On March 17, 2004, the Committee adopted a resolution which established an Investigative Subcommittee to investigate alleged communications received by Representative Nick Smith linking support for the congressional candidacy of his son with Representative Smith’s vote on the Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act of 2003. Representative Kenny C. Hulshof served as Chairman of the Investigative Subcommittee, and Representative Michael F. Doyle served as the Ranking Minority Member. Representative John B. Shadegg and Representative William D. Delahunt were the other two Members of the Investigative Subcommittee.
By unanimous vote on September 30, 2004, the Committee on Standards of Official Conduct approved and adopted the Report of the Investigative Subcommittee in the above-referenced matter.
The Investigative Subcommittee had broad authority to investigate this matter, as set forth in the resolution adopted by the Committee. The evidence obtained by the Investigative Subcommittee in the course of carrying out its responsibilities included the sworn testimony of 17 Members of the House (including Speaker J. Dennis Hastert, Majority Leader Tom DeLay, and Representative Nick Smith), and interviews and sworn testimony obtained from 12 other witnesses. In total, approximately 1400 pages of transcribed sworn testimony and witness statements resulted from proceedings before the Investigative Subcommittee or interviews with its counsel. In addition, approximately two thousand pages of documents were supplied to the Investigative Subcommittee in response to subpoenas for documents and records.
The Report contains the findings, conclusions, and recommendations of the Investigative Subcommittee in this matter, which have been approved and adopted by the Committee. The Committee’s Report is currently available on the Committee’s web site at www.house.gov/ethics. Limited print copies of the Committee’s Report, and a CDROM version of the Report have been made available to the House press galleries. Bound copies of the Committee’s Report are expected to be available soon.