Washington, D.C. --- August 4, 2023---- Today, the non-partisan ethics watchdog, the Foundation for Accountability and Civic Trust (FACT), filed a complaint requesting the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) investigate Congresswoman Cori Bush of Missouri to determine whether she used video of official House proceedings to campaign off of – and fundraise from – in violation of federal law and House ethics rules.
On July 28, 2023, Rep. Cori Bush used her campaign (non-official) Twitter account to quote-tweet a video from C-SPAN of her disrupting official House proceedings a day prior. When it went viral, she added a threaded tweet soliciting campaign donations through Act Blue, a clear violation of the law and ethics rules.
Members of Congress are strictly prohibited from using campaign social media accounts to post any official content including photographs or video from the House floor or committee proceedings.
“Rep. Bush’s abuse of official resources for political purposes shows a flagrant disregard for the law. These laws and ethics rules are in place to maintain the integrity of official proceedings, so members cannot leverage them for political advantage. The violation we have documented in our complaint is clear and obvious, and after confirming through investigation, we hope the OCE moves swiftly to impose the proper penalty,” said Kendra Arnold, Executive Director of FACT.
A full copy of the complaint can be found here.
FACT is a nonprofit organization promoting accountability, ethics, and transparency in government and civic arenas. For more on FACT visit: http://www.factdc.org/
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