The House Ethics Committee said Monday it was opening an investigation into a Mississippi Republican after an inquiry alleged that he devoted over $80,000 in campaign funds to aid in selling his $1.2 million waterfront home.
The board voted unanimously to recommend that the ethics committee subpoena Rep. Steven Palazzo, his brother and a dozen others as part of a broad investigation into his conduct, according to an Office of Congressional Ethics report. The report added that there was “substantial reason to believe that Representative Palazzo converted funds to personal use to pay expenses that were not legitimate.”
In a joint statement, Florida Democratic Rep. Ted Deutch and Indiana Republican Rep. Jackie Walorski, the committee’s leaders, said that the inquiry into Palazzo would continue in order to “gather additional information necessary to complete its review.”
The report cited a “concerning pattern of campaign expenditures on a large riverfront home which Representative Palazzo owned and rented to Palazzo for Congress as an ostensible campaign headquarters.”
Investigators also alleged that the Mississippi Republican may have paid his brother with campaign funds and used his position in Congress to do “special favors” for him.
The Office of Congressional Ethics has concluded that there’s “substantial” evidence Republican Rep. Steven Palazzo misused campaign and official funds and used his office to help his brother — in violation of House rules.
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1) March 3, 2021
According to the report, Palazzo referred to the house as his “River Home,” which he has owned for about 20 years. It added Palazzo had been unsuccessfully trying to sell the home and that it was appraised in 2017 at $1.175 million. (RELATED: House Set To Vote On Sweeping Government Ethics Bill)
Palazzo eventually sold the property in September 2019 for $485,000, the report said.
The home is located on the Tchoutacabouffa River, just north of the Gulf of Mexico.
Investigators found that the campaign spent more than $11,000 on utilities for the house, including landscaping, plumbing, heating and air conditioning, pest control and a home security system. In addition to utilities, $60,000 was spent on rent, creating a total cost of more than $82,000.
The report does not indicate a timeframe in which the funds were spent on the waterfront home.
Palazzo’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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