The Congressional Ethics Committee closed its investigations into several representatives who were accused of misusing campaign funds.
The committee acknowledged widespread abuses of campaign finances but said that previous guidance regarding campaign spending was not clear enough. As such, an updated guidance will be released.
“In a recent report, however, the Committee noted that existing law and guidance from the FEC is often ambiguous and provides for significant gray areas of spending, and that it is apparent that the House community would benefit from updated guidance on personal use of campaign funds and related recordkeeping requirements,” the statement reads. “Accordingly, the Committee is now releasing such guidance.”
The committee said that in several investigations, members of Congress “did not fully comply with the applicable standards relating to personal use of campaign funds, as well as reporting or recordkeeping requirements for campaign expenditures.” However, the violations were not found to be intentional in any of the cases.
The statement named four representatives who were investigated after complaints, along with several who were not named.
Sanford Bishop
Rep. Sanford Bishop’s (D-GA) campaign had been under investigation for years. A 2020 report from the Office of Congressional Ethics found “substantial reason to believe” Bishop violated federal law in spending more than $90,000 on “fuel, golf expenses, meals, travel, tuition and entertainment,” documents show.
Campaign disclosures found that since 2013, Bishop’s campaign had paid more than $368,000 to Green Island Country Club in Columbus, Georgia, for things such as “membership fees” and fundraising-related outings.
He previously told OCE investigators that he believed it was OK to use campaign funds to subsidize his $5,000 membership to allow him to interact with “a segment of the public that … I wouldn’t rub shoulders with on the street.”
Wesley Hunt
The OCE recommended an investigation into Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) after he was found to have spent more than $74,000 between April 2022 and January 2024 at the prestigious Post Oak Hotel in Houston. Some of this was for membership fees at the Oak Room Club.
Hunt’s lawyers defended his spending by citing a past Federal Election Commission opinion that using campaign funds for a membership was acceptable if it was used for campaign-related activities.
“Consistent with the Oak Room’s advertised purpose, the Congressman has used Post Oak Club membership exclusively for meetings in the Oak Room with campaign donors, supporters, consultants, and vendors,” his lawyers said in a letter to the OCE.
Ronny Jackson
The OCE recommended an investigation into Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) after it discovered he had spent nearly $12,000 for a membership at the Amarillo Club in Amarillo, Texas, since 2020.
Jackson dismissed the investigation as “baseless.”
“This baseless complaint from OCE raises no new information, and despite over two years at the Committee on Ethics it is still being looked into,” a Jackson spokesperson said in a statement, obtained by the Texas Tribune. “Once again, Congressman Jackson has nothing to hide, and he and his team have fully complied with the Ethics Committee since the beginning. This is sadly not the first time the leftists at OCE have decided to waste taxpayer dollars going after public servants for absolutely nothing.”
Alexander Mooney
Outgoing Rep. Alexander Mooney (R-WV) was found to have vacationed with his family in Aruba, a trip paid for by HSP Direct to the tune of $10,800. He was then accused by the OCE of being uncooperative during its investigation.
“In considering the totality of the evidence discussed above, in conjunction with Rep. Mooney’s refusal to cooperate and answer questions about these concerns, it is likely that Rep. Mooney impeded the OCE’s first investigation by providing false testimony and withholding evidence or making edits to his calendar,” the report from the OCE recommending Mooney for an ethics investigation reads.
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Mooney denied any improper conduct.
“There was no improper connection between any gift and any official action by the Congressman,” a statement from his spokesman reads. “No taxpayer funds were used to pay for this trip. Congressman Mooney will work with the Committee on Ethics to resolve any outstanding questions.”