The American Spectator

Washington Prowler

p> NO PASSING THE TORCH br> Last Thursday's New York Times ran a story saying that the Department of Justice was investigating the appointment of former Attorney General John Ashcroft as a monitor of a deferred prosecution of Zimmer Holdings, a medical supply company in Indiana that was investigated by U.S. Attorney Chris Christie in New Jersey. The Department of Justice quickly released a statement that there was no investigation of any kind under way. /p>

So how did the New York Times get it so wrong? Apparently, bad information from its sources on the House Judiciary Committee and inside the offices of New Jersey Democrat Reps. Frank Pallone and Bill Pascrell, Jr.

In fact, based on information obtained by House Republican leaders, the Republican caucus is mulling whether to file for an ethics investigation into the actions of Pallone and Pascrell and their staffs in pushing the Ashcroft story.

"When you look at the record, both Pallone and Pascrell have been taking money from some of the same people in the same industry that Ashcroft is trying to keep clean," says a member of the House Republican leadership. "We're not talking about a couple of donor checks, we're talking hundreds of thousands of campaign dollars for both men."

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