The Michael DelGrosso campaign does not plan to take action against Congressman Bill Shuster for recent spying incidents, but it may happen anyway in light of the fact that other people might bring charges before the House Ethics Committee.
“I have received dozens of calls from various people and more than one told me they plan to take the incident before the House Ethics Committee,” said Michael DelGrosso in a statement released to The Daily Herald.
“Tthe story has been picked up the Associated Press, as well as US NEWS wire services and others,” campaign spokesperson Justin Meyer told The Daily Herald
Yesterday’s Daily Herald revealed statements from former part-time Shuster staff member Joshua Juda, who claimed the Congressman not only knew Juda was spying on political opponent Michael DelGrosso, but that Shuster had told the staffer to do so.
Shuster’s office responded by indicating that politics on government time is prohibited in the office of Congressman Shuster.
The Representative’s Chief of Staff Alex Mistri went on to say in a written statement: “As chief of staff, I strictly enforce this. There was not one penny of taxpayer money spent on this incident. Anything said to the contrary is false.”
If Congressman Shuster or his staffers are brought up on charges, they could face a variety of violations.
In information obtained from Code of Ethics Online, the Congressional code of conduct states, “A member, officer, or employee of the House of Representatives shall conduct himself at all times in a manner which shall reflect creditably on the House of Representatives. The House of Representatives also recognizes a code of ethics that should be adhered to by all government employees.”
For example, the code says any person in government service should put loyalty to the highest moral principals and to country above loyalty to government persons, party or department. That same code states that a person should uphold the Constitution, laws and legal regulations of the Untied States and of all governments there, and never be a party to their evasion.
It’s possible that Juda’s spying activities in Mr. DelGrosso’s Tipton neighborhood may not have violated any criminal laws, but could be a violation of House Ethics committee rules. The rules committee handbook does allow congressional staffers to participate in campaign activities on their own time.
Juda said in his e-mail to The Daily Herald, “I was never asked to serve in anyway without pay or as a volunteer.”
Therefore Juda understood that his activities were a part of his 25-hour work week. Juda went on to indicate he wasn’t familiar with, or had not been briefed, on any campaign election laws that might apply to spying activity.
Other code of conduct for those in government service include wording that a person should expose corruption wherever discovered. The code also says the principles should be upheld and be conscious that public office is a public trust.
The spying charges against the Shuster staffer and his most recent statements take on an unusual irony. The Daily Herald discovered an article during its research for this story. An article published in the early 1990s in The Washington Times. It was written by Congressman Bill Shuster’s father, Bud Shuster.
At the time, then Congressman Shuster was the ranking Republican member of the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. The article dealt with the issue of human intelligence versus the use of high-technology to gather information against rivals. The article appeared in newsprint in February of 1992 and was inserted into the Congressional record in March of that year.
Congressman Shuster indicated in his article that high-tech intelligence may have peaked. He cited a number of reasons including a pro human intelligence of Republican administrations, even a congressional advocacy for the use of spies and secret agents. In his article, Shuster went on to advocate the improvement of clandestine human spying.
