Rep. Mike Lawler (R-NY) faces scrutiny after a Politico investigation revealed that his advocacy and political groups paid over $720,000 to Checkmate Strategies, a consulting firm he co-founded and later sold for up to $50,000.
Lawler's campaigns previously paid the firm $500,000, while organizations he directed paid an additional $221,515 between 2019 and 2021.
Public records show the natural gas advocacy group New Yorkers for Affordable Energy paid Checkmate $97,000 for lobbying while Lawler served as director and listed lobbyist. The economic development group 17 Forward 86, led by Lawler, paid $95,000 for lobbying services.
Although ethics experts concluded the arrangement is legal, government watchdog groups called it "improper."
"These kinds of self-dealing transactions should be banned," Rachael Fauss, a senior policy advisor with the group Reinvent Albany, told Politico.
The controversy poses a political liability as Democrats target Lawler's competitive suburban New York seat for pickup.
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