House ethics panel reviews 2 GOP lawmakers’ campaign payments to private social clubs

WASHINGTON (AP) — The House Ethics Committee said Monday it was reviewing separate accusations against two Republican congressmen from Texas that allege they violated ethics rules by using campaign funds to pay membership dues at private social clubs.

The bipartisan panel released findings that Rep. Ronny Jackson’s campaign committee had paid over $6,800 in membership dues to The Amarillo Club, a fine dining club and gym in downtown Amarillo. And the ethics committee also released a report on a separate probe that found Rep. Wesley Hunt’s campaign had paid over $5,400 in dues to The Oak Room, a private social club in Houston.

The Ethics Committee said it will dig further into the payments, but that does not mean there are proven violations of ethics rules.

Attorneys for Hunt said in a response to the Ethics Committee that the congressman had not used the membership for personal use but instead for meetings with campaign donors and consultants. Hunt believed the Post Oak Club membership, which includes access to a meeting room, “would be a more prudent use of campaign funds” than a campaign office, his attorneys said.

Lawyers for Hunt pointed out that the Federal Election Commission allows candidates to use campaign funds for memberships in “an organization that would have political interests,” such as the Capitol Hill Club, a private Republican club that is steps from House offices, or the nearby National Democratic Club.

A spokeswoman for Jackson said the probe was based on a previous complaint from two years ago, that no new information had been raised and that his office had complied with the committee.

The Office of Congressional Ethics, which conducted the investigations, said that neither lawmaker agreed to cooperate