On Monday, the House Office of Congressional Ethics reported that it had found “substantial reason to believe” that Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) had violated ethics laws.
L to R: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call/Getty Images, Charles Rex Arbogast/AP
The House Office of Congressional Ethics found “substantial reason to believe” Reps. Doug Lamborn (R-Colo.) and Rep. Marie Newman (D-Ill.) broke an assortment of ethics laws, according to documents released Monday. The alleged offenses include misusing official resources, soliciting or accepting improper gifts, and offering federal employment to a primary opponent.
Investigations into the possible violations have advanced to the House Committee on Ethics. Unlike the independent Office of Congressional Ethics, that 10-member, bipartisan panel can subpoena and sanction House members.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, “may have misused official resources for personal and non-official purposes” as well as “solicited or accepted improper gifts from subordinates.”
“Congressman Lamborn intends to cooperate fully with the bi-partisan House Committee on Ethics, just as he did with all reasonable requests of the [Office of Congressional Ethics],” a spokesperson for Lamborn said in a statement. “He remains certain the committee will ultimately reach the appropriate decision by dismissing the OCE’s referral and he expects to be fully exonerated,” a statement provided by Lamborn’s spokesperson said. In a rebuttal letter filed in December, Lamborn said that the allegations come from an employment lawsuit filed by a former staffer. Lamborn has served in the House since 2007 and represents an area of the state that includes Colorado Springs.
The committee also reviewed an allegation that Rep. Marie Newman, “may have promised federal employment to a primary opponent for the purpose of procuring political support.” If Newman is found to have done that, she may have violated federal law, House rules, or standards of conduct, according to the Office of Congressional Ethics. “Recently, a right-wing organization filed a politically motivated complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding a dismissed lawsuit,” a spokesperson for Newman said in a statement. “The materials produced during the committee’s review overwhelmingly demonstrate that the ethics complaint is completely meritless.”
The committee’s referral is related to a lawsuit that Newman reportedly settled in July 2021, which alleged that she bribed a potential primary challenger named Iymen Chehade so that he would not run against her in her 2020 House race. After an unsuccessful campaign in 2018, Newman won election to the House in 2020. She beat out three other challengers in the Democratic primary. She has announced plans to run again this year. She represents a district that includes several western suburbs of Chicago, including Naperville. The Committee released a statement saying that it will continue to gather the information needed to complete its review.
In October, the Office of Congressional Ethics also found “substantial reason to believe” Congressmen Jim Hagedorn (R-Minn.), Mike Kelly (R-Penn.), Tom Malinowski (D-N.J.) and Alex Mooney (R-W.V.) separately violated ethics laws and forwarded the probes to the House Ethics Committee. That panel has not provided any public updates on its investigations in those lawmakers.
