Hot mic Duvall's listener removed from Ethics Committee as rumors spread on who tipped media to comments

In an ongoing soap opera from the OC, Spanky Duvall - graduate of the Duke Cunningham school of public policy.

TPM:

It turns out that "Hot Mike" Duvall wasn't the only lawmaker to take a political hit from the exposure of his lewd sexual braggadocio.

Yesterday, the colleague who sat next to him and heard his raunchy tales, fellow Republican Jeff Miller, was removed from the Ethics committee which is probing the scandal. But could Miller, whose Orange County district is close to Duvall's, have been more than just a passive listener in this scandal?

Miller was removed "because he was party to a conversation that is being investigated by the Ethics Committee. It is not appropriate for Mr. Miller to remain on the committee," a spokeswoman for Speaker Karen Bass told the Capitol Weekly.

Ethics committee sources have already floated the possibility that the probe could expand to look at other lawmakers' relationships with lobbyists.

In the videotaped conversation, Miller says little, but chuckles a few times. At one point, when Duvall informs Miller that he enjoys spanking his mistress, Miller asks if she enjoys it too.
It seems logical to ensure that one party to a conversation isn't tasked with investigating that same conversation. But the plot thickens from there.

According to the Capitol Weekly:

Shortly after the July 8 hearing ended, Miller's office asked the Rules Committee for a copy of the recording.

That raises the suggestion that Miller himself may have tipped the local news station that broke the story, KCAL, to Duvall's comments.

Late Update: We missed this before, but the Sacramento Bee has reported that Miller is claiming he "wasn't paying attention" to Duvall's lewd boasting.

"Anybody who knows Mike knows that he tells lots of stories," Miller told the Bee.

"I wasn't listening," Miller continued. "Normally on committee, in that committee, he's in my ear most of the time anyway about something. ... I really wasn't paying attention at the time, so it didn't register. I was more trying to get my mind ready for committee and trying to get ready for the work I had to do."