FACT CHECK: Conservatives Attacking Schumer Don’t Mention D’Amato’s ‘Conflict Of Interest’

To bolster their claims that the U.S. Attorney purge is merely “a lot of politics,” conservative members of Congress and their media allies have charged that Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) has a “conflict of interest” because he is investigating the scandal while also serving as chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee.

Sen. Arlen Specter (R-PA) has led the effort to tarnish Schumer, asserting that he has “crossed the line.” Citing Specter, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) claimed that Schumer’s supposed conflict “calls into legitimate question the whole basis for this purported investigation.” White House spokesman Tony Snow cited Schumer’s DSCC position during yesterday’s press briefing, and several media outlets have picked up on the charges.

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Thus far, none of these conservatives have mentioned the apparent “conflict of interest” that was raised in the 1990s, when then-Sen. Alfonse D’Amato (R-NY) was chairman of the Senate Whitewater Committee investigating President Clinton. As Media Matters noted, during that time, D’Amato was serving both as the chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee and as national co-chairman of then-Sen. Bob Dole’s (R-KS) presidential campaign.

(The six-year, $50 million Whitewater investigation concluded with a special prosecutor finding no evidence of illegal actions by the Clintons.)

Contacted by ThinkProgress, Specter’s office said it could not cite any occasion when Specter had accused D’Amato of a conflict of interest.

In any case, it is clear that Schumer has no conflict of interest now. The investigations led by the Senate and House Judiciary Committees are focused exclusively on the Executive Branch and not on Congress. Potential investigations into improper behavior by members of Congress would be conducted by the respective congressional ethics committees. The charges against Schumer are merely a false, and hypocritical, distraction.