Liberals Are Cool

Boehner Broke Law: Spent $500,000 He Did Not Have To Defend DOMA

The watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint Tuesday against House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH), alleging that he violated the law and House rules by agreeing to pay an outside law firm $500,000 to defend the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).

In the complaint filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE), CREW charged that Boehner had violated the Antideficiency Act, which prohibits “making or authorizing an expenditure from, or creating or authorizing an obligation under, any appropriation or fund in excess of the amount available in the appropriation or fund unless authorized by law,” according to the Government Accountability Office (GAO).

“It is ironic that Speaker Boehner — a fierce critic of government overspending — did not hesitate to pledge half a million dollars he does not have to defend a law of dubious constitutionality,” CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan said in a statement. “It seems the speaker believes fiscal responsibility starts at home, but not in the House.”

This is yet another case of do as I say, not as I do.