Corrupton marches on. New majority leader Blunt member of same gang. neEthics cloud hangs over new House GOP leader / He employs adviser indicted with DeLay: "As he worked to unite the party and turn its attention back to the legislative agenda, Rep. Roy Blunt of Missouri, DeLay's successor as majority leader, faced ethics questions himself.
Records on file with the Federal Election Commission show that since 2003, Blunt's political action committee has paid $94,000 in salary to the consulting firm of Jim Ellis, a longtime associate of DeLay. Ellis has been indicted in the same case as DeLay, for allegedly conspiring to illegally influence the outcome of Texas legislative elections by channeling corporate money to Republican candidates.
Congressional watchdog groups and Democrats pointed to Blunt's employment of Ellis' firm, J.W. Ellis Co., as evidence of what they said is an atmosphere of corruption on Capitol Hill.
Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., confirmed that he is under investigation by both the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Justice Department for his sale earlier this year of stock in HCA Inc., the hospital chain founded by his father and brother. The company said Thursday that the SEC is also investigating HCA.
'It doesn't surprise me because an ethical cloud does hang over this Capitol,' said House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco"