Legal Filings

Legal Filings

CREW Files Ethics Complaint Against Reps. Sessions and Fitzpatrick

Today, Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) filed an ethics complaint with the Office of Congressional Ethics (OCE) against Rep. Peter Sessions (R-TX) and Rep. Michael Fitzpatrick (R-PA) for blatant violations of House rules, federal law and the U.S. Constitution. CREW's complaint follows the revelation that both men skipped the swearing-in ceremony for the 112th Congress in favor of attending a fundraiser for Rep. Fitzpatrick. During this fundraiser, they made an invalid attempt to take their oath by watching it on TV, and then proceeded to participate in official House business. None of this is legal.

"Republicans have made strict adherence to the Constitution a hallmark of the new Congress," said CREW Executive Director Melanie Sloan. "Now we will find out if that was just window dressing designed to appease the tea party movement or if they were sincere. Two Republican House members have blatantly violated not only House rules, but federal law and the Constitution. Will they be held accountable, or given a pass?"

Both the U.S. Constitution and federal law explicitly ban people who are not sworn members of Congress from participating in official House business. Despite missing the swearing-in, Reps. Sessions and Fitzpatrick voted six times on various issues, and Rep. Fitzpatrick participated in the reading of the Constitution on the House floor. Rep. Sessions participated in a House Rules Committee hearing, which was adjourned because the congressman had not been sworn in. Speaker Boehner administered the oath of office to the two representatives on January 6th, and the House passed legislation to "clean up" the problem by nullifying their previous votes.

Rep. Fitzpatrick claimed the event in the Capitol Visitors Center was merely a reception and not a fundraiser. This explanation doesn't pass the smell test. A copy of the invitation to the fundraiser was posted on the Fitzpatrick for Congress website, and directed all questions to Rep. Fitzpatrick's campaign committee. The invitation lists a $30 per person cost, permits a donor to select a specified number of tickets, and lists contribution amounts of $30, $60, $90, $120, as well as "others." Furthermore, the invitation also instructs individuals who prefer to donate by check to make checks payable to Fitzpatrick for Congress. Rep. Sessions (who been chair of the NRCC since 2008) was a guest at this fundraiser

"It is incumbent on Speaker Boehner and Republicans to handle these clear ethics violations in the same vigorous way as the violations of Democratic members Charles Rangel (D-NY) and Maxine Waters (D-CA) have been pursued," said Sloan. "This new Congress has an opportunity to demonstrate to the American people that no member of Congress is above the law."