A link on Democratic U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards’ campaign website to his official congressional site that violated House rules provoked outcry Wednesday from Edwards’ GOP challenger, Bill Flores.

A paragraph in the House Ethics Manual prohibits linking from campaign sites to congressional sites and also forbids advertising campaign sites on a congressional site.

House rules ensure members keep their official and campaign activities separate.

The Bill Flores (right) campaign has called for an ethics investigation of U.S. Rep. Chet Edwards.

Once made aware of the link — after a Flores news release that called for an ethics investigation — the campaign removed it, Edwards spokeswoman Megan Jacobs said.

The link had been taken off the site by midafternoon Wednesday.

‘It was a mistake’

Jacobs said the link was put on the campaign’s site by Web designers when it was launched a few weeks ago.

“It was a mistake, and we’ve taken it down,” she said.

Inappropriate links on campaign websites crop up occasionally, said Meredith McGehee, policy director of the Washington, D.C.-based Campaign Legal Center.

In most cases, McGehee said, it’s the result of a junior employee or website designer “who’s a little overzealous and doesn’t know the rules.”

“Is it wrong, yes,” she said, “but in the hierarchy of sins, as long as they take care of it as soon as it’s brought to their attention and it doesn’t happen again, it’s reasonable to assume it was inadvertent.”

When asked how serious an offense he thought the link was, Flores spokesman Matt Mackowiak said, “It is specifically prohibited in House rules. The magnitude of the complaint should be decided by the House Ethics Committee upon investigation.”

mshapiro@wacotrib.com

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