Gop Attempt To Curb Inquiry May Backfire

The Republican attempt to narrow an inquiry into House Speaker Newt Gingrich’s activities could backfire if the precedents of past special counsel investigations hold true, Rep. Pat Schroeder said Sunday.

The Colorado Democrat, one of the speaker’s most outspoken critics, pointed to the 1988 House ethics committee decision, instigated by Gingrich, to appoint an outside counsel to investigate then-Speaker Jim Wright, D-Texas. Wright resigned a year later after the counsel, Richard Phelan, expanded the investigation beyond the original bounds set by the committee.

“Unless they appoint some total puppet, this special counsel is going to come back” and ask for more information, Schroeder said on ABC’s “This Week With David Brinkley.”