Idaho Rep. Phil Hart's attorney, Starr Kelso, has sent out a defiant response to today's House Ethics Committee decision on Hart's behalf, arguing that the panel's decision "has no basis in law or procedure and exceeds the committee's authority." That's not what the Idaho Attorney General's office advised the ethics committee. You can read Kelso's statement here; headed, "Phil Hart's Response to the Idaho Ethics Committee Rulings," declares, "Since January 2005 Mr. Hart has paid over $120,000 in txes. Mr. Hart believes that when the law is applied to the facts it will be determined that he has overpaid his income taxes."

Public records, including IRS liens, show that Hart owes $700,000 in back federal and state income taxes, penalties and interest. In a motion for reconsideration to the state Board of Tax Appeals that Kelso provided to the Ethics Committee on Wednesday, he wrote that Hart's tax woes are "entirely the result of political persecution of Mr. Hart by the IRS."