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I Bet Congress Is Glad They Don't Have Rules Like This

Submitted by Roy Temple on Wed, 08/10/2005 - 7:32am.

I bet there are some happy members of congress that they don't have rules like this. 

From the WP:

In a rare move, the Army relieved a four-star general of his command amid allegations that he had an extramarital affair with a civilian, Army officials said yesterday.

Gen. Kevin P. Byrnes, 55, led the Army's Training and Doctrine Command at Fort Monroe, Va., where he supervised the recruitment and academic programs at 33 Army schools, from basic training to the war colleges. Byrnes, who several military sources said had a previously unblemished record, was set to retire in November after 36 years of service.

According to a report from Public Citizen, Bob Livingston, the one member of congress in recent memory to be forced to forego a promotion as a result of extramarital affairs, has landed on his feet.

Bob Livingston left Congress in 1999 amid allegations of extramarital affairs. Within a week of his departure, the former chairman of the House Appropriations Committee formed a lobbying shop named the Livingston Group. The scandal that forced him from Congress did not appear to hurt his earning potential as a lobbyist.

In its first year of business, the Livingston Group pulled in $1.1 million, even though that was during Livingston’s cooling-off period in which he was prohibited from directly lobbying his former colleagues. The cooling-off period, however, does not restrict a former member from supervising or managing lobbyists, and Livingston took full advantage of that liberty.

Six years later, the Livingston Group is ranked as the 12th largest non-law lobbying firm in Washington and had taken in almost $40 million from 1999 through the end of 2004.

Maybe that will offer some comfort to Gen. Byrnes.  Apparently the GOP/Family Values Congress will welcome him with open arms despite his transgressions.

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