By Jackie Kucinich
Roll Call Staff
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) said Thursday his decision to ask former Rep. Mark Souder to resign is an example of his philosophy that Members must be held to a high standard of ethical behavior and can be punished even without breaking a law or House rule.
The Indiana Republican resigned earlier this month after admitting to Boehner that he had an extramarital affair with a staff member.
Boehner told Roll Call that he has spoken to several Members over the last year and a half who, he believed, had done something or came close to doing something unethical.
“I’ve had Members in here where I thought they crossed the line,” such as former Reps. John Doolittle (R-Calif.) and Rick Renzi (R-Ariz.), Boehner said during an interview Thursday. “I have had others I thought were approaching the line.” Doolittle and Renzi stepped aside from their committee positions in 2007 after each of them came under federal investigation for unrelated incidents. Renzi faces corruption charges in federal court in Arizona; Doolittle has not been charged.
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