Democrats and ethics watchdogs accused Mr. Chaffetz of political “retaliation” and of trying to curry favor with Mr. Trump. They said his actions were especially worrisome given that House Republicans had tried last week to strip the House’s own independent ethics office of its powers. Then, on Wednesday, Mr. Shaub held a news conference at the Brookings Institution to criticize Mr. Trump’s ethics plan. It’s just not the time for it.”Before turning their attention to Mr. Shaub’s office, Republicans tried, in one of their first acts in the new Congress, to gut the independent House ethics office. “I invited him in to talk about all this.”Only if Mr. Shaub does not comply will he resort to a subpoena, Mr. Chaffetz said.

Source: New York Times January 14, 2017 01:41 UTC