Vitter Dodges Senate Reprimand Over D.C. Madam

May 8, 2008— -- The panel today told all-but-admitted patron of the "D.C. Madam" Sen. David Vitter, R-La., that "under the totality of the specific circumstances present in this matter, it is appropriate for the Committee to dismiss this matter without prejudice."

An outside ethics watchdog had lodged a complaint with the committee against Vitter when his phone number surfaced in D.C. Madam Deborah Jeane Palfrey's phone records.

Vitter was the highest-profile figure to be implicated in the D.C. Madam saga, which came to a close last week when Palfrey, awaiting sentencing, took her own life in Florida.

After his number was found in the phone records of Palfrey's service last year, Vitter issued a statement that "this was a very serious sin in my past for which I am, of course, completely responsible."

Several years ago, Vitter said in the statement, "I asked for and received forgiveness from God and my wife in confession and marriage counseling."

The ethics panel did not give an opinion on the facts of Vitter's case, arguing it essentially did not have jurisdiction to do so.

Vitter was not a senator at the time he has admitted to using the escort service Palfrey once ran, the panel reasoned, and he had faced no criminal charges nor allegations of abuse of his office as a result of having paid women to perform sex acts on him.

The panel said its lack of judgement or punishment did not mean it approved of "the kind of conduct alleged in this matter."

"If proven to be true," the members wrote, "the Members of the Committee would find the alleged conduct of solicitation for prostitution to be reprehensible."

The panel, which is charged with investigating and ruling on alleged breaches of ethics by senators, said it reserved the right to reopen an investigation if new "allegations or evidence [are] brought to our attention."