All posts tagged "House Committee On Ethics"

The U.S. House of Representatives has formally expelled Rep. George Santos (R-NY) because of numerous alleged financial fraud and crimes and numerous congressional ethics violations.

But Santos’ potential replacement — himself a one-time congressman — has a history of financial ethics issues, too.

Former Rep. Tom Suozzi (D-NY) violated a federal conflicts-of-interest and financial disclosure law at least three times while in Congress, according to reporting from NPR and Business Insider....

Since Jan. 1, at least 37 members of Congress have violated a federal insider trading and conflicts-of-interest law, a Raw Story analysis of congressional financial disclosures reveals.

Most of these violations involve failures to properly disclose stock trades as required by the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012. Some involve not abiding by the transparency and personal financial disclosure requirements first outlined in the STOCK Act's post-Watergate predecessor, the Ethics in Government Act of 1978.

The most significant violator clocked in as much as six-and-a-half years late when reporting up to $8.5 million in stock transactions — Rep. Rick Allen (R-GA). Another lawmaker was just a couple days late but still logged up to $165,000 in late stock disclosures — Rep. John Curtis (R-UT). Between them are numerous other Republicans and Democrats alike who have consistently failed to abide by the STOCK Act....

Buried in a U.S. House report that alleges Rep. George Santos (R-NY) misused campaign funds on Botox treatments, Sephora products and OnlyFans, and personally benefited from all sorts of self-enriching misdeeds, House investigators also revealed that the freshman lawmaker failed to file an annual congressional financial disclosure report.

That last bit might sound a little … technical.

But members of Congress who don’t publicly disclose their personal finances in a timely manner are in violation of rules outlined by the House and Senate ethics committees as well as federal law: the Ethics in Government Act of 1978 and the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge (STOCK) Act of 2012. These laws are designed to safeguard against the very kinds of financial malfeasance for which Santos is accused. ...

Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL), one of Congress’ most outspoken abortion rights opponents, disclosed that her husband invests in a company that utilizes human embryonic stem cells to treat disabilities, a Raw Story review of congressional financial documents.

The congressional financial disclosures indicate that Andrew Gamberzky, Luna’s husband, holds a stock investment worth between $1,001 and $15,000 in Lineage Cell Therapeutics.

The California-based company says it intends to “pioneer a new branch of medicine based on transplanting specific cell types to patients with serious medical conditions,” such as paralysis, using proprietary technology and therapies....

At least six more members of Congress have violated the STOCK Act by failing to disclose transactions — up to $376,280 collectively — within a 45-day federal deadline, according to a Raw Story analysis of congressional financial documents.

The majority of the late disclosure dollars came from Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL) who was late in disclosing up to $300,000 in stock transactions from a joint trust.

He is joined by five other lawmakers who were late in disclosing transactions in the $1,000-to-$15,000 range: Rep. Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Rep. Russ Fulcher (R-ID), Rep. Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Rep. Deborah Ross (D-NC) and Rep. John Sarbanes (D-MD). ...