House Ethics Committee reviewing conduct of Rep. Gutierrez

03/21/2014 | Filed under: Mala Administración PPD y Neo-Comunistas | Posted by: Francisco

House Ethics Committee reviewing conduct of Rep. Gutierrez

ADAM WOLFFBRANDT, CHICAGO TRIBUNE

Rep. Luis Gutierrez talks with guests during the Barrio Health Fair at the Norwegian American Hospital in October 2013. The House Ethics Committee is reviewing the conduct of Gutierrez, according to a statement today from top lawmakers on the committee.

By Katherine Skiba and Kim Geiger, Tribune reporters

9:23 pm, March 20, 2014

WASHINGTON — Rep. Luis Gutierrez of Chicago is under review by the House Ethics Committee, which did not spell out why but promised to reveal more by May 5.

Gutierrez’s spokesman, Douglas Rivlin, said the committee is looking into annual payments of about $50,000 over 10 years to a contractor, The Scofield Company, whose senior partner is Doug Scofield, Gutierrez’s former chief of staff.

The Scofield Company contract was consistently approved by the House, but Gutierrez canceled it last year, Rivlin said.

Gutierrez, 60, a Democrat who is a leading advocate of immigration reform, entered Congress in 1993 and won a primary election Tuesday.

Last year, USA Today reported that Scofield, whom it called an Illinois lobbyist, was paid more than $500,000 in taxpayer money by Gutierrez to work side by side with the lawmaker’s congressional staff. Scofield was paid to train staff, review and draft news releases and help publicize Gutierrez’s activities, USA Today said.

The Ethics Committee is examining whether the contract constituted a “contractor relationship” or a “consultancy,” Rivlin said. Lawmakers may hire contractors for specific tasks, such as staff training and equipment maintenance, but the duties must not relate to legislative or financial matters.

The existence of an official review was first revealed Thursday in a statement from top Ethics Committee members that gave no specifics on what actions by the lawmaker had prompted its look. The statement promised that the committee will “announce its course of action in this matter on or before” May 5.

The matter came to the committee’s attention last Dec. 4 in a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent agency that examines allegations of misconduct. The office may not sanction lawmakers, but it can refer matters to the Ethics Committee for further review.

Last fall, Gutierrez was interviewed by the Office of Congressional Ethics, Rivlin said. The lawmaker “fully cooperated” with the office and “will continue to do so” with the Ethics Committee, Rivlin said.

Last year, Gutierrez came out with an autobiography, “Still Dreaming: My Journey from the Barrio to Capitol Hill.” While the cover lists Gutierrez as author, the title page credits “Luis Gutierrez with Doug Scofield,” and both hold the copyright.

In his acknowledgments in the book, Gutierrez said Scofield “was my partner in writing this book” and thanked him for more than 20 years of friendship.

Scofield was a top campaign aide to then-Gov. Rod Blagojevich in 2002 and 2006. After the 2002 election, he served a stint as a top gubernatorial aide with the title of deputy governor. Blagojevich is now serving a prison term for corruption.

On Tuesday, Gutierrez beat two Democratic challengers, Jorge Zavala and Alexandra Eidenberg. He will face Hector Concepcion, a Republican, in the fall. All are Chicagoans.

Scofield said in a statement that the contract between Gutierrez’s congressional office and The Scofield Company had been fully approved by the House. “While this contract has ended, I am pleased that it was approved and it allowed me to assist the congressman,” it said.

Andrew Herman, a Washington lawyer who has been paid in the past several months by Gutierrez’s campaign treasury, referred questions to Rivlin.