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Rep. Ronny Jackson Investigated For Using Campaign Funds For ‘Personal Use’, Violating Federal Law

REUTERS/Carlos Barria

Kay Smythe News and Commentary Writer
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The Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) released a statement Monday after finding substantial evidence that Republican Texas Rep. Ronny Jackson used campaign funds to buy his way into a members club.

The OCE has recommended the House Committee on Ethics to launch an investigation into Jackson after it was found that his campaign committee paid $5,907.13 to the Amarillo Club, a private dining and members club in Amarillo, Texas, according to The Hill. Between October 2020 and September 2021, Jackson’s campaign paid the Amarillo Club’s monthly membership fee of $175.37, as well as paying for dues, meals and other services, The Hill continued. (RELATED: Ilhan Omar’s Republican Challenger Is Not Messing Around)

Jackson’s campaign also paid $3,147.06 for a “Fundraising Event” in May 2021 at the club, the outlet noted. A statement from Jackson’s legal representatives argued that his campaign purchased a membership at the club in order to use the meeting rooms “for internal and external meetings, including but not limited to fundraising events.”

The 10-page statement released by the OCE noted that federal law prohibits members of congress from converting contributions or donations into funds for personal use, such as “dues, fees or gratuities at a country club, health club, recreational facility or other nonpolitical organization, unless they are part of the costs of a specific fundraising event that takes place on the organization’s premises.”

Jackson’s representatives said, “neither Congressman Jackson nor any members of his family have utilized any benefits of the Amarillo Club other than dining and meeting spaces for campaign purposes. Accordingly, all expenses at issue were made by Texans for Ronny Jackson for campaign purposes.”

Jackson is a first-term congressman and previously served as former President Donald Trump’s White House doctor, The Hill noted.

Jackson’s office told The Daily Caller that “these costs are strictly associated with campaign and fundraising events. Rep. Jackson, nor any member of his family, have ever been to the Amarillo Club for personal use.”