John Carter – Profile in Hypocrisy

Texas Republican John Carter (TX31 – Round Rock) is the lead Republican attack dog in a harshly partisan effort to vilify a senior Democratic member for reporting errors on financial disclosure forms. Recent news reports, however, confirm that John Carter himself hid as much as $300,000 in personal profits gained from the sale of Exxon stock. When confronted, Carter’s office denied the profits saying the “disclosure reports are accurate… no capital gain was made.” (Source: Roll Call , October 21, 2009) But, when documents proving the transactions were produced, Carter was forced to change his tune and admit that he had filed false reports and conceded that corrections must be made. Carter’s violations might be seen as inadvertent and even forgivable had they not exposed his utter hypocrisy, especially in light his recent vicious floor attacks against a respected colleague.

Partisan Attack Dog

Over the last several weeks, John Carter has led vicious partisan floor attacks against widely respected Democratic Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel regarding Mr. Rangel’s failure to disclose some financial holdings. Upon learning of the omissions, Rangel quickly admitted making mistakes and has cooperated with an ongoing investigation by the bipartisan House Ethics Committee.

Allowing the bipartisan process to go forward to determine fair and legal handling of Rangel’s situation has not been good enough for John Carter. Instead, he has organized one of the most harsh, mean-spirited and vitriolic floor attacks seen in recent years. Carter cited his own background as a criminal judge to justify his harsh assessment of his Democratic colleague saying, “”How about we follow the rules? I’ve been in the business of justice.” (Source: Fort Worth Star Telegram, October 9, 2009) He has encouraged other radical “off the edge” right wing Republicans like Louie Gohmert (TX1-Tyler) to join the attack.

Unbridled Hypocrisy

What John Carter Said:

Carter’s complaint against Rangel centered on his failure to disclose profits on his personal financial disclosure. Carter has spent most of October bragging about his experience as a Judge and respect for the law and justice.

• “I spent 20 years of my life in a courtroom making sure people followed the rules.” (Fort Worth Star Telegram, October 9, 2009)
   
• “Either this House repairs this damage, or the American people will have to replace this House.” (Christian Science Monitor, October 8, 2009)
   
• When asked about the looks he was getting from Rangel while he read his resolution, “”I used to sentence people to death, and they’d glare at me”  (Fort Worth Star Telegram, October 9, 2009)

What John Carter Did:

• In 2006, Carter sold Exxon Mobile stock for just under $200,000 profit. He hid this profit from the public on his personal financial disclosure
   
• In 2007, Carter sold Exxon Mobile stock for a profit just under $97,000. He hid this profit from the public on his personal financial disclosure
  (Source: Roll Call; See Carter’s PFS )

On the bottom of his personal financial disclosure, Carter signed under the statement, “Any individual who knowingly and willfully falsifies…this report may be subject to civil penalties and criminal sanctions.” ( See Carter’s PFS )

What John Carter Needs to Do Now:

Given Carter’s background as a Judge and his clear understanding of House rules based on his relentless attack on Mr. Rangel, John Carter should:

• ask the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics Committee) to open an investigation of his actions;
   
• immediately make public ALL financial holdings and transactions with Exxon and all other financial relationships;
   
• issue an apology to Mr. Rangel and to both Republican and Democratic Members of the Ethics Committee for questioning their competency and their integrity;
   
• refrain from making any floor statements or other public statements that do not directly involve legislation affecting his district or the State of Texas.