WASHINGTON - The House Judiciary Committee voted Wednesday to open the first impeachment probe of a sitting judge in almost two decades.

With little discussion, the Democratic-led panel voted unanimously to launch an investigation against U.S. District Judge Hon. Thomas Porteous, a Louisiana jurist charged with presiding over a trial in which the lawyers involved had given him money. He's also accused of filing for bankruptcy under a false name.

Porteous was appointed by President Clinton.

The Judicial Conference of the United States reported in June that Porteous may deserve impeachment. If the full House impeaches Porteous, the case would advance to a Senate trial. A guilty verdict would remove him from the bench.

It would be the first impeachment of a federal judge since 1989, when the House impeached Alcee Hastings, now a Democratic congressman from Florida, and Walter Nixon of Mississippi.

Porteous and his lawyer have refused repeated requests for comment.