By Kimberly Kindy and Robert E. O’Harrow Jr. Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, January 11, 2010
They met in the first-class cabin on a bumpy flight between Detroit and Washington, a gruff lion of a lawmaker from Michigan and a young lobbyist for General Motors, granddaughter of one of the company’s pioneer executives.
Rep. John D. Dingell Jr. (D), then 55 and one of the most powerful men in the country, usually did not talk to seatmates. He made an exception for Debbie Insley because she was a white-knuckle flier nervous about the turbulence. Despite their 27-year age difference, they hit it off, and in 1981 she became his second wife.
Their union brought together very divergent interests: the lawmaker’s obligation to craft legislation that serves the public and his wife’s financial dependency on an industry whose fortunes were directly affected by Congress. The Dingells have always been open about their relationship, and the evidence is that they have always complied with the rules. But the mere existence of such a conflict resonates at a time of close ethical scrutiny on Wall Street, in government and elsewhere.
The couple accumulated millions in GM holdings in the early 2000s through Debbie Dingell’s job, by far the largest portion of the family’s personal wealth, public records show. At the same time, John Dingell was Detroit’s staunchest ally, fighting against emissions and fuel-economy standards that could have hurt the short-term profitability of automakers. In the past year, he advocated for five bailouts for GM and Chrysler.