Boehner has a record of little tolerance for bad behavior from colleagues. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Boehner holds fire on Trey Radel

John Boehner has made swiftly dealing with bad behavior a signature of his leadership, at times working behind the scenes to orchestrate an exit or levy a punishment on lawmakers caught in ethical or legal mishaps.

But House Republican leaders are not calling for first-term Rep. Trey Radel (R-Fla.) to step down after he pleaded guilty in D.C. Superior Court to possessing cocaine. Radel was swept up in a drug sting in October by an undercover police officer and an “acquaintance” with whom he had done cocaine, according to court documents.


The Florida Republican has not said he will resign while he seeks treatment — and GOP leaders are not pressuring him to give up his seat. He didn’t tell GOP leadership about the sting until Tuesday, according to multiple sources familiar with the incident — roughly three weeks after it occurred.

( Also on POLITICO: Trey Radel pleads guilty to cocaine possession)

Boehner’s office said on Tuesday that members of Congress should be held to the highest standards. The speaker’s office added that this matter was up to the courts and “Rep. Radel, his family, and his constituents.” Majority Leader Eric Cantor and Majority Whip Kevin McCarthy’s offices said separately that the lawmakers “share the sentiments of the Speaker.” A Cantor aide said that he is “glad he is seeking treatment and encourages him in his recovery. This is clearly a difficult time for him and his family.”

“This is an unfortunate time for Congressman Radel and his family,” a McCarthy aide said. “He’s admitted he has done wrong and is seeking treatment.”

Cantor previously said republicans should have a “zero-tolerance” policy for ethical mishaps.

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However, Rep. Greg Walden, the House Republican’s chief campaign hand, said he wouldn’t comment on whether Rep. Trey Radel should resign until he sees his 10:30 p.m. news conference

“I want to see what he has to say,” said Walden (R-Ore.), the chair of the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Walden said he has not talked to Radel (R-Fla.) since he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of cocaine possession. Federal prosecutors said Radel had used and bought cocaine on several occasions, and shared it with others.

Walden said “he’s going to need to explain what happened, and then make some decisions.”

It’s a shift, of sorts, for a Republican leadership team that has tried to expeditiously deal with ethical mishaps by its members. Boehner, who became Republican leader in 2006, has a long record of very little tolerance for bad behavior by his colleagues.

Court documents say it wasn’t Radel’s first encounter with cocaine. Court documents said Radel had on several occasions used, bought and possessed cocaine, and sometimes shared the drug with others. After he was caught buying cocaine from an undercover agent, he handed over to the federal authorities more cocaine that he had in his apartment.

( Also on POLITICO: 10 things to know about Trey Radel)

Republican aides and lawmakers argue that this situation is not a typical ethics lapse and said the leniency is because Radel said he is seeking treatment. He will be on supervised probation for one year.

Some lawmakers and aides are publicly and privately wondering whether Radel will have to step down. Rep. Michael Burgess (R-Texas) said he thinks “it’d be awfully difficult to continue” as a member of Congress.

Radel’s office did not comment beyond its statement yesterday, and the Florida Republican ignored questions from reporters at D.C. Superior Court on Wednesday morning.

Not pushing Radel out is a slight change of tactics for Boehner.

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For example, when former Rep. Chris Lee (R-N.Y.) was sending shirtless, sexually suggestive photos to a woman he met on the Internet, he swiftly resigned. Boehner said afterwards that he believed “members should be held to the highest ethical standard.”

When former Rep. Mark Souder (R-Ind.) was caught in an affair with an aide and left Congress, Boehner told lawmakers: “If you put your own interests above those of your constituents, you’re hurting them, and you’re hurting the team. And it won’t be tolerated.”

When Boehner was minority leader, Rep. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) gave up his seat on Appropriations when he was under an ethical cloud, and former Rep. Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.) forfeited his Intelligence Committee under similar circumstances.

Boehner’s style is partially due to the wave of ethical mishaps of the mid 2000s that tarnished Republicans’ image. Shortly before the 2006 election, former Rep. Mark Foley (R-Fla.) was caught sending lewd messages to House pages. Democrats then captured the majority.

In 2007, when the House was awash in ethical misdeeds, Boehner wrote to his colleagues in a memo that he “will simply not tolerate ethical misconduct within our conference.”

“Clear likelihood of serious transgressions will lead to suspension from important committee positions; guilt will lead to immediate and severe consequences,” Boehner wrote at the time.

Radel’s case is slightly different than those other scandals, sources say. In a statement Tuesday, Radel said he was an “alcoholic” and that led to “an extremely irresponsible choice.” In court Wednesday, Radel said he has “hit a bottom.”

His lawyer said he has been receiving addiction counseling in Washington, and will enter an in-patient facility in Florida.

Radel certainly hasn’t been coy about the fact that he liked enjoying Washington’s nightlife. Earlier this year, he told Roll Call he had “yet to have a bad martini in DC. “My favorite is Kettle One, up with blue cheese stuffed olives shaken by Mary at The Palm,” Radel told Roll Call in a story published four days before his arrest.