House Dems Hit With Ethics ComplaintOver 'Sit-In' Fundraising Stunt

Their response? "Rules are stupid."

6.28.2016

The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust filed an ethics complaint against House Democrats Monday for members recent fundraising stunt. The complaint, filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) assails Democrats for fundraising off their staged "gun-legislation sit-in" and for using official resources for political purposes.

TheHill reports

The group pointed to fundraising emails from House Democrats’ campaign arm, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) soliciting campaign donations during the sit-in. The email signed by House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) implored supporters: “The Republicans refuse to lift a finger. It’s shameful. I need your help to defeat them once and for all.”

Another email sent by Rep. Jared Huffman (D-Calif.) asked supporters to sign a petition in support of the sit-in and included a photo of the House floor.

House ethics rules state that lawmakers cannot use official resources — including locations in the Capitol complex — for campaign or political activities. Campaign ads, for instance, cannot be filmed or photographed in congressional offices.

“Not only do these email solicitations tied directly to official acts reflect poorly on the House of Representatives, the emails are directly contrary to the purposes and prohibitions of the Ethics Rules,” Matthew Whitaker, the group’s executive director, wrote.

“This type of behavior is precisely why the public distrusts elected officials,” Whitaker added.

Multiple Democrats, including Reps. Scott Peters (Calif.), Eric Swalwell (Calif.) and Beto O’Rourke (Texas), live-streamed the sit-in on their phones because the official House cameras were shut off during the protest.

Their publicity-move hopefully backfired, however, because House rules explicitly prohibit people from taking videos or photographs on the floor.

The Hill reports that "while taking photographs in the chamber can result in severe punishment for people like staff or reporters, lawmakers usually don’t try to hide that they’re ignoring the rules."

The House sergeant-at-arms repeatedly told lawmakers to turn off their cameras during the sit-in, but they ignored the warnings throughout the nearly 26-hour protest.

Some Republicans are calling for the Democrats who violated House rules to face punishment. Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) hasn't ruled out doling out consequences for lawmakers involved in the effort that held up almost all of last week's originally scheduled proceedings.

“We're reviewing everything right now,” Ryan told reporters at a Capitol news conference.

Democrats response? "Rules are stupid."

"They want to pick this fight and say the American people shouldn't hear this stuff, that we're like the Politburo, the Chinese communist party?” Peters told the Hill. "If you want people to calm down, there's a better way than fighting a stupid battle over rules."

Well, Democrats would know a thing or two about the Politburo now, wouldn't they.