David Vitter Undermined Public Trust, Senate Ethics Panel Rules; HuffingtonPost.com, 3/30/12

Larry Margasak, HuffingtonPost.com; David Vitter Undermined Public Trust, Senate Ethics Panel Rules:

"Sen. David Vitter undermined public trust when he blocked a raise for Interior Secretary Ken Salazar unless he issued more deep-water exploratory drilling permits in the Gulf of Mexico after the BP oil spill, the Senate ethics committee said in a letter released Friday.

The committee called the Louisiana Republican's actions unprecedented but spared him charges of rules violations because no guidance had been issued on such a tactic."