A non-partisan ethics watchdog has accused Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) of violating federal law and House ethics rules.
The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) has sent a letter to the Office of Congressional Ethics requesting an investigation into Schiff for allegedly violating federal law and House ethics rules by using taxpayer-funded resources for campaign purposes.
In their complaint, FACT revealed that the Democrat congressman “clearly” used “official government video for campaign purposes,” which violated federal law and the House ethics rules because “House Members are prohibited from using House and Senate floor video for campaign purposes.”
The ethics watchdog went on to explain the reason behind the violations, noting that a strict divide between campaign and official acts is legally required.
“Federal law states that ‘appropriations shall be applied only to the objects for which the appropriations were made except as otherwise provided by law,’” FACT wrote. “To enforce this law, the ethics rules prohibit Members from using any official resource for campaign or political purposes. ‘Official resources’ includes anything funded by taxpayers, such as a Member’s official website, social media accounts, and photographs and video from the House or Senate floor. To make it abundantly clear, both the House ethics rules and Senate rules specifically identify Congressional video of floor proceedings as official resources that Members are prohibited from using for political purposes.”
The complaint then detailed Schiff’s violations, arguing that the Democrat had “abused official resources” by using a clip of himself speaking on the Senate floor during the impeachment of former President Donald Trump as part of a video announcing his Senate campaign on Thursday.
Schiff shared the video on his campaign Twitter account.
Our democracy is at great risk. Because GOP leaders care more about power than anything else.
And because our economy isn’t working for millions of hard working Americans.
We’re in the fight of our lives—a fight I’m ready to lead as California’s next U.S. Senator. pic.twitter.com/H0Pa0EhhMu
— Adam Schiff (@AdamSchiff) January 26, 2023
“Simply put, under the House ethics rules, a Member is prohibited from using either House or Senate photographs or video because both are official government resources,” the complaint read. “The law is clear and the image above speaks for itself—there are no facts that can excuse this violation.”
“This is an important rule because it not only protects taxpayer-funded resources from abuse, but it also protects the integrity of official proceedings by reducing the incentive for Members to make political speeches during official proceedings,” the complaint continued.
The ethics watchdog requested that the Office of Congressional Ethics “immediately” initiate an investigation into Schiff’s use of official resources for campaign purposes to determine whether he had violated House ethics rules.
FACT’s Executive Director, Kendra Arnold, blasted the California Democrat in a statement, writing: “This is a clear violation of House Ethics Rules and Federal law. Rep. Schiff has been in Congress for over two decades and undoubtedly knows that official government resources cannot be used for political purposes.”
“Rep. Schiff must immediately take down the video and cease distribution of the footage, and the Office of Congressional Ethics should move swiftly to investigate and sanction Rep. Schiff for this breach,” she added.
Schiff, who is running for aging Sen. Diane Feinstein’s (D-CA) seat in 2024, was recently removed from the House Intelligence Committee by new Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) over his repeated lies to the American people.
🔥 @SpeakerMcCarthy on Democrat Rep. Adam Schiff: "He can serve on a committee, but he will not serve on Intel because it goes to the national security of America — and I will always put them first. pic.twitter.com/4kZSjd0rPP
— RNC Research (@RNCResearch) January 25, 2023
