‘Substantial’ evidence Hunt, Jackson misused campaign funds – Washington Examiner
The House Ethics Committee is reviewing reports from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) suggesting that Representatives Wesley Hunt and Ronny Jackson, both from Texas, may have improperly used campaign funds at private clubs. The OCE’s investigation found substantial reasons to believe both used their campaign committees to make payments for personal or non-political purposes, such as memberships and dues at these clubs. Although both congressmen failed to fully comply with the OCE’s inquiries, the Ethics Committee is continuing its review without concluding whether any violations occurred. The reports specifically mention payments made by Hunt’s committee to the Post Oak Hotel and suggest issuing subpoenas to individuals connected to Hunt, including his wife and staff members. Jackson’s case involved similar concerns, with past refusals to provide documents and participate in interviews noted in previous OCE referrals. The ongoing investigations aim to determine the legitimacy of these expenditures.
The House Ethics Committee released two reports on Monday from the Office of Congressional Ethics that conclude there is “substantial reason to believe” that Reps. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) and Ronny Jackson (R-TX) used campaign funds improperly at private clubs.
In the reports, the OCE recommends that the Ethics Committee subpoena Hunt and Jackson, among others, related to allegations the Republicans made payments to private clubs from their campaign committees. The congressmen did not comply with the OCE’s investigation, according to the reports.
The committee said in releases for both Hunt and Jackson on Monday that it would continue reviewing the matters.
“The Committee notes that the mere fact of conducting further review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such further review, does not itself indicate that any violation has occurred, or reflect any judgment on behalf of the Committee,” the committee said.
In Hunt’s report, the OCE found the congressman paid $2,706.25 to the “Post Oak Hotel” for “Membership” using his campaign committee. A year later, the campaign reported making an identical disbursement to the hotel for “Food/Beverages.” The campaign committee, between April 2022 and January 2024, reported $74,525.60 in payments to the Post Oak Hotel.
Hunt declined to interview with the OCE but produced emails and text messages, the report said.
“As such, Rep. Hunt’s payments for unlimited use of the Oak Room served at least some campaign purpose,” the report said. “However, Rep. Hunt’s refusal to certify the completeness of his production to the OCE called into question whether there were other documents demonstrating use of the Oak Room for any personal purpose.”
“Based on the foregoing information, the Board finds that there is substantial reason to believe that Rep. Hunt converted campaign funds from Hunt for Congress to personal use or that Rep. Hunt’s campaign committee expended funds that were not attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes,” the report concluded.
The OCE recommended that Hunt, his wife Emily, James Kyrkanides, his chief of staff, and Grayson Hilburn, Hunt’s field representative, be subpoenaed.
In Jackson’s case, both the congressman and the Amarillo Club he frequented refused to be interviewed or provide documentation. The OCE made a similar referral to the Ethics Committee in 2021, detailing that Texas for Ronny Jackson, his campaign committee, “routinely” made monthly payments of $175.37 to the Amarillo Club from October 2020 to September 2021.
Despite a referral against him, Jackson’s campaign continued to make “consistent payments” to the club, with the descriptions changing over time. Between October 2020 and January 2024, Jackson’s campaign committee has spent at least $6,839.18 on membership dues to the Amarillo Club.
“Texans for Ronny Jackson initially described the monthly payments as ‘Registration Fees,’ but soon began characterizing the disbursements as ‘Membership Fees,’ ‘Food/Beverage,’ ‘Membership Fees Food/Beverage Site Fee,’ ‘Membership Dues,’ ‘Membership for Exclusive Campaign Purposes,’ ‘Membership for Exclusive Campaign Purposes Food/Beverage,’ and ‘Membership for Exclusive Campaign Purposes,’” the report detailed.
The Amarillo Club declined to provide the OCE with information as to what non-dining amenities Jackson used, such as the gym, room rental, and conference space, so the ethics office could not determine to what extent Jackson’s use of the club and spending was campaign-related.
Other Texas members, such as Rep. Troy Nehls (R-TX), are facing reviews from the Ethics Committee for their finances.
“This baseless complaint from OCE raises no new information, and despite over two years at the Committee on Ethics it is still being looked into,” a Jackson spokesperson said in a statement. “Once again, Congressman Jackson has nothing to hide, and he and his team have fully complied with the Ethics Committee since the beginning.”
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“This is sadly not the first time the leftists at OCE have decided to waste taxpayer dollars going after public servants for absolutely nothing,” the spokesperson added.
Hunt’s office did not respond to a request for comment.
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