President-elect Bush and his team are exempt from federal ethics guidelines that keep former senior government employees from doing businesses with their former agencies, two federal offices quietly determined. The Bush transition team said it requires its employees to sign a statement saying the worker will abide by similar ethics rules. The ruling, requested by the Office of Government Ethics and handed down by the Justice Department, determined that to carry out an orderly transition, Bush team members are doing work that is ''crucial to the effective operation of our political system'' and therefore should be exempt from the rules. The rules exist to prevent former staff members from influence peddling or monetary gain derived from their relationship with their agency. Juleanna Glover Weiss, a spokesperson for the transition team, said Wednesday new employees may not use nonpublic information for personal gain while part of the transition, and are prohibited from using such information to help another party for six months.
Federal guidelines keep former employees from doing business with their former agency for a year.
Weiss said an employee who broke those rules would lose their job with the transition team. A candidate is defined by the dictionary as one who is ''aspiring to an office.'' Even after the Senate reads the Electoral College ballots on Jan. 6, Bush will still be a candidate according to the government offices until his inauguration. NetCompliance, a company that helps businesses comply with government regulations, uncovered the document. The memo was dated Nov. 6, the day before the election and the weeks of uncertainty that followed. Amy Comstock, director of the Office of Government Ethics, requested the guidance a month earlier, on Oct. 6.