The Nation - News from Feb. 24, 1989

The House Ethics Committee met in secret to begin reviewing an independent counsel’s report in the investigation of Speaker Jim Wright (D-Tex.). The ethics panel met for about an hour to map out its procedures for considering a voluminous report by independent counsel Richard Phelan. Wright said he knew nothing about the status of the case, but repeated assertions that the charges were politically motivated. Wright is accused of improperly lobbying for a constituent with whom he had financial dealings and using campaign and taxpayer funds to publish a book for which he received $55,000 in royalties.