McCaskill: Conflicts avoidable
2006-10-19
Source: Kansas City Star
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rss feedU.S. Senate candidate Claire McCaskill said Wednesday that she would take steps to avoid conflicts of interest if elected and was offended that the question was even raised.
"I'll do whatever's necessary to make sure there's no ethical conflict," the Democrat said. "I would never not do that."
McCaskill was responding to the concerns of ethics experts who said she needed a plan on how to deal with potential conflicts of interest posed by the business interests of husband Joseph Shepard. His fortune is derived in large part from interests that intersect with government policy, such as developing and managing low-income housing and buying and selling tax credits.
Earlier, McCaskill aides had said such questions could wait until after the election.
"Obviously, I don't think it's necessary for him to stop doing his businesses while I'm in the Senate," McCaskill said. "But any of the businesses that do have any impact in terms of the federal government or any type of interplay with the federal government, obviously we will take whatever steps are necessary to make sure that there is absolutely no conflict of interest, including a blind trust, if necessary."
Gary Ruskin, director of the nonpartisan Congressional Accountability Project, called McCaskill's new assertion "a step forward."
"As long as she makes a clear promise, that should be enough," Ruskin said. "She has to live by it."
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