Alleged Taxpayer Funds Misuse on Capitol Hill Prompt Investigations
The Office of Congressional Ethics (OGE) has twice investigated Rep. Alex Mooney (R-WV) for alleged misuse of taxpayer dollars and interference with an investigation in the past year, according to Roll Call. Documents obtained by OGE prompted an initial probe into the Congressman’s use of campaign funds which sparked a broad investigation into Rep. Mooney’s spending ethics. Rep. Mooney’s fate remains with the House Ethics Committee which has subpoena power and can impose penalties.
During the OGE probe, investigators found that Rep. Mooney misrepresented over $40,000 in campaign spending, including money spent on family vacations and fast food. Among the reported incidents, a staffer was asked to contact an agency in West Virginia to inquire how the Congressman's wife, Dr. Grace Mooney, could get her medical license in the state; another staffer was tasked with requesting assistance from a museum for a school project on behalf of the Congressman's child; and, campaign employees handled nonpolitical assignments and ran errands with the Mooney children.
“Rep. Mooney sees no difference between official, campaign and personal tasks, and routinely requires staff to perform all three regularly,” stated an anonymous source verified by OGE.
Congressional staffers are considered an official resource paid with Members' Representational Allowance and cannot be instructed to perform personal errands. Likewise, ethics laws prohibit lawmakers from using campaign resources, such as staff time and campaign funds, for personal use.
Kedric Payne, Senior Director of Ethics at the Campaign Legal Center and former OCE Deputy Chief Counsel, stressed that it is a rare occurrence for an individual to be investigated by the office twice in a year. The OGE investigation into Rep. Mooney revealed frequent instances of misuse of government resources, according to Payne.
“That suggests, to me, that the initial investigation opened up a significant amount of questions on additional violations,” Payne concluded.
Sterling Carter, former operations director for Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), also pled guilty to theft of public funds last week. Among the duties Carter performed for the Congressman were managing the office budget and processing paychecks including incentives for all employees.
According to the Justice Department, Carter falsified papers to receive unapproved raises and bonuses. In November 2019, Carter submitted a form temporarily boosting his salary from $54,000 to $138,000 and boosted his salary again the following month from $54,000 to $126,000 for 13 months.
Frank D'Amico, an Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agent that worked the case, reported that Carter collected more than $80,000 in unauthorized payments from the U.S. House Office of Payroll and Benefits after Carter inflated his own salary in payroll authorization forms.
Matt Fried, Rep. Schneider’s communications director, confirmed that Carter was terminated from his position on Jan. 13, 2021.
Sterling faces a prison sentence of up to 10 years. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 28, 2022.
