staffer's lobbyist/fundraising connections. Perry asked

Are these investigations into Thompson's alleged activities just political attacks? Some in Washington point fingers not at Republicans, but at allies of the Obama White House. Thompson led the investigation into the gate crashing event at the White House in November of last year, with his committee threatening to subpoena White House social secretary Desiree Rogers in opposition to the wishes of the Obama Administration. Shortly afterward, these allegations in the Post and the Times began to leak out. Was it a shot across the bow of Congressman Thompson? Could the bare knuckle Chicago style politics of the Obama Administration be the source of the Thompson accusations? The motive is irrelevant, and the Ethics Committee should investigate and report the results to once again clear Thompson, or admonish any wrongdoing.

The Vicksburg Post editorializes

Mississippi Democrats did not offer an alternative candidate for this fall’s election in the 2nd Congressional District. Thompson advances to the November ballot to face one of three Republicans and a smattering of independents. Most see him as a shoo-in once again.

So the biggest career threat he faces could be from his fellow House Democrats. If he becomes more of a liability than an asset, they’ll toss him overboard. If he doesn’t believe it, he can ask Charlie Rangel.