As chairman of the House Government and Reform Committee, Burton turned his panel into a one-stop shop for Clinton haters, mounting investigation after investigation at taxpayer expense. He may be best known for shooting at a "headlike thing" in his backyard in order to prove a crackpot theory that White House aide Vince Foster was murdered. In April 1998, Burton railed against Clinton to the Indianapolis Star: "If I could prove 10 percent of what I believe happened, he'd [Clinton] be gone. This guy's a scumbag. That's why I'm after him."

And he went after Clinton with a vengeance, hammering away at charges of campaign finance violations and other alleged ethical abuses. He once wrote a letter to ask the president whether taxpayer money was being used to underwrite the expense of mailings for a fan club for first feline Socks. He released transcripts of the prison conversations of former Associate Attorney General Webster Hubbell but edited them to remove comments that seemed to exonerate Hillary Rodham Clinton -- an act that earned him condemnation from Congress. He was later forced to apologize on the House floor.

Yet Burton had his own moral and ethical foibles that made him an unlikely judge and jury to condemn Clinton. In December 1998, Salon contributor Russ Baker revealed that Burton maintained sexual relationships with women on his campaign payroll, and used those funds to pay at least one longtime girlfriend who had no apparent job on the campaign staff. In a preemptive strike against Baker's story, Burton himself revealed that he had a 15-year-old son from another affair. The article also detailed allegations that Burton had used his congressional office to raise campaign funds, and had sexually harassed a Planned Parenthood lobbyist who came to talk to him about legislation.

The revelations in Salon's story, as well as other investigations conducted by the Washington Post and the Indianapolis Star, prompted Washington's Congressional Accountability Project to file a complaint letter with the House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct. Though the media had a field day with CAP Director Gary Ruskin's letter, the committee failed to act on Ruskin's charges.

The most explosive revelation in Salon's December 1998 report was the relationship Burton shared with Claudia Keller, who would later be described as a "ghost employee" on the Indiana congressman's staff by CAP's Ruskin. In government disclosure paperwork, the former model appeared in 1998 as Burton's campaign manager -- a position she ran from her home in Indianapolis. According to neighbors, Burton would frequently visit Keller's ranch-style home, where his supposed campaign manager would sometimes greet him at the door "wearing a teddy." Burton paid $2,400 to $4,000 each year in rent for that home between 1991-98. He also paid Keller a salary of $40,000 a year, plus expenses, to run his campaign. Additional payments were also made to Keller's business "Buttons and Bows" for her appearances as a clown at various campaign events.

Salon News A Salon-eye view of the day's news, with investigative reports, analysis and interviews with newsmakers.