GOP lawmakers want Pelosi to remove Mollohan

Republican Reps. John Carter (R-Texas) and Louie Gohmert (R-Texas) are expected to send House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) a letter tomorrow asking her to remove Rep. Alan Mollohan (W.Va.) from the Appropriations Committee.

Mollohan stepped aside as the ranking Democrat on the ethics committee late last month amid ethical questions about his financial dealings with private contractors and nonprofit organizations that received millions of dollars in federal funds.

“The allegations against Congressman Mollohan are directly related to his conduct on the Committee,” the two former judges wrote in a draft copy of the letter circulated last night.

“Not only is his continued position on that Committee in conflict with the allegations made against him, it also places him in the untenable position of exercising jurisdiction and influence over the Justice Department, the very entity that is currently investigating him,” the letter continued.

Mollohan is the ranking Democrat on the Appropriations subcommittee with oversight of the Departments of Commerce, Justice and State.

“I look forward to reading their letter to Speaker [Dennis] Hastert [R-Ill.] on Congressman [Tom] DeLay [R-Texas], Congressman [Bob] Ney [R-Ohio], Congressman [John] Doolittle [R-Calif.] and Congressman [Richard] Pombo [R-Calif.],” Pelosi spokeswoman Jennifer Crider said. “I must have missed their letter on incarcerated Congressman [Randy “Duke”] Cunningham [R-Calif.].”