A former Securities and Exchange Commission official said he reviewed the documents U.S. Rep. Spencer Bachus turned over as part of an insider trading investigation and found no violations of federal law.

Stanley Sporkin, who also was a federal judge in Washington, D.C., for 14 years, is in private practice and counsels individuals and corporations on financial regulatory or enforcement matters. Bachus representatives asked him to look at the materials, but Sporkin said he ultimately was not hired to advise Bachus in the case.

"I don't see why he would need my services. It's not necessary," Sporkin said in an interview Tuesday. "I haven't seen anything that would indicate a law violation, in my view."

Bachus, R-Vestavia Hills, has given several documents to the Office of Congressional Ethics, an independent agency created by Congress to review allegations of misconduct by members of the U.S. House of Representatives or their employees. Normally the agency's work does not become public until it refers a case to the House Ethics Committee. But Bachus confirmed Feb. 9 -- just before the Washington Post reported the inquiry, citing unnamed sources -- that OCE had requested the information.

Bachus is facing allegations that he used his access to private information on Capitol Hill to drive his personal investing and stock trading. He's denied any wrongdoing, is cooperating with the OCE probe, and has said he expects it to clear him.

Full article:  Mary Orndorff, The Birmingham News