Kim Escapes Prison Sentence But Still Faces Ethics Panel

Refusing to resign, representative says he will run again, as committee expected to rule before primary

By Marc Birtel, CQ Staff Writer

Rep. Jay C. Kim escaped jail time at his March 9 sentencing for violations of federal campaign finance law, but he still awaits the verdict of two other juries: his House colleagues and the voters of California's 41st District.

Kim, a three-term California Republican, was sentenced to one year of probation and two months of "home detention" after pleading guilty in August 1997 to 10 misdemeanor counts of accepting about $250,000 in illegal campaign contributions during his first campaign for the House in 1992.

The sentence will allow Kim to continue his regular duties, although he will have to report to federal probation officers. It is also likely, although not yet certain, that he will be the first sitting member of Congress required to wear an electronic monitoring bracelet.

Federal prosecutors had asked the judge to impose a jail sentence, contending that Kim's case "represents the largest amount of criminal campaign violations ever committed by a member of Congress." But Kim, the first Korean-American in Congress, asked for leniency, saying that, "In my enthusiasm of running for Congress, I neglected the very important mechanics of my campaign finances and broke the law."

Kim has refused to resign and remains undeterred in seeking a fourth term. His spokesman said March 10 that the congressman considers the sentence passed by U.S. District Court Judge Richard A. Paez to be no bar to his continued service and no hindrance to his re-election campaign.

The House ethics committee began investigating Kim last year and started taking testimony in the case this month. All documents from Kim's prosecution in California will now be turned over to the committee.

Kim could face a variety of penalties ranging from reprimand to expulsion if he is found to have broken House rules.

The ethics panel, co-chaired by Lamar Smith, R-Texas, and Ed Pastor, D-Ariz., is expected to act on the matter this spring -- probably well before California's June 2 primary.

Whatever action the panel takes, however, Kim will be on the primary ballot. Two prominent Southern California Republicans have filed to face him: state Rep. Gary Miller, who represents Diamond Bar and surrounding communities, and Orange County Deputy District Attorney Peter Pierce.

Miller has the official backing of more than 100 state and local elected officials and the unofficial backing of his party's caucus in the state Legislature. When Miller kicked off his campaign in November, GOP Gov. Pete Wilson was his keynote speaker.

Miller said he also had received "silent support" from some members of the California House delegation during a visit to Washington.

Miller once served with Kim on the Diamond Bar City Council and endorsed his bid for Congress, but he now says he wants to ensure that Kim is not a "poster boy" that Democrats could use against the GOP in fall races.

"It's beyond my comprehension why he's running again," Miller said. "I've been hoping that Jay would take the moral high ground and move on with his life."

Miller says he is willing to commit $500,000 of his own resources to the primary, adding that to $185,000 he has reported receiving from two recent fundraising events. Kim reported only $34,000 in cash on hand in his Dec. 31 disclosure, with more than $230,000 in debt. Kim's campaign committee was fined $170,000 in the case.

Many observers see Pierce's role in the three-way race as that of a spoiler, saying he may split the anti-Kim vote and enable Kim and his core supporters to win the primary.

Such a scenario might give Democrats an opportunity to win in this usually dependable Republican stronghold in the vast suburbs east of Los Angeles thatsprawl across the lines of the counties of Orange, Los Angeles and San Bernardino. Democrats have a potentially strong candidate in Diamond Bar city council member Eileen Ansari.

Pierce calls himself a "Ronald Reagan conservative" who "sees the district's urgent need for an honest representative in Washington." But Pierce has had trouble raising money and picking up endorsements to match Miller's.

NRCC Backing?

House GOP leaders had been silent for months regarding Kim's case. Kim met March 11 with Speaker Newt Gingrich, R-Ga., and Rep. John Linder, R-Ga., chairman of the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC).

Kim later told his staff he would have the backing of the NRCC, which nearly always supports incumbents in primaries. But Mary Crawford, NRCC spokeswoman, said the committee had not taken a position in the race. Several news reports said Linder had made support for Kim contingent on the outcome of the ethics case.

"[Kim] is an embarrassment to the Republican party," said John J. Pitney Jr., a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College. "They want to get this over with as soon as possible."

Just two days after the sentence, Kim received a career setback of another kind. He was passed over for the chairmanship of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's Railroads Subcommittee, which went to New Jersey Republican Bob Franks instead.

Kim had actively sought the subcommittee chairmanship and had been in line for it after former Rep. Susan Molinari, R-N.Y, resigned in August 1997.

© 1998 Congressional Quarterly Inc. All rights reserved.

Saturday March 14, 1998

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• Capps Succeeds Her Husband
• Computer-Reliant U.S. Society Faces Growing Risk Of 'Information War'
• Senate Measures Would Limit Minors' Access to 'Cyberporn'
• Kim Escapes Prison Sentence But Still Faces Ethics Panel