DeLay Needs to Address Ethics Questions Says Santorum

Sen. Rick Santorum (R-PA) Republican Conference Chairman, and the party's third-ranking leadership position in the Senate said this morning on This Week with George Stephanopolous "I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves," said Santorum. "But from everything I've heard, again, from the comments and responding to those, is everything he's done was according to the law," Santorum told ABC's This Week "Now you may not like some of the things he's done," Santorum said. "That's for the people of his district to decide, whether they want to approve that kind of behavior or not." DeLay, R-Texas, has been under attack by not only Democrats, but also such bastions of conservatism as The Wall Street Journal by reports of possible ethics violations. Many of the questions concern his connections to loggyists, campaign payments to his wife and daughter, and overseas travel. Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif. and House Democratic Leader stated that the ongoing controversy was distracting DeLay from dealing with more pressing problems before Congress. Santorum told Stephanopolous however, that DeLay is "very effective in leading the House" and that "to date, has not been compromised." Here is one very telling exchange between Stephanopolous and Santorum: STEPHANOPOULOS: Do you think that this is just attacks on him [Tom DeLay] or attacks on the conservative movement, or are there serious issues here that he has to address? SANTORUM: …If those things were not out there, obviously they wouldn’t be raising them. And so there are issues that he has to deal with personally…I think he has to come forward and lay out what he did and why he did it and let the people then judge for themselves. Despite Santorum saying that it is up to the people of his district to decide, which may be true with regard to his future election prospects, it is the members of the Republican party in the House that will have to distance themselves from DeLay if they wish to protect their own future elections and the majority in congress. MORE.....