Reps. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) and Wesley Hunt (R-TX) are under review by the House Ethics Committee for payments to private clubs from their campaign committees, Punchbowl News reports.
In both cases, the Office of Congressional Ethics – the non-partisan ethics watchdog – recommended that the Ethics Committee open full-scale investigations. The Ethics panel announced today it is still evaluating the cases.
Phillip Elliot: “If you thought the conflicts of interest in Trump’s first term were problematic, consider the prospects of a President appearing to leverage others or allowing himself to be leveraged through a publicly traded company.”
“Imagine the whole world spending four years tracking the ups and downs of Trump Media’s stock in real time as they speculate on how any movement connects to the Trump administration’s policy decisions. The nuclear codes and presidential immunity are nothing to sneeze at. But Trump’s return to the presidency carries a prospect that his even hinting that his position on a given issue was fungible could function as a flashing ‘Buy DJT Now’ sign.”
Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX) is under investigation by the House Ethics Committee over his campaign finances, Punchbowl News reports.
The Ethics Committee said it will have a final decision “on or before Friday, May 10.”
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“House Ethics investigators have obtained text messages allegedly showing that a few months after first joining Congress, Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) asked a young woman, who at the time had received payments for sex from Gaetz’s then-close friend Joel Greenberg, to join him and others on a three-day trip to the Florida Keys in May 2017,” ABC News reports.
“The then-freshman congressman appeared to message a woman asking if she would fly on a private plane to the Florida Keys for a trip with Gaetz, three other women, and one other man.”
Mediaite: Kevin McCarthy goes nuclear on Matt Gaetz, accuses him of embellishing ties to Trump and lying “about who he sleeps with.”
“The reopened House ethics probe into Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) continues to ramp up, as the committee in recent weeks has contacted multiple new witnesses as part of its ongoing investigation into the Florida congressman,” ABC News reports.
“In recent days, the Republican-led House Ethics Committee has reached out to multiple new witnesses, expanding its contact with individuals who have ties to the initial Justice Department investigation into Gaetz.”
Rep. Mike Garcia (R-CA) sold up to $50,000 of Boeing stock just weeks before a committee he’s on released a report on Boeing 737 crashes, the Daily Beast reports.
He missed the deadline for his financial disclosures and didn’t disclose the trades until after Election Day.
“Rep. George Santos (R-NY) has evaded two efforts this year to oust him from the House. A third time could end up differently, depending on the results of a long-awaited ethics report this week,” Politico reports.
“The House Ethics Committee is slated to release the findings of its investigation into Santos regarding a slew of charges, including campaign finance fraud and bribery, by Friday. If it’s damning, as many expect, New York Republicans who have called for his removal are likely to move quickly against him.”
Playbook: “While the most recent effort fell short of the requisite two-thirds vote on the House floor with other Republicans arguing against setting the precedent of expelling a member without a conviction, some members who protected Santos have indicated that the ethics report could change their minds.”
Said Rep. Don Bacon (R-NE): “He’ll be out. If he is found guilty by Ethics, he’s gone.”
“The Supreme Court is adopting its first code of ethics, in the face of sustained criticism over undisclosed trips and gifts from wealthy benefactors to some justices,” the AP reports.
“The policy was issued by the court Monday. The justices, who have hinted at internal deliberations over an ethics code, last met Thursday in their private conference room at the court.”
“Justice Amy Coney Barrett said on Monday that she favored an ethics code for the Supreme Court, joining the growing chorus of justices who have publicly backed adopting such rules,” the New York Times reports.
Said Barrett: “It would be a good idea for us to do it, particularly so that we can communicate to the public exactly what it is that we are doing in a clearer way.”
“Some of the issues and political stalemates that haunt the Supreme Court are returning for the term that begins Monday, accompanied by another concern: how to convince the public that the justices take seriously their ethical obligations,” the Washington Post reports.
“Reports about some justices hobnobbing with billionaire friends on lavish trips and maintaining ties to those who have business before the court have become the elephant in the courtroom.”
USA Today: “Fix the Court, a watchdog group that advocates for greater transparency in the judiciary, estimates that only about 17% of the court system’s disclosures for 2022 have been posted online, even though most of those reports were due months ago.”
“About 21 of 155 active appeals court judges who were on the bench last year had their 2022 annual financial reports posted to the judiciary’s online database as of Saturday.”
Hunter Biden’s lawyer filed an ethics complaint in the House of Representatives against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) for reaching a “new level of abhorrent behavior” after she displayed sexually explicit pictures of him during a hearing Wednesday, USA Today reports.
“An internal plan for the Supreme Court’s first-ever code of conduct has been stalled for years, people familiar with the matter said, and justices are deeply divided despite increased scrutiny surrounding their ethical behavior,” the Wall Street Journal reports.
“The standstill persists despite drops in the court’s public approval and pressure from lawmakers for the high court to adopt the practice of other courts that hold their members to binding ethical rules beyond the minimum required by anticorruption and transparency laws.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO) didn’t disclose any income from a book that came out in July, the Daily Beast reports.
Two Rhode Island officials’ behavior during an official visit to Philadelphia was so “bizarre, offensive, and unprofessional” that two separate investigations are probing the trip: “a criminal one, led by the Rhode Island state police, and a human resources one within the governor’s office,” the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.
“Nevada’s Republican governor is facing an almost $1.7 million ethics penalty and possible censure for wearing his badge and uniform as Las Vegas-area sheriff in campaign photos and on social media ahead of his election last year,” the AP reports.
“Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas has asked for more time to file annual financial disclosures following criticism that he failed to report luxury travel and real estate deals with a Texas billionaire and Republican donor,” the Washington Post reports.
“Thomas’s request for an extension was made public Wednesday, along with disclosure reports filed by his court colleagues. Justice Samuel A. Alito Jr. also asked for an extension as he has done in previous years.”
New York Times: “Ahead of an expected White House bid, Mr. DeSantis has relied heavily on his rich allies to ferry him around the country to test his message and raise his profile. Many of these donors are familiar boosters from Florida, some with business interests before the state, according to a New York Times review of Mr. DeSantis’s travel. Others have been shielded from the public by a new nonprofit, The Times found, in an arrangement that drew criticism from ethics experts.”
“Ethics experts said the travel — and specifically the role of the nonprofit — shows how Mr. DeSantis’s prolonged candidate-in-limbo status has allowed him to work around rules intended to keep donors from wielding secret influence.”
Taegan Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites. He also runs Political Job Hunt, Electoral Vote Map and the Political Dictionary.
Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.
Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country.
Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.
Goddard is the owner of Goddard Media LLC.
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