I QUESTION THE TIMING OF THIS ANNOUNCEMENT:

Rep. John Conyers (D-Mich.) has “accepted responsibility” for possibly violating House rules by requiring his official staff to perform campaign-related work, according to a statement quietly released by the House ethics committee late Friday evening.

“Late Friday evening” on New Year’s weekend? It’s like they’re trying to bury the story or something. (Via Bill Quick, who is also unimpressed).

UPDATE: Mark Tapscott:

Federal law makes it a crime for a Member of Congress to use official staff members to perform campaign or personal duties. Many official staff members participate in their bosses’ re-election campaigns every two years but they go off the official staff payroll when doing so.

So, isn’t it convenient that the House ethics panel made Conyers’ oddly phrased confession public on the Friday afternoon before the New Years weekend?

If the incoming Democrat majority in Congress is serious about cleaning up the mess left on Capitol Hill by the Republicans, they will end such transparent gambits to minimize the fall-out from a Member admitting to breaking the law.

Indeed.