Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Top Stories

Congressman calls for repeat ethics investigation into FEC chairwoman

Ellen Weintraub

A 2017 investigation of FEC Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub for potentially unethical behavior determined she had not violated federal rules.

Paul Morigi/Getty Images

This article has been updated following an interview with Weintraub.

Federal Election Commission Chairwoman Ellen Weintraub has been accused of ethical violations that had been previously leveled — and dismissed — two years ago.

In a series of tweets on Thursday, Weintraub responded to a letter sent that same day by Rep. Rodney Davis, ranking member of the House Administration Committee, requesting an investigation into Weintraub for potential violations of federal ethics regulations.

"It's a retread on a complaint made two years ago by a Koch Brother-funded group," Weintraub told The Fulcrum on Friday afternoon. The inspector general's office looked into it and didn't find any evidence. It's the same stuff all over again."

Davis, a Republican from Illinois, outlined three reasons he believes FEC Inspector General Christopher Skinner should investigate Weintraub:

  1. Using government time and official FEC resources to publish her opinions on political matters.
  2. Discussing issues outside the purview of the FEC in national media appearances.
  3. Refusing to recuse herself from matters involving President Trump, despite a perceived bias against him and "apparent conflict of interest."

"I believe that this pattern of behavior is unbecoming of the FEC Chair and may have possibly violated ethics regulations that we all as federal employees must abide by," Davis wrote.

Weintraub dismissed Davis complaint, noting his letter did not cite any laws that were being broken.

"I'm a public official and I make public statements. It's my job to speak out on issues about the integrity of our elections. To suggest otherwise is nuts," she said.

Sign up for The Fulcrum newsletter

Two years ago, Weintraub, then a commissioner but not yet chairwoman, was investigated for similar reasons after the conservative group Cause of Action Institute filed a complaint with the FEC's Office of Inspector General. The 2017 investigation found no evidence that Weintraub had violated ethical standards.

On Twitter, Weintraub responded to this latest investigation request by recycling her statement from the first incident: "It is absolutely within my official duties as a federal election official to comment publicly on any aspect of the integrity of federal elections in the United States. I will not be silenced."

Davis acknowledges in his letter that some of the issues he points to were previously assessed in the 2017 investigation, but he believes "they warrant reexamination."

During the last investigation, for instance, a permanent inspector general was not in place at the FEC. (Skinner was named to the position in July.) Davis also noted that the previous inspector general report did not include interviews with all of the commissioners at the time. In Davis' view, the report "lacked a clear legal basis" as well.

And since the last investigation, Weintraub has "continued her pattern of blatant partisan behavior under the guise of her official duties as FEC Chair," Davis wrote.

"And oh my gosh, I go on CNN sometimes. Some of this stuff is just silly," Weintraub said.

An FEC spokesman said the commission does not have information on how the inspector general will move forward and declined to comment further on the situation. The inspector general's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on whether an investigation into Weintraub will be opened.

Read More

Donald Trump

President-elect Donald Trump attends the UFC 309 event at Madison Square Garden in New York on Nov. 16.

Chris Unger/Zuffa LLC/Getty Images

Donald Trump’s legacy of retribution

Say what you will about Donald Trump. The man can hold a grudge.

So, too, apparently, do the neo-Nazis who marched on the Ohio state capital over the weekend. Freshly emboldened by Donald Trump’s re-election and competition with a rival white supremacist group in Ohio, they carried Nazi paraphernalia, shouted racist chants, and provoked a lot of criticism from local authorities.

And so it begins.

Keep ReadingShow less
Red and blue pawns covering the United States
J Studios/Getty Images

Amid a combative election, party realignment continued apace

Goldberg is editor-in-chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. His Twitter handle is @JonahDispatch.

The term “realignment” gets used and abused a lot, because people have agreed to use it without agreeing on a definition. Traditionally, realignments are said to have occurred when majority and minority parties switch places. Starting in 1932, FDR pulled blacks and working class and immigrant whites into the Democratic Party, making it the majority party for generations. It’s a sign of how massive that coalition was that it’s been shrinking since the 1960s without Republicans ever becoming the clear majority party, though the story gets complicated with the rise in voters calling themselves independents.

Keep ReadingShow less
Imagine mosaic

The Imagine mosaic in Strawberry Fields in Central Park, a tribute to John Lennon.

Beata Zawrzel/NurPhoto via Getty Images

How leaders and the media talk about political violence matters

Dresden is a policy strategist for Protect Democracy. Livingston is director of field support for Over Zero.

Election officials, law enforcement and civil society have been preparing for months — some for years — to ensure that the full election process plays out safely, securely and in accordance with the law. And for the most part, it seems that Election Day was indeed generally orderly. While the election process continues with final counting and certification, the projected result of the presidential election came more quickly and clearly than many of us anticipated.

Keep ReadingShow less
U.S. Capitol
Doug Armand/Getty Images

Congress needs helpers, and the helpers are ready to serve

Daulby is CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation.

As Mr. Rogers famously said, “Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.”

A few months ago, I became the new CEO of the Congressional Management Foundation with a renewed mission to lead the helpers back to the Capitol. After a career on Capitol Hill that started as a paid intern and ended after being the staff director for the House Administration Committee on Jan. 6, 2021, I have been called back to serve the institution. I agreed to do so because we are in desperate need of the helpers, and having been a doer for the last two decades, it is now time for me to be a helper.

Keep ReadingShow less