Ney Calls on Space & Ethics "Watchdogs" to Disavow Soros Ties

Ney Calls on Space & Ethics "Watchdogs" to Disavow Soros Ties

Upholding a March 2005 French appeals court ruling, the highest court in France yesterday affirmed the conviction of George Soros for his role in an illegal insider trading scheme, and Congressman Bob Ney today called on 18th District Democrat Candidate Zack Space and the numerous self-ascribed ethics "watchdog" groups who have benefited from Soros' financial largesse to disavow their ties to the liberal billionaire.

"For the last year, as George Soros has aided Zack Space and the Democrats' effort to defeat myself and other Republicans in November by pumping hundreds of thousands of dollars into phony special interest groups and countless negative ads against me, my millionaire attorney opponent has been remarkably silent," Ney said today. "Zack seemingly does not care that Soros is among the most fervent opponents of the Second Amendment. Zack seemingly does not care that Soros is leading the drug legalization effort in this country. Zack seemingly does not care that Soros has equated Iraq prisoner abuse with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Zack's complete silence on all of these important issues and his previous acceptance of a $2,000 campaign contribution from J.J. Cafaro, who bribed Jim Traficant, can only lead one to conclude that Zack's rhetoric on ethics ends at his campaign's financial doorstep."

In light of yesterday's ruling affirming Soros' conviction, Congressman Ney today also called on the many so-called "ethics watchdogs," who have benefited from Soros' financial largesse, to return the hundreds of thousands of dollars they have received from the convicted criminal. Most recently, the curiously-named Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), which is run almost single-handedly by former House Democrat staffer Melanie Sloan, acknowledged that they solicited and received a $100,000 donation from Soros for their organization. All told, members of the so-called Congressional Ethics Coalition -- an ostensibly nonpartisan group of eight government "watchdog" groups - have received over $3 million in contributions from Soros.

"It is the height of hypocrisy for groups such as CREW to be preaching ethics while accepting financial contributions from someone like George Soros," Ney said today. "If these organizations had any ethical backbone whatsoever, they would make their contributors' lists public and return any and all money that they have received from convicted criminals."

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