In a rare public reprimand from one of its own, the House voted on Friday to formally sanction the Representative. David Schweikert
David Schweikert’s House Ethics Panel recommends 1,000 fines for Representative Schweikert’s campaign finance violations. (R-Ariz.) For violating campaign finance rules and for improperly using official resources for his reelection efforts.
The move, taken by voice vote, imposes a $ 50,000 fine on Schweikert to be paid to the United States Treasury in late October.
Schweikert negotiated the terms of his reprimand with the House Ethics Committee after a two-year investigation. He agreed to admit the eleven charges of misconduct described by the committee.
President of the House Ethics Committee Ted Deutch
Theodore (Ted) Eliot Deutch Ethics Panel Recommends, 000 Fine for Campaign Finance Violations by Representative Schweikert Florida County Official Apologizes for Social Media Posting Invoking Hitler The Hill’s Coronavirus Report: President teachers ‘union Randi Weingarten calls Trump administration plan to reopen train in schools ruin’; US Tops 3 Million COVID-19 Cases MORE (D-Fla.) He said the subcommittee tasked with investigating Schweikert considered recommending the camera vote to censure the Arizona Republican for his conduct, but ultimately opted for the fine and public reprimand.
“Ultimately, the bipartisan subcommittee agreed to this negotiated sanction of a monetary fine and a public reprimand by colleagues in large part due to Representative Schweikert’s willingness to accept responsibility for his own misconduct,” Deutch said in the Chamber floor.
“If members take only one lesson from this case, then so be it: it is unacceptable to us public office holders not to think about our ethical obligations,” Deutch said.
The panel heard the testimony of 18 witnesses and reviewed more than 200,000 pages of documents.
Schweikert, who has served in the House since 2011, did not speak during the debate on the measure to sanction him on Friday. But a Schweikert spokesman said Thursday that “we are pleased that the committee has issued its report and we can move forward from this chapter.”
The investigative report, released Thursday, found that Schweikert violated campaign finance laws, misused taxpayer funds for unofficial purposes, pressured Congressional office staff to carry out campaign work, and showed a “lack of sincerity during the investigation”.
The researchers found that between 2010 and 2017, Schweikert’s campaign committees erroneously disclosed or failed to report at least $ 305,000 in loans or loan repayments, failed to report at least $ 25,000 in campaign expenses, reported no more than $ 140,000 in contributions campaign and falsely reported payments totaling $ 100,000.
The Schweikert campaign falsely reported that it had loaned the campaign the $ 100,000 and then reported that it had been spent, “which served to adjust the campaign’s available cash that was backed by the dummy loan.”
The House Ethics Committee report said at least four of Schweikert’s congressional attendees paid for their personal items, including food and childcare, which the campaign later reimbursed. He also found that Schweikert’s now-former chief of staff made purchases worth more than $ 270,000 that were reimbursed by the campaign, despite rules that congressional staff cannot make contributions to the campaigns of legislators for whom they work.
“Representative Schweikert knew or should have known that [his chief of staff] He made substantial purchases on behalf of his campaign, but did not impede the practice, “the report said.
The Congressional Ethics Office, an independent entity that reviews allegations of misconduct and refers them to the House Ethics Committee for further investigation, first marked the allegations in 2018 that Schweikert may have misused the resources of the House and did not comply with the campaign financing rules.
The rare public reprimand for a legislator’s ethical violations is a blow to Schweikert, who represents a district in the Maricopa County area that Democrats target in the November election.
The nonpartisan electoral deterrence in the Cook Political Report currently calls Schweikert’s seat a “thin Republican.”
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