Congressional Ethics

On April 22, 2020, Common Cause filed complaints with the Department of Justice (DOJ), the U.S. House Committee on House Administration, and the Office of Congressional Ethics against Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-FL) and his landlord and donor Collier Merrill for their failure to disclose their longstanding relationship while seeking the required congressional approval of an office lease. The complaints urge an investigation into whether both men violated the criminal law prohibition on concealment of material facts in filings or statements to the federal government, and whether Rep. Gaetz is violating House gift rules by paying less than market value for his office rent.

Common Cause legislative affairs director Aaron Scherb said Paul’s failure to quarantine himself potentially endangered the hundreds of individuals he came into contact with in the U.S. Capitol complex in addition to U.S. senators, including janitors, police officers, and food service workers. His use of the Senate gym after its March 19 closure to stop the spread of COVID-19 “calls into question his ability to follow rules,” said Scherb, adding that Paul should have known better because he’s a doctor. “As a U.S. senator, he should certainly set an example for everyone else especially during a pandemic like this,” said Scherb. “I am sure he wouldn’t be the first Senator who has ignored rules. Some of them think they’re invincible.” He said Paul’s diagnosis would likely curtail further use of the Senate gym during the pandemic, and would make the coronavirus issue even more personal for Senate members. “The average age of the U.S. Senate is above 60,” said Scherb. “They are not immune to this.”

Common Cause said the trades by the senators as alleged involved “potentially criminal misconduct.” “These Senators appear to have used classified intelligence briefings as stock tips and sold off significant holdings to avoid losses in the markets,” said Paul Ryan, Common Cause Vice President for Policy and Litigation. “These laws are on the books for a good reason, without them the potential to abuse the power of elected office for personal enrichment would be virtually unlimited.”

Today, Common Cause filed complaints with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC,) and the Senate Ethics Committee calling for immediate investigations of Sen. Richard Burr (R-NC), Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-GA), and James Inhofe (R-OK) for possible violations of the STOCK Act and insider trading laws. According to widespread reports, each of the Senators sold off significant amounts of stock from the personal portfolios after receiving classified briefings from government officials about the seriousness of the Coronavirus threat to the United States in January and February.

Common Cause, a Washington-based watchdog group, filed complaints against all four lawmakers — Burr, Loeffler, Inhofe and Feinstein — with the Department of Justice, the Securities and Exchange Commission and the Senate Ethics Committee, citing the STOCK Act. “These potential violations of insider trading laws and the STOCK Act by these Senators ... show what appears to be contempt for the law and further a contempt for the American people these Senators have sworn to serve," Karen Hobert Flynn, president of Common Cause, said in a statement.

On March 20, 2020, Common Cause filed complaints with the Senate Select Committee on Ethics, Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice calling for investigations of Senators Richard Burr, Kelly Loeffler, James Inhofe and Dianne Feinstein to determine whether the Senators violated the Stop Trading on Congressional Knowledge Act of 2012 (STOCK Act), the Securities Exchange Act, the U.S. Criminal Code and other federal laws and regulations regarding stock trading applicable to Members of Congress. Specifically, Common Cause requested an investigation of whether these Senators engaged in illegal insider trading by trading stocks based on material, nonpublic information regarding the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic received in private, confidential briefings for Senators by officials from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and other government officials.