John Johnston: “I believe I have made the point I wanted to make, which was disclosure is the key. I do not doubt that there are some…”

“I believe I have made the point I wanted to make, which was disclosure is the key. I do not doubt that there are some things I would not touch with a 10-foot pole and go to. I have not been on a ski trip, not because I think it is evil or wrong. I do not happen to ski, so I never was tempted in the first place. But if I went and disclosed it, then the voters would be the judge of that. And if they think that I can be bribed with a basket of fruit at Christmas, believe me, they would think I could be bribed with a ski trip, and they would vote against me. I would not go for that purpose. But there are a whole slew of other perfectly appropriate things. The United Negro College Fund, one of our colleagues is involved in that. Another one puts on and sponsors an event for a hospital in his hometown. What is wrong with that? The problem is, when you try to make these very complicated rules where you do not know where one ends and one begins, Mr. President, it is much worse than leaving it up to the voters. If we are so unpopular and so badly viewed, believe me, none of us are coming back anyway. The whole raft of us is going to be gone, if that is the public perception. I do not happen to believe it is the public perception. I think a man's political life or a woman's political life in this body is well-known. I think our reputations for integrity or not for integrity are well-known back home, and we are going to be judged by that.”