WAS ARMEY'S LETTER IMPROPER?

Ralph Nader has called for a House Ethics Committee investigation ofMajority Leader Dick Armey (R-Tx.), accusing Armey of improperly allowing a special interest group to circulate a letter on his congressional stationery. In a letter to the CEOs of 82 of the nation's largest corporations, Armey wrote that their pattern of contributions to charities "unfortunately" supported a liberal agenda. What has Nader riled is that although the letter was written on Congressional stationery imprinted with Armey's name and title, it was mailed by the conservative Capital Research Center along with a book that criticizes the alleged tendency of many charities to favor liberal causes. Nader's Congressional Accountability Project says the letter "violates a House prohibition on the use of House letterhead by outside groups." Armey spokesman Ed Gillespie denied any wrongdoing by the Majority Leader. TIME Washington correspondent John Dickerson notes that "Regardless of whether the letterhead was official or not, it's clear Armey was using his position to influence these people."