Schweikert’s re-election prospects dim as House Ethics Committee debunks his talking points
Yesterday, we learned that legal fees associated with an ongoing investigation into potentially illegal handling of tax dollars and improper campaign contributions have nearly bankrupted Congressman David Schweikert’s re-election campaign. Today, a damaging report released by the House Ethics Committee has made things worse for the embattled Congressman, finding that there’s “substantial reason” to believe Schweikert improperly billed campaign expenses to his congressional office. As the Arizona Republic noted, “It is rare for the Ethics Committee to create a panel to investigate a House member, and for such a panel to expand its scope in the middle of an investigation,” as it did in Schweikert’s case late last year.
The bipartisan Ethics Committee voted unanimously to investigate the allegations against Schweikert, who has repeatedly told Arizona voters that his potentially illegal handling of resources was nothing more than a “bookkeeping issue.”
“Unfortunately for David Schweikert, these ethics problems aren’t going anywhere – they’re actually getting worse.” said DCCC Spokesperson Brooke Goren. “The rampant corruption and dishonesty Schweikert embodies is exactly what hardworking Arizonans hate about Washington, and it’s going to cost him this seat next year.”
By Ron Hansen
Key Points:
- ”The U.S. House Ethics Committee acknowledged Wednesday that its unanimous decision to investigate Rep. David Schweikert last year had “substantial reason” to believe he improperly billed campaign expenses to his congressional office.”
- “[Schweikert] has often cast the matter as a bookkeeping issue, though investigators have taken more than 18 months to sort out the money trail.”
- “’Schweikert’s campaign committees may have accepted contributions from an individual who was employed in Rep. Schweikert’s congressional office, in the form of individual outlays that later were reimbursed by the campaign committees,’” the committee’s 2018 report said. That could flout House rules and federal law, the committee noted.”
- “In December, that subcommittee widened its investigation of Schweikert to include other aspects only hinted at in its limited statements, such as whether Schweikert had omitted required information from his annual financial-disclosure statements and campaign finance reports… It is rare for the Ethics Committee to create a panel to investigate a House member, and for such a panel to expand its scope in the middle of an investigation.”
- “Any misspending could be a problem for Schweikert, a member of the tax-writing House Ways and Means Committee.”
- “Schweikert downplayed the issue last year, saying he welcomed the scrutiny. ‘It’s almost wonderful because this is the process we needed so we could present,’ he said at the time. ‘There’s really no mechanism to say, ‘Look, here’s our clerical screw-up and here’s how we fixed it.’ You need the subcommittee because that’s the way you get to present what you’ve taken care of.’”
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