I go back to the trash can to cover crooked John Conyers, Nancy “Mrs. Clean” Pelosi, and bipartisan rump-coverers today at Hot Air.

The New York Post editorial board weighs in on the imperial John Conyers this morning–excoriating the House Ethics Committee for giving him a pass on his unethical use and abuse of staffers:

Conyers, by the way, is no congressional novice. He’s been a member of the House for no less than 42 years.

But as long as he follows some new procedures, the Ethics Committee declared, “This matter will remain closed and the committee will take no further action on it.”

Including making public whether or not the allegations against Conyers are true.

That’s a pretty astonishing way to dispose of accusations about practices that labeled “unethical, if not criminal” by one of Conyers’ own chiefs of staff - who then resigned, saying she “could not tolerate [them] any longer.”

And the fact that the committee’s Republicans went along with it speaks volumes as to why the GOP is now in the minority - not to mention the extent of the unseemly mutual back-scratching that permeates Capitol Hill.

Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats promised to do something about ethics once they took control of Congress.

Here’s a very good place to start - by finding someone else to head the Judiciary Committee.

The Washington Times reports:

“It’s a slap on the wrist, but the fact that they did anything is a big deal for [the ethics committee],” said Melanie Sloan, executive director of Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington.

She did not expect the committee to be any tougher under Democratic control. “It is always hard for the party in power to deal with congressional corruption,” she said.

Last month, the ethics committee decided not to take action against Rep. Jim McDermott, despite finding that the Washington Democrat broke ethics rules in 1997 by giving reporters illegally taped telephone calls involving House leaders.

A Republican lawmaker familiar with both cases said Democrats on the committee blocked punitive action against their colleagues.

“It certainly brings into question the Democrats being strong on ethics,” said the lawmaker, who did not want to be identified discussing ethics cases. “In this case [against Mr. Conyers], they are clearly not willing to sanction their own Democratic members.”

And Republicans are going along.

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Related: Conyers’ staff and missing turkeys

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Crooked John Conyers
Dirty Democrat Files: Jim McDermott found guilty of ethics violations
Foiled again!
King John Conyers
The Alan Mollohan case
Dirty Harry Reid: Then and now

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