EXCLUSIVE: House administration committee staff rebuts Fox suggestion that Grayson DVD violates ethics rules

Written by Oliver Willis

Published

Fox & Friends baselessly suggested that Rep. Alan Grayson's (D-FL) mailing of a DVD to his constituents constituted an “ethics violation.” In fact, a spokesman for the committee that oversees the approval of such mailings told Media Matters that Grayson's DVD had been vetted and that the mailing was “not a violation” of House ethics rules.

Fox & Friends suggests DVD should “spur” an “inquiry” into whether Grayson committed an “ethics violation”

Asked by Doocy whether the DVD could be an “ethics violation,” Johnson says “you would think” it would spur an investigation. On the August 2 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends, co-host Steve Doocy reported on a claim made Rep. Alan Grayson's opponent in which he claimed that a DVD sent by Grayson to his constituents was, in Doocy's words, “a promotional thing for his campaign” and that Grayson “really should have coughed up some campaign cash for it.” Doocy then asked Peter Johnson Jr. whether there is “any chance there would be an ethics violation here.” Johnson responded in part that “at first blush there appears to be some question about whether there's an ethical violation or not” and that “you would think that something like that would in fact spur some kind of inquiry.” From the August 2 Fox & Friends:

DOOCY: Is there any chance there would be an ethics violation here? Or would he simply say you're right, I blew it I'll have my campaign pay for the cost?

JOHNSON: I agree with you, at first blush there appears to be some question about whether there's an ethical violation or not. If it's purely partisan and political. But, according to one account, at least, the House vetted it, they looked at it and said 'that's okay'. Now, is that about their lower standards or is it about a Democratic controlled House, or is it about both? But you would think that something like that would in fact spur some kind of inquiry. But it seems to be the order of the day.

House administration committee staffer: Franking commission approved Grayson mailings, which are not an ethics violation

Mailing and transcript of Grayson DVD was “approved on a bipartisan basis by the Franking Commission.” In a statement provided to Media Matters, U.S. House Committee on House Administration Communications Director Kyle Anderson said that the mailing of Rep. Grayson's DVD (and the transcript of the DVD) was “approved on a bipartisan basis by the Franking Commission.” The Franking Commission - which falls under the jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration - approves all mass mailings sent through the franking privilege before they are sent. Contrary to Johnson's suggestion that the commission's approval of Grayson's mailing is due to the “Democratic controlled House,” it is a bipartisan commission composed of three Democrats and three Republicans.

Grayson mailing “not a violation” of House ethics rules. Anderson further stated that Grayson's DVD mailing was “not a violation” of House ethics rules.