GOP Fear Fallout From New Ethics Probes

Various file photos of House members under investigation by federal authorities. Top row, from left are, Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif.; Rep. Tim Murphy, R-Pa.; Rep. Rick Renzi, R-Ariz.; and Rep. Ken Calvert, R-Calif. Bottom row, from left are, Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif.; Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif.; Rep. William Jefferson, D-La.; and Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va. (AP Photo/File) (AP)

WASHINGTON -- A half dozen federal investigations into the activities of Republican lawmakers are raising new worries for GOP leaders who hope to regain the House majority they lost last fall.

In recent weeks, two veteran Republicans surrendered prominent committee seats after FBI agents raided the offices of family businesses. Others have long-running investigations hanging over them. Some conservative activists are criticizing the party's handling of the matters.

Democrats say at least six GOP House members are under some degree of Justice Department scrutiny, although Republicans question whether all the inquiries are active.

In pure numbers, Republicans are approaching the magnitude of their problem at this stage of the 2006 election cycle. Eventually, nine House Republicans faced FBI investigations. Four stepped down, and two _ Reps. Randy "Duke" Cunningham of California and Bob Ney of Ohio _ are in prison. Of the five who sought re-election, three lost and the other two remain under ethical clouds.

Republicans call attention to the fact that Democrats have their own ethical problems.

Two House Democrats are the focus of federal investigations. Rep. William J. Jefferson, D-La., has been under scrutiny in a bribery investigation since at least 2005, when FBI agents found $90,000 in his home freezer. The Justice Department also is investigating whether Rep. Alan Mollohan, D-W.Va., benefited from steering federal funds to nonprofit groups he helped start. Both Jefferson and Mollohan easily won re-election last year.

Republicans say Democrats will have trouble duplicating the success of last year's "culture of corruption" campaign theme because the current allegations against GOP members are far less severe. There is no evidence of the type of overt corruption that felled Cunningham and Ney, they say, and no one under scrutiny has the national name recognition that former Majority Leader Tom DeLay, R-Texas, had in 2005 and 2006.

At a minimum, however, the growing list of GOP incumbents under scrutiny is a distraction and nuisance for a party already struggling with an unpopular president and his handling of an unpopular war.

"It's a question of accountability," said Jennifer Crider, spokeswoman for the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, which has numerous researchers digging into GOP members' records.

Ethics cases elsewhere aren't helping Republicans. Democrats are using subpoenas to dig into the administration's firing of several federal prosecutors. They're also monitoring news reports from Alaska saying that business associates, friends and a son of veteran GOP Sen. Ted Stevens are under investigation in a long-running corruption probe.

The situation troubles some conservative activists. Especially under criticism is the House GOP leaders' decision to replace one embattled member of the coveted Appropriations Committee with another.

Rep. John Doolittle, R-Calif., left the committee in April after FBI agents raided his Washington-area home. His wife, Julie, ran a business from the home in which she received commissions as a paid fundraiser for her husband's campaigns and her clients included now-jailed GOP lobbyist Jack Abramoff.