House Ethics Committee Clears 3 of Conflict of Interest; New York Times, 1/27/11

Eric Lipton, New York Times; House Ethics Committee Clears 3 of Conflict of Interest:

"The House ethics committee, in one of its first official acts since the start of the new Congress, dismissed cases involving three members accused of creating an appearance of a conflict by holding fund-raising events with financial industry executives and lobbyists in the days before major votes on legislation revamping the nation’s financial regulations.

The decision came as a relief to lawmakers. If the ethics committee had found violations, ground rules for fund-raising would have radically changed in Washington, where popular restaurants and bars around Capitol Hill sometimes host two or three events each night."