The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) found “probable cause to believe” Rep. Wesley Hunt (R-TX) and Rep. Ronny Jackson (R-TX) improperly used campaign funds at two Texas social clubs.
In two separate reports released Monday, the OCE, an independent, nonpartisan organization that investigates allegations of misconduct by lawmakers and their staff, found that Jackson and Hunt spent thousands of dollars in campaign funds at two private social clubs in Texas in a manner that violated ethics standards.
Campaign finance laws prohibit lawmakers from using campaign funds for personal purposes, including country club dues and fees, unless the funds are for a specific fundraising event.
The OCE recommended further investigation by the Ethics Committee, which said it would look into the matter.statementfrom Chair and Senior Member Lawyers for both council members argue that the funds used at the social club were for public purposes.
In Hunt’s case,OCE FoundHis campaign, “Hunt for Congress,” spent $74,525.60 between April 2022 and January 2024 on fees, meals and other services at the Oak Room, a private social club at Houston’s Post Oak Hotel.
Part of that amount, $5,412.50, was earmarked for membership dues and fees for 2022 and 2023. There were also two payments of $2,706.25 each in April 2022 for “membership dues” and April 2023 for “food and beverage fees,” according to the watchdog.
The OCE said it provided several emails and text messages “indicating that Hunt used the club for campaign-related meetings,” but added that Hunt’s “refusal to certify to the OCE the completeness of his filings calls into question whether there was other documentation indicating he used the Oak Room for personal purposes.”
Hunt, his wife, his chief of staff and his local representative all declined to be interviewed by OCE, the report said.
“[W]”Without cooperation, OCE would not have been able to determine the extent to which Senator Hunt took advantage of the Oak Room’s unique events and discounted hotel parking and room benefits,” the report added.
inLong statementIn a letter to the Ethics Committee, Hunt’s lawyer, Chris Gober, argued that his client “never used for personal purposes the Post Oak Club membership paid for by Mr. Hunt in his congressional campaign.”
Gober also noted that Hunt “does not maintain a campaign office” and argued that paying Oak Room membership fees “would be a more prudent use of campaign funds.”
OCE also took note of two large payments made by the Hunt campaign to the Post Oak Hotel. The group said the Hunt campaign paid the Post Oak Hotel $43,626.52 for “facility rental/catering” on Nov. 4, 2022, followed by $4,132.44 on Nov. 7, 2022.
But he noted that because the congressman did not agree to an interview, it was not possible to determine whether the payment was made for a “legitimate election purpose.”
Hunt’s lawyer, Gober, said the money was used for an election night party.
“OCE’s stance on these expenditures disregards common sense, context, and the documentation provided by members of Congress,” Gober wrote, noting that one email provided to OCE said the campaign would host an “Election Night Party” at the hotel on Nov. 7, 2022.
“The expenses specifically cited by the OCE were clearly for Members of Congress’ victory parties,” he wrote. “Needless to say, election night party expenses are legitimate campaign expenses.”
Jackson’sOCE ReportMeanwhile, this is a continuation of an earlier investigation conducted by the watchdog group into the House member.
The group alleges that Jackson’s campaign group, Texans for Ronny Jackson, used campaign funds to pay for unlimited use of the Amarillo Club, a private dining club in Amarillo, Texas. The group says Jackson’s campaign group spent $11,928.27 on dues, fees, meals and other services at the Amarillo Club between October 2020 and January 2024.
The OCE report released Monday follows another report released in May 2022, which similarly said the watchdog had “probable cause to believe” the congressman used campaign funds for Amarillo club membership fees and other services.
In its report Monday, the OCE said it had opened a new investigation into Jackson’s use of campaign funds after the Ethics Commission gave it no new information about the payments in question and after it found Jackson continued to spend campaign funds at the Amarillo club.
“Since OCE’s December 17, 2021 introduction, the Committee has continued to review OCE’s introduction pursuant to Committee Rule 18(a) and has not provided any additional guidance regarding Rep. Jackson’s membership fees or use of his private club. During this time, Rep. Jackson has continued to make payments to his club, undeterred,” OCE wrote.
“In light of the continued use of campaign funds for this purpose, OCE has initiated this investigation,” it added.
The OCE said Jackson has refused to cooperate with the current investigation. According to the report, Jackson’s lawyers told the watchdog group that “in their view, no response will be provided because the current investigation is merely an extension of a previous investigation that was conducted with the intent of restating all of the allegations that Jackson made in his official response to the OCE matter.”
In a statement in response to the OCE report in May 2022, Jackson’s attorney, Justin Clark, said the Texas Republican purchased membership to the Amarillo club so he could use the facility’s conference rooms “for internal and external meetings, including but not limited to fundraising events” and other campaign purposes.
But the OCE said that without Jackson’s cooperation — Jackson and the Amarillo club declined to be interviewed as part of the latest investigation — the watchdog “was unable to determine the extent to which Jackson’s use of the club and the election committee’s dining expenses at the club were campaign-related.”
“In any case, the payment of monthly dues by the Election Committee violates the prohibition on personal use of campaign funds,” the report added.
The Hill has reached out to Jackson’s office for comment.
