Typically the secretive Senate Ethics Committee does not discuss ethics complaints. | John Shinkle/POLITICO Group says Reid got a free pass

A conservative Washington nonprofit is alleging that the Senate Ethics Committee ignored a 2013 ethics complaint about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.).

Cause of Action said on Tuesday that the committee never responded to its December 2013 complaint that alleged Reid “inappropriately interfered” in asking for reconsideration of immigrant investor visa petitions after they were rejected. The group claims it never learned whether its allegations were deemed without merit or whether the panel’s “silence reflects a failure to properly discharge duties.”


“The Committee’s failure to publicly provide reasoned notice for its apparent findings of insufficiency shows an unacceptable opacity,” Cause of Action Executive Director Daniel Epstein wrote in a letter to Senate Ethics Committee Chairwoman Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) and ranking member Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.).

( POLITICO's 2014 race ratings)

“When the Committee quietly dismisses a complaint without explanation where independent material evidence supports the allegations of misconduct, there is cause for concern,” Epstein continued. “The Committee should have explained what happened to Cause of Action’s complaint (and all of the other complaints reviewed since May, 2012, for that matter) to protect public faith and confidence in the integrity of the Senate ethics process.”

Typically, the secretive Senate Ethics Committee does not discuss ethics complaints or committee business publicly, and it is the committee’s practice to respond to complaints that it receives after it reviews the matter. An aide to Reid referred questions to the Ethics Committee; aides to Boxer and Isakson had no immediate comment.

Ethics complaints are wielded as publicity tools but can also lead to investigations and resignations, like that of Sen. John Ensign (R-Nev.). Others are swiftly and publicly dismissed: Last fall, the committee rejected Louisiana GOP Sen. David Vitter’s claim that Senate leaders tried to pressure him into killing his Obamacare amendment.