More bad headlines for Crooked Cartwright
Here’s to hoping your weekend is better than Crooked Matt Cartwright’s, whose ongoing ethics scandal just earned himself another brutal headline.
The Washington Examiner reports that non-partisan ethics watchdogs are calling for an immediate investigation of Congressman Cartwright over reports that he has been abusing his Congressional office to line his own pockets. The group calls for the Ethics Committee to “to immediately investigate Representative Cartwright and impose any required penalties.”
Oof.
In case you missed it…
House Democrat smacked with ethics complaint over conflict of interest
Washington Examiner
Alana Goodman
September 27, 2019
https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/politics/house-democrat-smacked-with-ethics-complaint-over-conflict-of-interest
A government watchdog group has filed an ethics complaint calling for a federal investigation into Democratic Rep. Matt Cartwright, claiming that he violated conflict of interest rules by sponsoring bills that would benefit a law firm in which he has a multimillion-dollar financial interest.
The complaint, filed with the Office of Congressional Ethics, alleges that Cartwright’s actions represent “a clear conflict of interest” that “undermines public confidence.” It asks the office to conduct an immediate investigation. The document was filed by the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust, a government watchdog group. …
According to the Office of Congressional Ethics, a conflict of interest ”denotes a situation in which an official‘s conduct of his office conflicts with his private economic affairs.” Ethics rules prohibit members of Congress from using their positions for personal benefit.
“In this case, Representative Cartwright has a clear conflict of interest. This is not a case where Cartwright simply voted on legislation, but is a case where he used his official position to sponsor legislation,” wrote FACT’s Executive Director Kendra Arnold in the complaint to Office of Congressional Ethics Chief Counsel Omar Ashmawy.
“Not only does Cartwright have a financial interest that would be directly affected by his sponsored legislation, but it is a unique and specific interest in a law firm specializing in the type of litigation that would be impacted,” wrote Arnold. “Cartwright’s financial interest alone is sufficient to prohibit his official action, but his interest combined with his wife’s employment, similar significant financial interest in the law firm specializing in this subject area, and involvement with an organization lobbying for the legislation undermines public confidence.”
The complaint asked the committee “to immediately investigate Representative Cartwright and impose any required penalties.” …