least a Vespa?If he doesn’t do his own fessing up, a House ethics investigation needs to be conducted.
The elder Conyers already admitted this week that his son used the vehicle inappropriately over the weekend, when it was the target of a late-night theft. And he has pledged to repay the Treasury for the infraction. Official congressional vehicles are for members’ use only, according to House rules.
But now, the Free Press has learned that the younger Conyers, 20, was ticketed in the same vehicle Sept. 14 near the family’s home.
Could be that the younger Conyers was driving his dad someplace in that instance, which would have been perfectly appropriate.
But it doesn’t take a very active imagination to see how the September incident could have been just like this past weekend’s, or even the tip of a much bigger problem.
The congressman is now effectively a single parent while his wife, former Detroit City Councilwoman Monica Conyers, serves a three-year federal prison sentence. He’s in Washington much of the time, while his two children are back home in Detroit.
That Escalade sitting in the driveway would be a temptation to any young adult. Without clear boundaries, it could easily become a regular opportunity for abuse.
Throw in the congressman’s past history on this issue (he has been cited before for using congressional staff for personal errands and tasks) and it’s clear the burden now falls to him to clear the issue up.
He needs to assure his constituents and taxpayers that he has things under control with his vehicle and his son. And he needs to be explicit about how he intends to prevent his kids from joyriding in his official vehicle in the future.
It’s something he ought to do quickly — to avoid the whiff of a cover-up and, frankly, the hassle and consequences of yet another House ethics investigation.
So far, Conyers has had little or nothing to say about these incidents. He needs to reverse that stance quickly to prevent a minor scandal from becoming a major embarrassment.
Read more: Conyers should fully explain, and stop, son’s use of SUV | freep.com | Detroit Free Press http://www.freep.com/article/20101203/OPINION01/12030308/Conyers-should-fully-explain-and-stop-son-s-use-of-SUV#ixzz17rDJSXuv