The D.C. watchdog Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington has filed a complaint (pdf) with the Senate ethics committee against Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) for his lewd conduct / restroom-signaling conviction.
The Senate ethics manual warns against “improper conduct which may reflect upon the Senate,” and CREW argues in their complaint that Sen. Craig clearly crossed the line. As Melanie Sloan, the group’s executive director, put it, “If pleading guilty to charges stemming from an attempt to solicit an undercover officer in a public restroom is not conduct that reflects poorly upon the Senate, what is?”
The group has also filed complaints against Sen. Pete Domenici (R-NM) (for pressuring a U.S. attorney about a prosecution of a state Democrat) and Sen. David Vitter (R-LA) (for paying for sex). It’s unclear what’s happening with Domenici, who has reportedly faced a preliminary investigation, and there’s been no word on the Vitter complaint. “The ethics committee doesn’t do anything about anything,” was Sloan’s summary of its recent activity.
