U.S. House Ethics Committee to examine congressional press secretary vandalizing Wikipedia articles with government computer
{{date|August 19, 2007}}
{{wikimediaMention}}
[[w:Timothy A. Hill (U.S. congressional press secretary)|Timothy Hill]] is the congressional [[w:press secretary|press secretary]] working for [[w:David Davis (Tennessee politician)|U.S. Representative David Davis (R, TN-1)]] in Washington, D.C.  

This news story originally broke as an article appearing within the August 11, 2007 edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee) in which Hill first denied any personal involvement in the "blanking" vandalism of  the Wikipedia articles [[w:David Davis (Tennessee politician)|David Davis (Tennessee politician)]] and [[w:Matthew Hill|Matthew Hill]] (Matthew Hill is a Representative within the Tennessee General Assembly and older brother of the press secretary) during a first interview with a KNS reporter.  Hill later called back the KNS reporter for a second interview in which he reportedly admitted to using a government computer within the Washington, D.C. congressional office of U.S. Rep. David Davis to "edit" both the David Davis and Matthew Hill Wikipedia articles .

Hill repeatedly blanked six to eight paragraphs of reference text at each article pertaining to both U.S. Davis' and Tennessee Rep. Matthew Hill's political lobbying and/or campaign finance connections to [[w:Altace|Altace]], [[w:Hoechst AG|Hoechst AG]]and former [[w:King Pharmaceuticals|King Pharmaceuticals, Inc.]] CEO John M. Gregory. Hill's Wikipedia article edits were then linked through the article histories back to Rep. Davis's congressional office via an IP (internet protocol) number to the U.S. House of Representatives Information System.

Other interesting Wikipedia articles edited with the history detail revealing Rep. Davis Davis congressional office IP number (although not attributed to Hill) includes [[w:John Leslie (porn star)|John Leslie (porn star)]] and sports professional  [[w:Ray Jackson|Ray Jackson]]. The vandalism at the Jackson article was not directed toward the sports pro, but rather at a congressional staffer of the same name who is employed at the House Rules Committee.

The rules of the [[w:U.S. House Committee on Standards for Official Conduct|U.S. House Committee on Standards for Official Conduct]] (more popularly known as the U.S. House "Ethics Committee") oversees ethics education and conducts investigations of ethical matters pertaining to House members of the U.S. Congress and the members' congressional officers and staff members, including investigating within the scope of campaign activity:

*No campaign activities allowed in any congressional office or room (including district offices)
*No use of congressional office resources (including equipment, supplies, or files) for any campaign purpose

The scope of duties for a congressional press secretary is traditionally limited toward preparing internal documents  within a congressional office (i.e.: "press releases")  that are later disseminated to the news media outlets, writing up and producing newsletters to mail to the constituents back within the congressional district, and serving as a contact person within a  congressional office for news reporters.

There is also an IP number indication that U.S. Rep. David Davis' congressional office has also been anonymously "shadowing" online blogs with at least one blog (The Tennessee Waltz) originating in East Tennessee with content that was critical toward Rep. Davis for his voting against the federal 2007 Animal Fighting Prohibition Act. The legislation passed this year without Davis' vote and was signed into law by U.S. President Bush. 

== Sources ==
*{{source|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/15/lawmakers-office-awaits-panels-verdict-on-aides/
|title=Lawmaker's office awaits panel's verdict on aide's act|author=Michael Collins
|pub=Knoxville News-Sentinel
|date=August 15, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.bristolnews.com/tristate/tri/opinions/editorial.apx.-content-articles-TRI-2007-08-15-0001.html
|title=Hill gets caught in web of scandal
|author=Editorial
|pub=Bristol Herald-Courier
|date=August 15, 2007}} 
*{{source|url=http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/aug/11/entries-on-wikipedia-edited-bydavis-aide/
|title=Entries on Wikipedia edited by Davis aide:Press secretary also admits deleting info on brother via federal computer
|author=Tom Humphrey
|pub=Knoxville News-Sentinel
|date=August 11, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://thetennesseewaltz.blogspot.com/2007/08/talk-to-me-watching-you-watching-me.html
|title=Talk to me: Watching you watching me Part 2
|author="The Editor"
|pub=The Tennessee Waltz (blog)
|date=August 8, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://thetennesseewaltz.blogspot.com/2007/08/watching-you-watching-me.html
|title=Talk to me: Watching you watching me
|author="The Editor"
|pub=The Tennessee Waltz: (blog)
|date=August 6, 2007}}
*{{source|url=http://www.house.gov/ethics/HighlightsMay2007.htm
|title=Highlights of the House Ethics Rules
|pub=U.S. House  Committees on Standards for Official Conduct
|author=U.S. House Committee on Standards for Official Conduct
|date=revised May, 2007}}

{{publish}}
{{archived}}

[[Category:Crime and law]]
[[Category:United States]]
[[Category:Politics and conflicts]]
[[Category:Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia]]
Timothy Hill is the congressional press secretary working for U.S. Representative David Davis (R, TN-1) in Washington, D.C.  

This news story originally broke as an article appearing within the August 11, 2007 edition of the Knoxville News-Sentinel (Tennessee) in which Hill first denied any personal involvement in the "blanking" vandalism of  the Wikipedia articles David Davis (Tennessee politician) and Matthew Hill (Matthew Hill is a Representative within the Tennessee General Assembly and older brother of the press secretary) during a first interview with a KNS reporter.  Hill later called back the KNS reporter for a second interview in which he reportedly admitted to using a government computer within the Washington, D.C. congressional office of U.S. Rep. David Davis to "edit" both the David Davis and Matthew Hill Wikipedia articles .

Hill repeatedly blanked six to eight paragraphs of reference text at each article pertaining to both U.S. Davis' and Tennessee Rep. Matthew Hill's political lobbying and/or campaign finance connections to Altace, Hoechst AGand former King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. CEO John M. Gregory. Hill's Wikipedia article edits were then linked through the article histories back to Rep. Davis's congressional office via an IP (internet protocol) number to the U.S. House of Representatives Information System.

Other interesting Wikipedia articles edited with the history detail revealing Rep. Davis Davis congressional office IP number (although not attributed to Hill) includes John Leslie (porn star) and sports professional  Ray Jackson. The vandalism at the Jackson article was not directed toward the sports pro, but rather at a congressional staffer of the same name who is employed at the House Rules Committee.

The rules of the U.S. House Committee on Standards for Official Conduct (more popularly known as the U.S. House "Ethics Committee") oversees ethics education and conducts investigations of ethical matters pertaining to House members of the U.S. Congress and the members' congressional officers and staff members, including investigating within the scope of campaign activity:

*No campaign activities allowed in any congressional office or room (including district offices)
*No use of congressional office resources (including equipment, supplies, or files) for any campaign purpose

The scope of duties for a congressional press secretary is traditionally limited toward preparing internal documents  within a congressional office (i.e.: "press releases")  that are later disseminated to the news media outlets, writing up and producing newsletters to mail to the constituents back within the congressional district, and serving as a contact person within a  congressional office for news reporters.

There is also an IP number indication that U.S. Rep. David Davis' congressional office has also been anonymously "shadowing" online blogs with at least one blog (The Tennessee Waltz) originating in East Tennessee with content that was critical toward Rep. Davis for his voting against the federal 2007 Animal Fighting Prohibition Act. The legislation passed this year without Davis' vote and was signed into law by U.S. President Bush.
Crime and law United States Politics and conflicts Conflict-of-interest editing on Wikipedia