Senator Pothole Calls the Kettle Black

U.S. Senator Alfonse D'Amato of New York is leading the g.o.p. charge on Whitewater. As a stiff-backed ethicist, he is something of a rookie:

1975

D'Amato denies under oath knowing about the "1% rule," by which government workers in Nassau County, New York, were coerced into kicking back 1% of their salaries as contributions to the Republican Party.

1981

Accepts campaign contributions from John Shad, who was seeking the chairmanship of the Securities and Exchange Commission. D'Amato was chairman of the Senate subcommittee that oversees the SEC. Shad won the chairmanship.

1985

Is forced to admit he was aware of the Nassau County kickbacks, with the emergence of a 1971 letter he wrote on his personal stationery in which he referred to the practice.

1992

Senate ethics committee criticizes D'Amato for letting his brother (later convicted of fraud) use his office and his official stationery to lobby for a defense contractor.