Ronny Jackson, Wesley Hunt face campaign ethics probes over private club membership
https://www.texastribune.org/2024/06/24/ronny-jackson-wesley-hunt-ethics-investigation-campaign/
The two Republican congressmen used campaign funds to pay bills at exclusive private clubs in Amarillo and Houston.
By Matthew Choi
June 24, 2024
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WASHINGTON — U.S. Reps. Ronny Jackson, R-Amarillo, and Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, are under investigation for using campaign funds for private club memberships in a potential violation of campaign finance rules, according to reports released Monday by Congressional investigators.
Jackson spent nearly $12,000 since 2020 on membership at the tony Amarillo Club, and Hunt spent over $74,000 between April 2022 and January 2024 at the Post Oak Hotel, including membership fees at its exclusive Oak Room club, according to the reports. Federal campaign finance rules allow campaign funds for specific events at private clubs, but not typically for membership or unlimited access.
The Office of Congressional Ethics approved the reports in March, sending them to the House Ethics Committee for investigation. The OCE is made up of nonpartisan professional staffers who recommend ethics inquiries to the House Ethics Committee. The committee has five Republican and five Democratic members of Congress and can recommend sanctions to be voted on by the whole chamber. U.S. Rep. Veronica Escobar, D-Texas, is the only Texan on the committee.
The House Ethics Committee announced the separate investigations into Jackson and Hunt in May, but details of the allegations were scarce before Monday, when the committee released the OCE reports as part of a procedural requirement to extend their investigations.....................
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