That "politically sensitive" little problem for House Republicans and their promise of a "zero tolerance" ethics policy just got a lot more sensitive:
Freshman U.S. Rep. David Rivera, who is facing a state criminal investigation of his finances, paid himself more than $60,000 in unexplained campaign reimbursements over the eight years he served in the state legislature, an Associated Press examination of his records shows.
Serving as his own campaign treasurer, the Miami Republican didn't report any details for more than a third of the roughly $160,000 in expenses for which he reimbursed himself, other than simply calling them campaign expenses, according to the records.
The AP review also shows his total reimbursements far exceeded those claimed by 12 other top Florida state legislators who served with him. [...]
His finances first drew attention after it was revealed that he declared little beyond his $29,000 state salary during his years in the Florida House, along with several contracts with the U.S. Agency for International Development. He deleted those entries after USAID said it never employed him, and he then claimed he was working for USAID subcontractors. He has refused to say what he did or what he earned.
While there have been reports that "GOP insiders already are drawing contingency plans for a replacement" in the event Rivera is forced to resign, publicly Republican leadership is taking a wait and see stance:
"As I understand the allegations against Mr. Rivera, they don't involve any of his congressional service," [Speaker of the House John] Boehner said Wednesday. "These are activities that took place before he was elected. And I think we are waiting to see how this plays out."
So, as long as Rivera was only scamming the system before he placed his hand on the Bible and took his oath, he's golden. Maybe the GOP should drop the "zero" from their policy.