Ohio Republican Representative Bob Ney said Sunday that he will temporarily step down as chairman of the House Administration Committee. Ney has been implicated in the lobbying corruption investigation and scandel centered around the guilty plea of lobbyst Jack Abramoff, according to a recent account by the Associated Press.
In a written statement Ney said that he had become a distraction because of the what he termed “false allegations. He added that he did not want to be a distraction to the important work of the House Repbulican Conference and the work on the House Administration Committee, which is now addressing the GOP plan to develop new rules governing lobbying and travel. Democrats have their own plan which they say will be unveiled this week.
The Administration Committee that Ney headed controls disclosures of lobbying practices and would be the critical committee involved in efforts to reform the system.
The Justice Department has been investigating Ney and identified him as the congressman referenced by Abramoff in his guilty plea earlier this month.
Three Midwestern House Republicans currently are vying to replace Rep. Tom DeLay of Texas as majority leader. DeLay was forced by party rules to step aside after he was indicted by a Texas grand jury for alleged violations of campaign finance laws.
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