Congressman resigns committee post after home searched in corruption probe

Calif. Congressman resigns committee post after home searched in corruption probe | Rep. John Doolittle temporarily leaves Appropriations Committee as FBI investigates wife's fundraising business and ties to Jack Abramoff. | From Associated Press | 2:12 PM PDT, April 19, 2007

Rep. John Doolittle, whose house was searched by the FBI in an influence-peddling investigation, said today he will step down temporarily from the House Appropriations Committee.

The announcement by the nine-term California Republican came one day after the disclosure that agents had raided his home in Oakton, Va. In the search last Friday, the FBI had a warrant for information connected with a fundraising business run by Doolittle's wife, Julie, that had done work for convicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

"I understand how the most recent circumstances may lead some to question my tenure on the Appropriations Committee," Doolittle wrote House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio.
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Doolittle's ties to Abramoff have come under scrutiny in the corruption investigation that has sent one former Republican congressman, Bob Ney of Ohio, to prison on a guilty plea to charges of conspiracy and making false statements, and produced convictions against two senior Bush administration officials and several congressional aides. ...