William F. Smith: “I thank the Chair again for yielding me the time. There has been much discussion this afternoon about the tax issues in…”

“I thank the Chair again for yielding me the time. There has been much discussion this afternoon about the tax issues in this case. There has been an assertion made that the Speaker supposedly intended to violate tax laws or that he was reckless in his activities. I want to address that head on. {time} 1330 I spoke yesterday with the chairman of the American Bar Association tax committee. He is the successor to the individual who served as the tax consultant to the Ethics Committee. He told me about a recent meeting that had been held by this tax committee, which was attended by 75 to 80 attorneys. And this meeting occurred on January the 10th of this year. He said there was much discussion about the facts of the case that are before us today, but he said, ``there was no conclusion.'' In fact, he said, ``in regard to the discussion of the facts, it was not conclusive.'' There were many different conclusions. He himself went on to say that it was, ``a stretch to conclude that the Speaker was guilty of violating any tax laws.'' My point here is that the tax laws are so unclear that, in regard to what the Speaker was allegedly doing, how in the world could anyone have intended to violate such laws or been reckless in regard to such laws. Last, I want to say that in the conclusion of the report of the special counsel, several explanations are mentioned to justify the severity of the penalty that is being discussed today.…”