On Oct. 30 The Washington Post leaked a report from the U.S. House of Representatives ethics committee that revealed House ethics investigators have been examining the activities of more than 30 lawmakers, many of whom are Democrats, regarding defense and corporate lobbying since July.

Upon becoming the first female speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi promised that Democrats were ready to lead with Republicans “not in partisanship.” Moreover, she promised “Democrats intend to lead the most honest, most open and most ethical Congress in history.”

Did anyone really think ethics violations would cease after the Republican majority was swept out of Congress in 2006?

Furthermore, according to The Washington Post, the ethics committee authorized the issuance of subpoenas to the Department of Justice, the National Security Agency and the FBI because of “intercepted communications” regarding Rep. Jane Harman, D-Calif. Harman is believed to have dealt with pro-Israeli lobbyists, and in exchange for her support the lobbyists would help in having Pelosi name Harmen chairman of the intelligence committee.

Moreover, the committee revealed documents scrutinizing high-ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee, Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., for her activities in directing federal bailout funding to OneUnited Bank of Massachusetts, a company in which her husband owns $250,000 in stock. Waters apparently arranged for OneUnited to be an early participant in the financial bailout program that passed earlier this year. Waters denied any wrongdoing, but accusations are still growing because of her supposed involvement.

Prior to The Washington Post’s leaked story from Friday, however, senior U.S. Congressman Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., who sits as the House Ways and Means chairman, is also under investigation stemming from a trip the lawmaker took last year, along with other tax violations.

Investigations into his personal finances, as well as his top aide and son revealed ethics violations that took place last November when Rangel and four other members of Congress attended the Congressional Black Caucus on the Caribbean island of St. Martin. Although it was believed Rangel’s trip was sponsored by a nonprofit foundation, the expenses of the trip, including his stay at a luxury resort, were actually covered by major corporations such as Citigroup, Pfizer and AT&T.

This of course, if anyone remembers, is illegal after the rules Congress passed in 2007 following a wave of corruption cases against Republicans and barring all private companies from paying for Congressional trips.

Although Republicans are calling for Rangel to be stripped of his committee chairmanship, Pelosi said in an interview with CBS that was not going to happen.

To a certain degree, this should come as no surprise as many of those under investigation are practically career politicians. Moreover, with a recent Gallup poll showing the approval rating of Congress at 21 percent, it should not come as a surprise that there once again could be drastic reversal of power in the 2010 congressional elections.

Reach Joseph at jhermiz@asu.edu.