This Roll Call editorial takes issue with the House Ethics Committee’s look into the PMA Group and earmarking.

For sure, proving what much of the public suspects — that Members trade earmarks for campaign money, quid pro quo — is very difficult. But, it appears, the ethics committee didn’t even try.

It said it did so, but we suspect it merely reviewed the OCE’s reports, found no provable wrongdoing and cleared everyone involved. We’d call that a whitewash.

The smell simply will not go away, however. We suggest that those who originally demanded that ethics investigate PMA now demand that a special probe be undertaken to investigate the ethics committee.