H/T to Michelle Malkin.
It would seem that Sen. Dick “Dastardly” Durbin sent a video presentation to the nutroots at the YearlyKos, soon to the be the Netroots Nutroots Nation. The problem is, the second-ranking Democrat leader in the Senate used the official seal of the U.S. Senate, a no-no for Senate members. And, to make matters worse, it is using Durbin’s campaign website address for the video. Tsk, tsk, Senator!
Anne Leary has more on it.
In his video presentation to the YearlyKos convention in Chicago, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL),the second-ranking Dem leader in the Senate, appears to have violated Senate ethics rules. Dick Durbin either broke Senate ethics rules by improperly using the Senate seal on a campaign video, or he used official resources to produce the video and then his campaign used that video.
And apparently our stellar Senator Durbin has now realized this himself, as he has changed the wording on his YouTube channel after the fact. Look at the before screenshot campaign wording on the channel title “Dick Durbin for Senate” and the page says “All the latest videos from Senator Dick Durbin’s election campaign”. The url is the campaign website, not the official one, and you can see the U.S. Senate seal superimposed on the frozen video screen.
So, can you check out the video on YouTube for yourself. Nope. It seems that it disappeared. Now you see it! Now you don’t!
Ah! But, it hasn’t all gone away…
So much for those pesky Senate Ethics Rules:
Official resources may only be used for official purposes. This principle derives in large part from 31 U.S.C. § 1301(a), providing that official funds are to be used only for the purposes for which appropriated, as well as from statutory authorizations for allowances. 418 It is thus inappropriate to use any official resources to conduct campaign or political activities. (Senate Ethics Manual, Chapter 6, Campaign Use of Official Resources, p 153)
Others posting on this topic: Dan Curry / No Agenda / American Pundit /
August 6, 2007 at 8:11 pm
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