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The 11 different ethics violations include “misuse of campaign funds for personal purposes” and “an environment where office staffers were pressured to do political work.” The House Ethics Committee slammed Schweikert for his attempts to dodge and delay the investigation, including giving “untruthful testimony” and “self-serving statements” that went beyond “minor memory lapses.” Elijah Norton, a wealthy self-funder who has Schweikert locked in a bruising primary battle, highlighted these violations in a new ad earlier this week.
“David Schweikert has proven beyond a shadow of a doubt that he can’t be trusted to follow the law, and now he is — or rather, his campaign donors are — paying the price for it,” said DCCC spokesperson Monica Robinson. “Arizonans deserve so much better than a corrupt politician who grifts his campaign donors and exploits his office in Congress for personal gain.”
Read more about the latest in Schweikert’s ethics violations:
Daily Beast: GOP Congressman Fined $125,000 For Financial Violations
Roger Sollenberger
February 11, 2022
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“The other shoe has dropped for Rep. David Schweikert (R-AZ).”
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“His campaign committee has agreed to pay a $125,000 federal fine for misusing donor money and associated reporting violations, according to new Federal Election Commission disclosures.”
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“The investigation, which found ‘reason to believe’ that the violations were ‘knowing and willful,’ was the FEC twin of a separate congressional ethics probe that fined the Arizona Republican $50,000 in 2020 for nearly a dozen violations. The inquiries centered around Schweikert’s dealings with his former chief of staff, political consultant Oliver Schwab, specifically payments to Schwab’s personal credit card and firm.”
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“As part of the agreement, the Schweikert campaign admitted to breaking three federal laws—all related to expenses.”
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“The $125,000 FEC fine for the ‘2020 Fiscal Hero’ is more than double the penalty he incurred from the House ethics probe, which, in addition to the financial wrongdoing, also found that Schweikert impeded congressional investigators.”
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“But those fines pale in comparison to Schweikert’s legal costs associated with the investigation. Since 2018, the firm handling the matter, Holtzman Vogel Josefiak & Torchinsky PLLC, has collected more than $1 million in legal fees from the Schweikert campaign, according to FEC data.”
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“[…] the congressional investigation was public knowledge at the time, but the FEC investigation has been a secret for three and a half years—until today.”
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