House Ethics Committee Report Alleges U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson Illegally Used Campaign Funds at Amarillo Club

AMARILLO, Texas (KAMR/KCIT) – U.S. Rep. Ronny Jackson (TX-13) is under investigation by the U.S. House Ethics Committee, according to a committee statement released Monday, which reported that there is “substantial reason to believe” that E Jackson or his campaign committee may have misused campaign funds.

According to the statement attributed to the chairman and ranking member of the committee:

“On March 25, 2024, the Committee received a referral from the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) regarding Representative Ronny Jackson. Pursuant to House Rules XI, clause 3(b)(8)(A) and Commission Rules 17A(b)(1)(A) and 17A(c)(1), the Chair and Ranking Member jointly decided on 9 May , 2024, to extend the Committee’s review of the matter. In order to gather additional information necessary to complete its review, the Committee will review the matter in accordance with Commission Rule 18(a).

Committee officials said in the statement that “the mere fact of conducting a subsequent review of a referral, and any mandatory disclosure of such subsequent review, does not in itself indicate that a violation has occurred or reflect any determination by the committee. .”

While the statement also said the committee “will refrain from making any further public statements on this matter until its initial review is complete,” it released the report and findings related to the allegations against Jackson.

The OCE report and findings said Jackson’s campaign committee previously reported campaign payments “that may not be legitimate and verifiable campaign expenditures attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes. If Rep. Jackson converted campaign funds from Texans for Ronny Jackson to personal use, or if Rep. Jackson’s campaign committee spent funds not attributed to bona fide campaign or political purposes, then Rep. Jackson could have violated House rules , standards of conduct. and federal law.”

Recommendations listed in the report and findings said the board advised the committee to further review those allegations against Jackson because “there is substantial reason to believe that Representative Jackson converted campaign funds from Texans for Ronny Jackson to personal use or the Jackson. the campaign committee expended funds that were not attributable to bona fide campaign or political purposes.”

As noted in the report of findings, the preliminary review of the allegations against Jackson began in December 2023, with a second phase of review beginning and expanding in 2024, until the report was presented to the committee in March.

In the report, officials allege that money from Jackson’s campaign committee, Texans for Ronny Jackson, “continued to use campaign funds to pay for unlimited access to the Amarillo Club, a private dining club located in Amarillo, Texas — in despite what Representative Jackson knew from OCE’s December 2021 filing, he found substantial reason to believe that the dues payments were not legitimate and verifiable campaign expenses.”

The OCE previously found, as noted in the report’s findings, in 2021 that Jackson’s committee paid the Amarillo Club’s monthly membership dues, which the OCE said were considered costs for personal use instead of “good faith campaigning or political purposes”. However, after the OCE’s findings of the 2021 investigation were released in May 2022, the OCE report said Jackson’s committee “continued to make substantial payments to the Amarillo Club.”

Instead of stopping the payments, according to the OCE report, Jackson’s committee shifted from describing Club Amarillo payments in Federal Election Commission reports as “registration fees” in its reports to other descriptors, including “membership fees,” “food/ drink’ ‘membership fees’ and ‘subscription for exclusive campaign purposes’.

The OCE report noted that Jackson “referred to the not-yet-resolved (prior 2021 assessment) as a reason not to cooperate with the OCE.” In addition, the OCE said that Jackson’s attorney “informed the OCE that a response would not be provided because – in their view – this investigation was merely an extension of the previous investigation and that Jackson’s representative intended to restate all of the arguments presented. in its official response to the earlier OCE issue.”

“In summary, between October 2020 and January 2024, Representative Jackson’s campaign committee spent $11,928.27 at the Amarillo Club for dues, fees, meals and other services,” OCE’s findings said, “Since Representative Jackson and staff The Amarillo Club declined to cooperate with this review, OCE was unable to determine to what extent the club’s use and the campaign committee’s expenditures on food and beverage at the club were related to the campaign. However, the payment of monthly dues by the campaign committee implies the prohibition of personal use of campaign funds.”

In addition to recommending further review of the allegations, the OCE report recommended that the committee issue subpoenas to Jackson and the Amarillo Club related to the investigation.

MyHighPlains.com reached out to Jackson’s office for comment on the OCE’s findings, which reiterated Jackson’s previous statement on the matter:

“This baseless complaint from the OCE does not bring new information and, despite more than two years before the Ethics Committee, is still under review,” Jackson’s office said. “Once again, Congressman Jackson has nothing to hidden, and he and his team have fully respected the Ethics Committee from the start. This is, unfortunately, not the first time that the leftists at the OCE have decided to waste taxpayers’ money in pursuit of civil servants for absolutely nothing.”