'Watchdog' Group Recommends Investigation of Sen. David Vitter

A group that bills itself as a government watchdog -- but which tends to zero in on Republican targets -- has asked Congress to investigate whether Sen. David Vitter (R.-La.) violated ethics regulations when he allowed taxpayer funds to be used to pay for an aide to travel from Washington to Louisiana for court appearances.

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed a complaint Tuesday with the Senate Ethics Committee,
also alleging that Vitter lied when he claimed that aide Brent Furer did not have responsibility for women's policy issues within his office.

Furer resigned in June after it was revealed he was being prosecuted on a charge of assaulting his ex-girlfriend with a knife. Furer also faced drunken-driving charges.

CREW said the aide used government funds to travel from Washington to Louisiana six times, "making it a remarkable coincidence that two of those trips coincided with Mr. Furer's court dates."

"American taxpayers have a right to expect that their hard-earned dollars are spent on the people's business and not assisting a staff member facing criminal charges for drunk driving and domestic violence," CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan wrote in the complaint. "Senator Vitter's continued protection of Mr. Furer -- a clearly troubled and dangerous person -- does not reflect creditably upon the Senate and merits the Committee's inquiry."

Vitter's office has not commented on the complaint. The ethics committee did not immediately indicate whether it would take action.

Furer pleaded guilty to three misdemeanor charges in the 2008 knife attack, including threatening harm and destruction of property. He was accused of holding his ex-girlfriend against her will for 90 minutes, threatening to kill her, placing his hand over her mouth, and cutting her in the hand and neck, according to the police report.

ABC News reported in June that Furer had a series of brushes with the law dating to the 1990s.

Furer was an adviser to Vitter for five years and also worked on the first-term senator's last campaign.

Vitter is up for re-election in November and polls have shown him leading Democratic challenger Rep. Charlie Melancon.

The senator made headlines in 2007 when his phone number showed up in the records of a Washington prostitution ring.