House Ethics Overseers Tangle Over Graves Inquiry

• By Jennifer Yachnin
• Roll Call Staff
• Sept. 16, 2009, 5:46 p.m.

In a statement Wednesday afternoon, the Office of Congressional Ethics asserted the House ethics panel “mischaracterized” a report on an investigation of Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) — stating investigators did in fact find “substantial reason” to believe Graves may have committed a “substantive violation” — and decried allegations that the OCE had violated its own rules regarding evidence in the inquiry.