Editorial: Why ignore this allegation?

Thursday, Nov. 30, 2006 | 6:57 a.m.

A cloud is hanging over Rep. Jon Porter as he readies himself for a third term in Washington representing a large portion of Clark County.

The Republican congressman is alleged to have broken federal law by making phone calls from his congressional and district offices during his narrowly successful re-election bid against challenger Tessa Hafen.

The allegation springs from Porter's former executive assistant, Jim Shepard, whose 10 years on Capitol Hill include service on the staffs of Sens. John Ensign, R-Nev., and David Durenberger, R-Minn. "While I worked for him, he (made fundraising calls from his congressional offices) at least five times. I was personally there," Shepard said.

Shepard's claim appeared in the Las Vegas Sun last month in a story written by reporter Tony Cook, who broke the news. Shepard said that on each of those five occasions, Porter made five to 15 fundraising calls.

Porter strongly denies Shepard's allegation.

Yet a June 18 e-mail obtained by the Sun shows Shepard warning Porter's staff that such fundraising calls violated federal law. "We can NOT let him do this anymore," the e-mail says. And an April 17 e-mail records Shepard asking another Porter staff member to make a scheduling change the next day so that the congressman would have time to make fundraising calls from his Henderson office.

Shepard resigned from Porter's staff on June 19, partly, he said, because he "could not continue to work for a legislator ... who did not follow the law."

This is a strong allegation from a longtime Capitol Hill staffer. Yet the Justice Department has decided not to investigate. We find that decision unfathomable, as the law prohibiting members of Congress from soliciting campaign funds "while in any room or building occupied in the discharge of official duties" was passed to prevent political corruption, which the Justice Department is charged with investigating.

Any employee of the federal government proved to have violated the law would face a maximum penalty of three years in prison and a fine of up to $5,000.

A former general counsel of the Republican National Committee told the Las Vegas Sun's Washington reporter, Lisa Mascaro, that the allegation against Porter is "not a big deal" and that "you've got bigger fish to fry."

That attitude is deplorable. Callous disregard of federal law is what leads people to eventually become "bigger fish." There is no point in passing anti-corruption laws if allegations that they've been broken are going to be ignored.

The Justice Department should reverse itself and conduct an investigation.

The House Ethics Committee should investigate as well. Putting Shepard and Porter under oath, and putting all of their relevant records under the microscope, would demonstrate that federal anti-corruption laws are taken seriously.