Carib News Founders Lied – Ethics Committee
March 4, 2010
CaribWorldNews, WASHINGTON, D.C., Weds. Mar. 3, 2010: The House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct has blamed The Carib News and its founders for providing false information on their source of funding to lawmakers. The committee also referred the action to the Department of Justice.
While the focus is on Congressman Charles Rangel, who temporarily stepped down on Mar. 3rd almost a week after the committee said he violated House ethics rules, since his staff knew about the source of funding for the trips, the Carib News and the Carib News Foundation`s role in the issue has been under reported.
But according to the Committee`s report, investigators found that the two Carib News organizations, along with its founders Karl and Faye Rodney and employee Patricia Louis, provided false information to the representatives, which shielded the sources of money paying for the trips.
`They falsely indicated on the Private Sponsor Travel Certification Forms (sponsor form) provided to Members who attended the 2007 and 2008 Multi-National Business Conferences that the sole sponsor of those conferences was the Foundation,` stated the report.
At issue was corporate sponsorship of the 2007 and 2008 conferences. Several corporations, including AT&T, Verizon, and American Airlines, donated money to the Foundation specifically to sponsor the 2007 and/or 2008 conferences, investigators found, adding that Karl Rodney solicited the donations from the corporations on behalf of the Foundation.
Karl Rodney, according to the report by investigators, provided those entities with invoices specifying that the donations from those entities were for the conferences. The Government of Antigua and Barbuda (hereinafter Government of Antigua) also paid for lodging for Members of Congress, per an agreement with Karl Rodney, the report found.
However, he reportedly told Representatives Thompson, Clarke, Payne, Kilpatrick, and Delegate Christensen, as well as staff of the Standards Committee, that the Foundation was the sole sponsor of the conference.
In some cases, the committee`s report said, the sources of funding for the 2007 and 2008 Carib News Business conference, held in Antigua and St. Maarten, respectively, couldn`t be determined.
This caused House members to `inadvertently received impermissible gifts of travel that require repayment for the costs of their trips,` the report said.
New travel rules were implemented in March of 2007. The new rules limit the corporations and entities that may sponsor travel for Members. Under the new rules, an entity that employs or retains lobbyists may only sponsor a Member`s travel for one-day trips, provided the entity qualifies as a sponsor.
Before a Member may accept travel expenses from a private sponsor, the Member must receive approval from the Standards Committee. The Member is required to submit information about the trip, including the sponsor(s) of the trip, to the Standards Committee. The Standards Committee will not approve a trip for longer than one day if the trip is sponsored by an entity that employs or retains lobbyists. It will not approve a trip if an entity providing a source of funds does not qualify as a sponsor.
The new rules require the private sponsor to give information about the trip, including the location, the agenda, and the sponsors of the trip, to Members invited on that trip. It also requires the sponsor to certify certain information including that there are no other sources of funding for the travel. In turn, the invited Member submits the information provided by the private sponsor to the Standards Committee on a Private Sponsor Travel: Traveler Form (traveler form). The Member also submits a form to the Standards Committee that includes the sponsors of the trip and the estimated cost. The Member obtains this information from the trip sponsor.
Louis, at the direction of Karl Rodney, contacted the Standards Committee in 2007 after the new rules were implemented and submitted the Private Sponsor Travel Certification Form and a trip agenda for Standards Committee staff to review, said the report. Standards Committee staff was concerned that the trip was sponsored by entities other than the Foundation.
But the ethics committee report said the staff repeatedly asked Louis, who in turn asked Karl Rodney, if any other entity provided money or in-kind donations to the Foundation for the 2007 conference.
Karl Rodney instructed Louis to tell the Standards Committee staff that the Foundation was the only sponsor of the trip, stated the report. He also reportedly told her to tell the Standards Committee staff that corporations listed on the agenda donated to the Foundation`s general fund.
After Karl Rodney and Louis told the Standards Committee staff on several occasions that the Foundation was the sole sponsor of the trip, the Standards Committee approved the Members` requests to attend the conference, the report said.
In 2008, the Foundation hosted another conference. The Foundation sent sponsor forms to Members to invite them to the conference. Some of the Members submitted the forms from the Foundation and traveler forms to the Standards Committee to review.
Standards Committee staff emailed and called Karl Rodney and Louis to ask about the conference. The staff asked if any other entity provided money or in-kind donations for the conference. Karl Rodney instructed Louis to tell the staff, `no,` stated the report.
After Karl Rodney and Louis told the Standards Committee staff on several occasions that the Foundation was the sole sponsor of the trip, the Standards Committee approved the Members` requests to attend the conference.
The Members relied upon the information the Foundation provided, the ethics committee said.
While Rangel was found guilty, Detroit Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick along with Congressman Donald Payne and Bennie Thompson, Congresswoman Yvette Clarke and Congresswoman Donna Christensen were cleared in the probe because of the Carib News action.
The Investigative Subcommittee Karl Rodney and Louis provided false and misleading information to the Members by sending post-travel expense totals they knew to be false to the Members. Additionally, the Investigative Subcommittee concluded that Karl Rodney and Louis provided false testimony before the Investigative Subcommittee regarding the information they provided to the Members who attended the 2007 and 2008 conferences.
The ethics committee voted unanimously to refer the Carib News and its Foundation`s actions to the Department of Justice `for further action as it deems appropriate.`
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