The Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT) is filing an ethics complaint against Democratic Illinois Rep. Sean Casten for allegedly abusing government resources, the Daily Caller has learned.
Casten is being accused of abusing official resources by featuring official government resources in tweets from his campaign account, according to the complaint. Federal law prohibits lawmakers from using official resources for campaign purposes, according to FACT.
READ THE FULL COMPLAINT:
Casten Complaint by James Lynch on Scribd
“The legal violations in this case are clear and there are no facts that can excuse them. In fact, a review of Rep. Casten’s campaign social media accounts demonstrates that he consistently uses official resources for political purposes and that he has used numerous different types of taxpayer-funded resources for his campaign,” the complaint reads. (RELATED: Eric Swalwell Subject Of Ethics Complaint For Allegedly Abusing Official Resources)
Official resources include government buildings and offices, a member’s official website, photos and videos of Congressional proceedings and official social media accounts, according to the House ethics guide.
Casten’s campaign account links directly to his government account and FACT’s complaint identifies 16 examples of campaign tweets featuring official government resources from the 16-day period of June 21 to July 7, 2023. The complaint calls for the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) to investigate whether Casten abused government resources.
“The laws at issue in this case are important because not only do they protect taxpayer-funded resources from abuse, they also protect the integrity of official proceedings. One issue the House Ethics Manual acknowledges is the public perception that incumbents are simply using their office to run for re-election or to run for a higher office, and the reason for that perception is quite evident in Rep. Casten’s actions,” FACT Executive Director Kendra Arnold said in the complaint.
“His campaign social media posts abusing official resources are too numerous to include in one complaint, warranting an immediate ethics investigation by the OCE,” the complaint continues.
Casten’s office did not immediately respond to the Daily Caller’s request for comment.