Martin Hoke: “I would like to respond to some of the things that the previous gentleman, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes]…”

“I would like to respond to some of the things that the previous gentleman, the gentleman from New Jersey [Mr. Hughes], said. First of all, Mr. Chairman, this is not a partisan issue, and to suggest that it is a gross misrepresentation of the debate. The fact is that the Attorney General is wrong, wrong with respect to there being no conflict of interest. In fact there is a very real conflict of interest. It should be absolutely clear to anyone who has ever spent even 1 day in this Chamber that a tremendous amount of power is wielded here by certain Members of the House and the Senate and that there are Members that any administration, and it does not matter if it is Democrat or Republican, must do business with in order to advance its own agenda, and any administration, whether it is Democrat or Republican, will at the very least think very carefully before pursuing a criminal investigation of a Member of Congress who commands great power and influence. That is the fact. I say to my colleague: The fact is, if you just look at the very recent history, we have gone through a period in which there has been a scandal with respect to the House Post Office, there has been a scandal with respect to the House Bank. Have we had any indictments of any Members of Congress with respect to either one? No, we have not. But have we had indictments and, in fact, convictions of staff members?…”