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Show ___The Salt Lake TribuneNATION| y. November21, 1999 A2) Advocates Fear Corruption Laws Are Losing Teeth Critics say wrongdoingis easier to find, but growing moredifficult to prosecute BYC. ARL WEISER weakening in the fabricof federal lawsthat police the integrity and honestyofpublic officials, declare GANNETT NEWS SERVICE WASHINGTON — When Ann Eppard returned to Capitol Hill on advocates who track conflicts of interest in Congress. vember day, she received a hero: from sexual harassmentto float- an unusually warm, sunlit No: Despite a decade of disgraces — ine’s welcome froma close-knit fraternity of congressmenandinstantly becamethefreshest exam ple of what Americans loathe about Congress — the aromaof corruption. The 56-year-old formerlegislative chiefofstaff had just beaten a seven-countfederal indictmentalleging she accepted illegal gratu- ing bad checks and sweetheart book deals —. it is getting harder, noi easier, to bring legal and ethical sanctions against lawmakers andaides accused of breaking the rules, ethics expertss: Court cases, changes in federal jaw anda public fatigued by the torrent of ignominies frora Con- gress and the White Houseseein to have dampened the appetite for accountability. ities, embezzled campaign funds andfiled false federal documents, including her Form 1040 incometax return. She pleadedguil oe misdemeanor cha il The Eppard case ought to be a ake-up call for Americans con- cerned about honest government, said Peter Eisner, managing di rector of the Centerfor Public In- legal compensation and fecslved a $5,000 fine. To celebrate her ctor tegrity, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization ted to expos ing the influence special-interest moneyhas on publicofficials. “The more people understand what's happenedincaseslikethis, the more outrage there mustbe,” more than a dozen unapologetic Republican and Democratic House members turned up for a midday party co-hosted by Rep. Bud Shuster, R-Pa., Eppard’s former boss and the powerful raisin, fig and prunefarmers, the Supreme Courtraised the bar for federal prosecutions under the so- “unsure.” was it enoughto simplyshowthat a public official accepted a gift or moneyfrom someone seeki influence“any official act. prosecutors must prove the gift waslinked to a public official performinga specific act. To GaryRuskin,directorof the Ralph Nader-affiliated Congressional Accountability Project, the Eppard case signaled a capitula nonebyfederal prosecutors he politicians have won,’ Ruskin id, ‘he battle against corruption in Congress has collapsed.” Federal prosecutors defend called “illegal gratuity” statute. The court held that no longer t's a good development. This law was too broad,” said Mark Thornhill, a formertrial attorney with the Justice Department's cutting a deal with Eppard. An April Supreme Court decision changed the rulesof the game criminal tax division and now a as they were preparing theircase. making it unlikely they could convict Eppard, said Ben Ciem ents, an assistant US. attorney in get muchclloserto the conceptof a partner in the Spencer Fane law firm, Kansas City, Mo. “Now, we bribe. Congressional watchdogs disagree, They believe the newstan- Boston assigned to prosecute Eppard. ven the problems the case faced after the court's decision, it made sense to resolve it in this manner,” Clement: dard will curtail prosecutions of local, state and federal officials who ept gifts from lobbyists who seem only too willing to sponsor vacations disguised as fact-finding trips or, as in Epp: Diamond Growersof Califor a case, ¥ flinnel cash to assistants with access to key trade decision-makers. In a_ case involving association representing Whileworking for Shuster, Ep: pard benefited from thelargess of lobbyist Vernon Clark of Stateli ne. Nev., who was representing a Boston businessman seeking a “favorable” government payment for a parking lot he owned near LoganInternational Airport. The lot wastobe destroyedin the huge tunnel androad the “BigDig. Shuster project known as was then the top- Richard Egbert, Eppard’s Bos ton attorney, disagreed ~Thefacts areshe pledto a very insubstantial misdemeanor,” Eg: bert said. “The Supr determined that it tion of federal gr: i to have participated in the con: duct Ann Eppardparticipated in.” With the courts backing away from policing Congress, there is ally no venueto keep trans in line, warned Ruskin ranking Republican on thetrans- orthe Accountability Project. portation committee that controlled funding for the project Between 1989 and1993, Eppard gratuities completely. said Egbert “Tell ‘em to go to Congress. If they received $230,000 fromClarkorhis clients, the original indictment charged. Sheleft Shuster’s office after the 1994 elections, when he wasinline to become chairman, Onesolution might be to outlaw want to makeit illegal for anyone toreceive a gratuity, then makeit illegal andtell everybody. If you don't describe to public officials what it is they can andcan't do and bought a $1.4 million town clear}; Va,, where she runs her lobbying banongratuities while the Sei house in Old Town Alexandria, »u set themup fora fall.” ne House adopted a firm, Ann EppardAssociates. bannedall gifts above $50. “One of the more outrageous things about this misdemeanor plea is that Eppard and Shuster can go away saying justice was to be in line with the Senate's Congress hasnotrestricted mem upheld and sheessentially didn’t mean to do anything wrong. but the facts speak otherwise,” said Infrastructure bers from accepting junkets from special interest groups as long as avel canbe linked to“official While most Americans approve of their ownrepresentativ , more thanhalf disapprove of Congress’ While not thebiggest congressional scandal, Eppard’s caseis job performance as a whole, severalrecent polls show. 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