Howard Berman: “I oppose the motion of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), who is a very diligent and very valuable member of the…”

“I oppose the motion of the gentleman from Ohio (Mr. LaTourette), who is a very diligent and very valuable member of the committee, who joined in the unanimous vote to recommend expulsion. A word about the testimony before the committee of Richard Detore, for when we hear the gentleman from Ohio's (Mr. LaTourette) argument, we realize that only one issue has come up since the time that the committee recommended expulsion that changes the facts before us since the committee completed its deliberations, and that is the comments of jurors. I will address those comments in a few moments, but first I want to talk about the testimony that I think is underlying some of the concern, that of Richard Detore. Unlike the jurors in Cleveland, the eight members of our adjudicatory subcommittee, including myself, heard Mr. Detore's efforts to exculpate Mr. Traficant. We nonetheless determined that the allegations against the gentleman had been proven by clear and convincing evidence, including count 3, the only count, the single count on which Mr. Detore arguably had pertinent firsthand information.”