Candice Miller - Admonishment By House Ethics Committee

Admonishment By House Ethics Committee

During the 108th Congress, Miller was admonished by the House Ethics Committee for improperly attempting to influence the vote of fellow Michigan Congressman Nick Smith on a Medicare vote. "The subcommittee released a 62-page report... that admonished Rep. Candice Miller (R-Mich.) and House Majority Leader Tom DeLay (R-Texas) for possibly breaking House rules by offering support for Smith's son in exchange for a vote and threatening retaliation if Smith did not vote for the Medicare bill.

The report... admonished Rep. Candice S. Miller (R-Mich.) for making comments about Brad Smith during the Nov. 22 roll call that appeared to be "a threat of retaliation" for Nick Smith's vote against the bill.

Representative Miller told the Investigative Subcommittee that the first time she spoke to Representative Smith about his vote on the Medicare legislation was on the House floor while the vote was open, after Representative Smith had cast his vote. She estimated that she spoke with him during the first hour of the time that the vote was held open. Representative Miller saw Representative Smith’s no vote on the board and she ‘‘didn’t like the way that he voted.’’ Representative Miller testified that, on her own initiative, she approached Representative Smith and said words to the effect of: ‘‘Is this how you’re going to vote; or, This is how you’re going to vote? And he said, Obviously.’’

Representative Miller recalled that she responded by saying words to the effect of: ‘‘Well, I hope your son doesn’t come to Congress, or I’m not going to support your son, or something to that effect.’’ Representative Smith then ‘‘rose up out of his seat and said, You get out of here.’’ That was the end of the interaction between the two Members. Representative Miller estimated that the exchange lasted for about ten seconds. She told the Investigative Subcommittee that she did not at any point ask Representative Smith to change his vote on the Medicare legislation.

Representative Smith told the Investigative Subcommittee that Representative Miller specifically threatened to work against his son if he did not change his vote. Representative Smith’s recollection was that Representative Miller ‘‘came up and said something like, I haven’t been involved in this campaign before, but if you don’t change your vote, I’ll get involved, and I’ll make sure Brad isn’t elected.’’