Ethics Committee Staffer Leaks Secrets On File-Sharing Network: Via Threat Level.

A staff member of the House Ethics Committee is being blamed for accidentally leaking a sensitive document over a peer-to-peer network from her home computer.

The 22-page, confidential document, listing the names of more than 30 lawmakers who are under investigation by the Ethics Committee and the Office of Congressional Ethics, found its way to the Washington Post after a now ex-employee inadvertently placed it in a file-sharing folder on her home computer, according to Politico.com.

Some of the probes involve congressional representatives linked to a now-defunct lobbying firm that was under criminal investigation by the Justice Department for issues related to defense spending and influence peddling. For example, seven lawmakers on the House Appropriations defense subcommittee are being looked at for steering federal money to the lobbying firm’s clients.

The document also revealed that the committee authorized subpoenas to the Justice Department, the National Security Agency and the FBI for “intercepted communications” regarding Rep. Jane Harman (D - California). As previously reported, Harman was allegedly caught in a 2005 wiretapped phone call discussing a quid-pro-quo arrangement. An unidentified Israeli operative allegedly asked her to influence an FBI investigation of two pro-Israel lobbyists in exchange for the agent’s help in helping Harman secure the chairmanship of the House Intelligence Committee, which Harman ultimately failed to get.

Rep. Maxine Waters (D - California), a high-ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, was named in the Ethics Committee document as well in relation to her involvement with OneUnited Bank of Massachusetts.

In September 2008, Waters arranged for the bank to get a meeting with the Treasury Department to seek government money. OneUnited was subsequently a beneficiary in the Department’s bank bailout program. Waters’s husband owns about $250,000 in stock in OneUnited Bank.

The Committee referred to the document leaker as a “low-level” employee, and has launched an internal investigation into the handling of sensitive documents.

But as the Washington Post, sees it, the Ethics Committee should be grateful for the leak because it provides evidence that the committee doesn’t entirely ignore every ethics violation alleged against lawmakers.

“The ethics committee is one of the most secretive panels in Congress, and its members and staff members sign oaths not to disclose any activities related to its past or present investigations,” writes the Post. “Watchdog groups have accused the committee of not actively pursuing inquiries; the newly disclosed document indicates the panel is conducting far more investigations than it had revealed.”

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