A GOP news service, Talon News, reports that John F. Kerry has secretly met with Secretary of the Senate Emily Reynolds, to discuss an ethics complaint brought against him a Hofstra University student.

A complaint filed by Hofstra law student Jonathan Stein accuses Reynolds of willfully violating a federal statute that requires her to make deductions from Kerry's Senate paycheck for his absences. Kerry is also named in the complaint for knowingly accepting salary to which he is not entitled.

Stein appears to have done his homework. The law states that the Secretary 'shall' make the appropriate deductions, which in legalese means that there is no room for interpretation. Reynolds had argued that because her predecessors have not enforced this law, she shouldn't either. Stein counters that previous misbehavior does not justify further misbehavior. Moreover, as a lawyer and officer of the court, Kerry should be held to the very highest standards of compliance.

Kerry has attended only 14 of the Senate's 114 votes this year.

Readers may well remember that Senator Bob Dole resigned his Senate seat as Majority Leader to campaign, creating an embarrassing precendet for Kerry, whose governor in Massachusetts is Mitt Romney, a Republican. Kerry would thus augment the GOP's slim majority in the Senate if he resigned.

Even worse, if he gave up his Senate income, Kerry would become almost entirely dependent on his wife's fortune for his living. At least his six figure salary has provided a fig leaf of deniability to the image of a kept man.

Hat tip to Mike
Posted by Thomas  06 17 04