However, after the trial, United States District Court Judge Emmet Sullivan dismissed the most serious sentence for obstruction of Congress. On federal prosecutors’ objections, Sullivan argued that the obstruction statute does not apply to congressional entities that do not do their work under the control of congressional committees.
A panel of three DC Circuit judges unanimously concluded that Sullivan’s reasoning was on target.
“The fact that the statute does not include other” offices “of Congress is especially strong evidence of meaning here because other statutes do,” wrote Judge Thomas Griffith in a 17-page opinion joined by Justices Karen LeCraft Henderson and Robert Wilkins.
Shortly after a 1995 Supreme Court decision that found that false statements to Congressional committees were not covered by the criminal ban on lying to federal agencies, Congress passed an amendment that reinstated law enforcement to statements to congressional committees and also made it clear that the declaration law applies to comments made to congressional offices.
However, as the appeals court noted, Congress did not make similar adjustments to the obstruction law.
“Congress knows how to refer to legislative offices when it wants to, and we must give effect to the statute’s personalized language,” Griffith wrote. “If Congress wants to extend responsibility to those who obstruct the work of the Office, it can, and it has model language for such an amendment to the False Statements Act.”
The Congressional Ethics Office was created by House resolution in 2008 as part of what spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi called a push to clean up the “culture of corruption” in Washington. While the office may decide to initiate probes on its own, it cannot issue subpoenas, punish anyone, or even have the House Ethics Committee continue an investigation initiated by the office.
Bowser’s defense attorney said the decision effectively reduces the likely punishment in such cases by removing the obstruction charge from the table.
“The appeals court agreed that OCE is not within the scope of the obstruction statute,” said attorney, Leslie McAdoo Gordon. “That was clear from the start and it should have been all along. What it says about this case is that it was highly over-indicated. This was a case of overreach. “
An ethics advocate said Tuesday that Congress should change the statute to make clear that obstructing the OCE is a criminal offense.
“The court’s decision is a significant blow to the House of Representatives’ ethics regime. The leadership of Congress should move quickly to close this gap in the law, ”said Donald Sherman of the liberal watchdog group, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington. “Expanding the obstruction of Congress’s statute to include OCE investigations is essential to promote and enforce the highest ethical standards in the People’s Chamber.”
However, the new appeals court ruling does not give recipients or questioned by the office a free hand to lie, as false statements to OCE and some types of schemes to hide facts or deceive its officials are still covered. by the false statement law.
In fact, that aspect of the ruling was problematic for Bowser, as the court upheld four felony convictions in the case: one for concealing OCE deeds and three for false statements made to the office.
Bowser faces a four-month prison sentence on those charges, but Sullivan allowed him to remain free until the appeal is resolved.
McAdoo Gordon said he plans to seek a new review of the case, either from the entire DC Circuit bank or from the Supreme Court.
Griffith is a representative of President George W. Bush. Henderson was named by President George HW Bush. Wilkins is appointed by President Barack Obama. Sullivan was named by President Bill Clinton.
