To Provide for the Legal Defense: Legal Defense Funds and Federal Ethics Law
![handle is hein.journals/tlr74 and id is 167 raw text is: To Provide for the Legal Defense: Legal Defense
Funds and Federal Ethics Lawt
Few men have the virtue to withstand the highest bidder.
-George Washington'
I. Introduction
Forty years ago, Senator Paul Douglas wrote an influential little book,
Ethics in Government.2 The book noted the corruptive influence of large
campaign donations on candidates for public office.3 It strongly criticized
the acceptance of gifts by senators and congressmen4 and proposed manda-
tory financial disclosure and a code of government ethics.5 This book
represented the beginning of an ethics revolution that has forever altered
the way government does business. Nevertheless, there are more oppor-
tunities for corruption today than forty years ago because more money and
power are concentrated in Washington today than ever before.6 Ironically,
one of those opportunities is open only to those officials who are already
in legal trouble. Over the past fifteen years, public officials have collected
millions of dollars of private donations to fund their legal defenses.
Invariably, special interests rush to contribute, raising many of the same
concerns Senator Douglas wrote about forty years ago.
t Many thanks go to Amy Brown, Michael Tigar, 'Kathleen Clark, Roger Bivans, and Lauren
Laux for their helpful comments on earlier drafts of this Note. Also, I much appreciate the thoughtful
editing of Heather Way, Diane Pearson, Asim Bhansali, and Harry Susman, as well as the hard work
of the many Texas Law Review members who helped cite check and research this Note.
1. THE BULLY PULPIT: QUOTATIONS FROM AMERICA'S PRESIDENTS 46 (Elizabeth Frost ed.,
1988).
2. PAUL H. DOUGLAS, ETHICS IN GOVERNMENT (1952).
3. [T]he vast majority of the big donors want something in return for their money. Their gifts
are in a sense investments. After election, if their candidates are victorious, they come around to
collect . .. Woe betide the office-holders and the party which ignore their claims! Id. at 70.
4. [S]enators and congressmen certainly should not accept costly gifts and entertainment from
private parties and should avoid being put under obligation to those who have an open or secret axe
to grind. Id. at 64.
5. Id. at 97-102.
6. Power tends to corrupt.... JOHN BARTLETT, FAMILIAR QUOTATIONS 521 (Justin Kaplan
ed., 16th ed. 1992) (quoting Lord Acton). Senator Douglas asserted that corruption is likely to occur
when the government enters into contracts, taxes heavily, grants loans, fixes utility rates, regulates
entrance into industry, allocates raw materials, or pays subsidies. DOUGLAS, supra note 2, at 22-23.
In these activities, the men in private industry have frequently both the incentive and the wherewithal
to corrupt and here the temptation for the government officials to succumb is great. Id. at 23.
Government today engages in all these activities to a great degree.](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/tlr74&div=17&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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To Provide for the Legal Defense: Legal Defense Funds and Federal Ethics Law
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