House speaker calls for ethics investigation of Hamilton
BOB BROWN/TIMES-DISPATCH
Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News, speaking last year at the legislature, has said he will not resign his seat in the dispute over his relationship with ODU.
Speaker of the House William J. Howell, R-Stafford, called today for the House Ethics Advisory Panel to investigate the conduct of Del. Phillip A. Hamilton, R-Newport News.
Howell said he wants to determine whether Hamilton, who tried to get a job in a program for which he sought funding at Old Dominion University, violated the state’s Comprehensive Conflict of Interest Act.
“Virginia has a reputation for good government and I want to keep it that way,“ he said.
The panel consists of five citizen members, including two former legislators.
Earlier today, Democratic candidates for governor, lieutenant governor and attorney general called on Hamilton to resign his House seat.
Hamilton has admitted that he erred, but says he will not resign.
Hamilton’s actions “betray the public trust,“ said state Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, the Democratic candidate for governor.
“The bottom line is that Phil Hamilton appears to have attempted to use his position of public trust and taxpayers’ money to enrich himself,“ said Del. Steve Shannon, D-Fairfax, the Democratic nominee for attorney general. He serves on the House Appropriations Committee with Hamilton.
E-mails obtained by the Newport News Daily Press and the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot show that Hamilton attempted to secure employment at Old Dominion University in a program that he helped create.
Hamilton, a powerful member of the House Appropriations Committee, had been paid $40,000 a year as an independent contractor for ODU’s Center for Teacher Quality and Educational Leadership since it opened in 2007.
Last week, ODU and Hamilton severed their relationship.
Hamilton had adamantly denied that he had asked for a job before securing money to start the center. When confronted with the e-mails last week, Hamilton again said he didn’t remember doing so.
“I’m not trying to hide behind anything,“ he said. “I honestly had no recollection of that, but the e-mails don’t lie. The e-mails say it. And the e-mails have my name associated with it.“
Today, Jody Wagner, the Democratic nominee for lieutenant governor, said:
“Delegate Hamilton abused his position as a public servant for personal gain. His apologies and denials fall short. Virginians deserve elected officials who maintain the highest standards of integrity and honesty, and anyone who fails to meet those should resign. I believe Delegate Hamilton should step down immediately, as he can no longer effectively serve the 93rd District.“
On Friday, Howell said in a statement that he was “deeply disappointed” to hear about Hamilton’s past actions regarding ODU.
“I believe he certainly did the right thing in resigning his position at ODU and is correct in accepting full personal responsibility for his role in this very unfortunate situation,“ Howell said.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report).
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Reader Reactions
mikeyt- Kaine didn’t create the DNC in order to get himself a job. There’s a major difference.
Bob,
Edwards was not a public official when he did “that sparking thing.“ There was nothing to resign from. Unlike Ensign, Vitter, Craig and Sanford - all of whom are still slobbering at the public trough.
Hey Virginian, you’re right the Republicans do run on values and when they don’t live up to them they are rightly criticised. The Democrats don’t pretend to have any values and so when they break the law it’s generally overlooked because no one seems to have any expectations that they would obey the law. Since you’re naming names I’m sure you expect to also see Charlie Rangel, William Jefferson, Harry Reid, Mike Torecelli,I was able to name those without thinking hard, receive their due and how about that Nancy Pelosi trying to expand her fleet of planes to fly her and her buddies wherever they want to go(what defecit?. And you gotta love the gov. running the DNC on Virginia’s tax dollar.
Not even close, mickeyt. Deeds isn’t running against Hamilton, and Kaine didn’t put in budget requests for the DNC on the promise of a job.
You need to really think about why your boys aren’t for integrity in government.
This is a major breaking point, and the only thing to do is the right thing, and be for integrity. If the GOP guys don’t do what’s right, just watch the average person run to the other side. No where to hide on this one - the airwaves will be all over it.
Virginian…don’t forget John Edwards in your list. Oh that’s right, you’re a one sided party hack. You’ll never admit it, but that’s what you are.
Virginian… yes, actions speak louder than words.
Deeds said he wouldn’t attack his opponents, that he was about issues. That doesn’t seem to be workin out for him. His actions certainly speak a lot louder than his words.
Without question—not Deeds.
What Hamilton has done isn’t any more of a conflict of interest than Kaine running the DNC while governor. Both should resign or both should stay.
And before you libs say it, yes, Gilmore should have resigned when he did what Kaine is doing.
i believe that virginia state politics is corrupt—-this whole notion of the “citizen-politician” is fraught with confilcts of interest especially in light of disclosure laws that are among the lightest in the country. Our elected delegates and senators routinely vote on policy and law that affect companies that they represent in court and elsewhere. This guy got caught with his pants down and the current call for an ethics investigation is more a cry for “don;t ruin a good thing” than anything else. Basically, we have legalized corruption in this state.
There is a pattern here. GOP politicians run on values, but then have problems living up to them. whether it be vitter, craig, ensign, or sanford, the politician has no shame and refuses to resign. his GOP bretheren just shrug their shoulders. don’t expect the state ticket to much more.
actions speak louder than words. deeds, not words, more than ever!
This is a case where I’d like to see the leaders and candidates from both parties ask for Hamilton’s resignation, and try to save the Commonwealth the time and money that would be required for an ethics investigation to disclose what Hamilton’s email’s already admit.
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