Sure is a bumper crop of these.
Rep. Ronny Jackson
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.
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.
Rep. Wesley Hunt
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.
[…]
Hunt’s expenses include membership fees and other expenses at the Post Oak Hotel, which houses the exclusive Oak Room club. His campaign finance disclosures show a 2022 expense for “membership” of $2,706.25 to the club. Another disclosure a year later had an expense to the club for the exact same amount labeled as “food/beverages.”
Hunt’s lawyers point out a past Federal Election Commission opinion that said that social club dues could be permissible if they were strictly for campaign-related activities and not life-style changes, such as an athletic or country club. Unlike the Amarillo Club, the Oak Room doesn’t have golf facilities and is largely a meeting and dining space. The expenses cited in the OCE report were for Hunt’s campaign watch party, his lawyers said.
“Consistent with the Oak Room’s advertised purpose, the Congressman has used Post Oak Club membership exclusively for meetings in the Oak Room with campaign donors, supporters, consultants, and vendors,” Hunt’s lawyers said in a letter to OCE. “We provided OCE with numerous emails, text messages, and calendar entries demonstrating the Congressman’s use of the Oak Room and the Hotel’s other facilities for such purposes.”
Via the Chron we learn that the Oak Room is owned by Tilman Fertitta, because of course it is. The odds of these guys facing anything but the mildest slap on the wrist are very small, but I’m going to enjoy these stories anyway. I’m sure Troy Nehls appreciates the company.