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x 5 : : ve ® OAKLAND TRIBUNE 2/17/80 Congressional bribes Both parties . score high in in corruption By Nicholas Von Hotfman There are only 535 ie of_Congress—senators jand rep- fice of the same size does such a. resentatives both. In no other of- / high percentage of the employ- “es so re alae disgrace them: elves and dish a ishonor the or: aniza- lion they work for. - A search of the S records is going back six years shows in that time .. responsible allegations of serious “rime were made against 51 members of Congress. Thirty-one - Democrats were accused of theft, receipt of illegal campaign contributions from foreign pow- ers, bribery, kickbacks, etc. Twenty Republicans were ac- cused of the same crimes. Since there are about that ratio of . Nemocrats to Reg iblicans in Congress the statesmen of both parties seem to have. the same 3reasy palm index. — In compiling this list, names. like Pennsylvania's former Re- publican Sen. Hugh Scott were left off. Shortly before he re- ‘tired, gravely compromising ac- vusations were made concerning “ertain moneys he is alleged to. have received. Nor does this congressional crime count include somebody. ike Wayne Hays, the Ohio repre- sentative who resigned after he was accused of putting a blonde’ on his congressional office’ pay-: roll, or Wilbur Mills, the alcohol-- ic Arkansas Democrat, who ran. off after a bubble dancer. Also excluded from the count is J. Herbert Burke, the Florida Kepublican who pleaded guilty 10 creating a Scene in a nudie bar. Likewise treated as non-se-. ‘ rious, and therefore not counted, is the admission in February | 1976, by 18 members of Con-' zress, including the chairmen of both the House and the Senate vthics committess, tra-la, that. they had been taking gratuities from defense manufacturers in the form of free hunting trips. rae ohs Sagan LOS ie a Sl rr RY abet nee sn ‘stupidest Le ne an ae ae : 2 ee = ach. nnn . . _ cr BSS : - ‘Avsting will only net. the greediest and © ome officeholders.’ On the basis of a few off the record discussions with honest lobbyists who have to make it _their business to understand and outwit the prevailing patterns of dishonesty, it appears that _a Sting operation such as the one mounted by the FBI will only net the _greediest_and the stupidest office holders. Thig investigation, which has focused an accusatory spotlight on seven Democratic and one Republican member of Congress. wasn't designed tg > iticians bu gangsters. The FB] were like fishermen who cast their nets to™ ‘get tuna and inadvertently cap- ° (uire_porpoises or is it barracu- ie es_or_is In any event, the wise people in Washington say the big money. drops don’t happen as they did in the sting operation. during which ¢ it is being reported that one member of Congress and his as- sociate were videotaped literally wrestling over who was going to get to carry the attache cases full of dough. The smoother op- erators don't take it in cash and don't take it in Washington. The drop is made in another part of the country and not to the con-. gressperson nor any member of © his staff, but to someone with noj formal connection, perhaps no known connection with the elect- ed official. Every time a scandal like this hits, acquaintances of the ac-. cused shake their heads and say, © “ : erstand how so and ‘ mb. Why take a . chance like that?” > Crocked_politicians probably aren't t aking mm much of a chance. Or the 24 pols seri riously impliéat implicat- ed_in the Korean bribery sc a dal, only one ever went to jail. Ue made the Mista take of pleading. guilty and has publicly kicked himself since then, saying if he had fought the charges he'd prob- ably never have had to pull a. day of time. With the help of friends in strategic places, by de-. lay_and_pre procrastination, or by making some staff member take the fall in his place, even the durobest_and_hungriest_can_lum- - ber_off with fat pieces_of meat Mraped over their teeth. he dishonesty quotient 4 ainong iheribers_ of Congress f likely to drop. There is no_ongo- ing_program policing icing them. Ex- posure, as in the sting sensation, is invariably accidental. Because .of the constitutional separation ‘of powers, it is legally much har- der to whomp on a congressiona) crook than an ordinary soldier in life's various mafias. Congress is supposed to police itself, but pride for one’s office seldom supersedes the profits of of one’s pals. Some day the ethics 7” committee may find itself with a quorum, but don’t count on it. Nicholas Von Hoffman writes for the King Features Syndicate. mae ee fe Ne pr RIT RE AORN I SEN aN OER pepe meee ary STEEN 2 ean at PR ET a A arp ner