The New York Sun reports that the Senate Ethics Committee will not be investigating Hillary over charges that in-kind gifts to a star-studded Hollywood fund-raising event for her 2000 campaign were underreported by half a million dollars. A complaint was originally filed by Judicial Watch.
These same allegations led to the federal indictment of her chief fundraiser for her first New York Senate race, David Rosen, for false filing with the Federal Election Commission. Although Rosen was later acquitted of these charges, a fundraising committee associated with Hillary - New York Senate 2000 - agreed to amend their filings (since they understated the amount raised by the official total of $721,895) with the FEC and pay a $35,000 civil penalty.
Despite this admittance of wrongdoing, the chairman of the panel, Sen. Voinovich, says that "The committee has concluded that this matter lacks substantial merit." Other Republicans on the committee include Pat Roberts and Craid Thomas, while the Dems on the panel are Tim Johnson, Mark Pryor and Ken Salazar.
The Clintons' are longtime friends with Sen. Pryor and his father, David Pryor, who preceded Bill as Governor of Arkansas and who also represented the state in the Senate for three terms, until 1996. Gov. Pryor also headed Bill's legal defense fund during the impeachment trial. Hillary's husband also gave Pryor the Younger a $1,000 campaign contribution a few years back. But there's no conflict of interest there.
Hillary's spokesman Philippe Reines gloated that "We said from the beginning that this was completely without merit, and are gratified by the resolution."
